Quotes are taken from a message written by Ruth to Charles on 08/11/96...
RL>There is nothing wrong with inventive spelling.
Clearly this is a concept that you are committed to - and I have no 
research at hand to prove you wrong as I only did a search of articles 
on whole language, not inventive spelling.
RL>At this level if you correct every word a child writes the level of self
RL>esteem is going to plummet.
I won't argue that every letter of everything that is written must be 
corrected, but...
Now you've touched a raw nerve with me.   What's the purpose in school - 
to teach the children something or to make them all feel good about 
themselves?  Building un-warranted self-esteem among children has been 
the very root of the watered down, low-standards curriculum we offer 
kids all across the country today.  How much better if that child gets a 
sense of satisfaction from writing the words on a piece of paper 
correctly, rather than feeling good about writing gibberish?
Self-esteem is something a person should earn when they have completed a 
good job - not something they should be given because they can breathe.
RL>I've seen a lot of children who have been through this ordeal and 
RL>they are very reluctant to write anything.
That's why the teacher is there.  I teach middle school and many of 
them, whole language products or not, do not want to write at our grade 
level either.  The teacher's job is not to make writing fun by allowing 
sloppy or illegible work, but to make it interesting because the topic 
is of interest or of some importance.
RL>Then there's the kids who ask for every word they need to spell they are
RL>just not willing to take a risk at all.
Those kids will exist no matter what we ask them to do.  Allowing them 
to write nonsense words reinforces their sense that it is okay to write 
nonsense.  Our communities are screaming at us that we are graduating 
children who can't read, write, spell and do math.  Is it okay to praise 
a student for telling you that 2 + 2 = 5?  If you think not, then why is 
it okay to tell a child that "trh" spells cat?  Why does correcting the 
spelling error cause a blow to self-esteem, but correcting the math 
error reinforces learning?
RL>Now, I have not extensively studied the roots of the Whole Language
RL>method - so tell me (Maybe Dan or someone else can answer this if you
RL>can't) was the Whole Word method supposed to be Whole Language back then
RL>because the articles I have on reading show The Whole Word method as
RL>being a more traditional one than Whole Language.
I'm not sure I understand what you have written.  I believe they are 
terms from different generations but have their roots in the same 
philosophy - that reading can be taught as whole words, rather than 
through an understanding that the written word is made up of letters, 
blends and sounds.
Chuck Beams
Fidonet - 1:2608/70
cbeams@future.dreamscape.com
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* UniQWK #5290* I don't think the Ranger is going to like this, Yogi.
--- Maximus 2.01wb
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