-> You give a child a spelling test of specific words when
-> they are learning to write/spell and you give them the same spelling
-> test over a period of time. You can give this same test to children
-> anywhere in any country that speaks English. What you will find is
-> the same spelling constructions being made and the same development
-> occurring.
->
-> All children do not learn at the same speed etc. but you will
-> see the same development - as in anything else anyone learns. If you
-> want details I have a paper somewhere that describes this in more
-> detail - talking of spelling stages and writing etc.
Hi Ruth,
I don't know about Chuck, but I'd sure be willing to hear more specifics
on this, because...largely I don't believe it. I've not seen that much
inventive spelling work done by kids, but I've seen some. Some, kids
used letters that made no sense whatsoever and bore no similarity to the
word they were attempting to spell. Other kids seem to have little
difficulty from day 1 with spelling.
-> Just think if we told children every word you write has to spelled
-> perfectly the first time! Children would never put a pencil to paper.
This is a valid point, and a good reason to allow errors in rough drafts
or journals, as you point out.
-> At the beginning of grade one I usually say to a child something like
-> "you really tried to spell these words and I can "read" what you
-> wrote - now which ones would you like to know how to spell." Or I
-> will suggest a few they might like to know because the words are ones
-> they use a lot.
What do you do with a very bright child who is more than capable of
learning to spell the word correctly, but feels no need to exert the
effort because the teacher has essentially given her permission to
misspell the words via the method you cite above? My daughter thought
spelling was unimportant in her homework assignments this past year (2nd
grade) because of the mixed messages she was getting from her teacher. I
would ask her to correct spelling on her homework, and she would tell me
that the teacher didn't care! (These were not journal assignments that
I'm talking about. I did respect the teachers concept of a "journal" and
never commented on my daughter's spelling in her journal.)
Sheila
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