Should I be concerned about British spelling confusing a K'er

[Blessedfamily]

My dd uses several British books/resources. I'm worried she'll start to confuse things like using "s" instead of "c" (practice, practise). There's a lot of this in some of her science books, science website, fiction, MEP........

 

The metric use is not a problem, since she already learned that in Singapore math.

 

She's going from K to 1st grade.

[Rebecca VA]

I used to use British-isms when I was a kid, but it wasn't because I was mixed up. I thought they were prettier and more interesting. As long as you keep pointing out British spellings to your daughter -- from a "isn't this interesting, but we don't spell like that here in the States" viewpoint -- seeing them will be an enriching experience.

[KAR120C]

So I was inundated with both spellings from an early age. I'm stilll a little "flexible" in my choice, but I always pick one that is correct somewhere (LOL) -- so it's not like I can't spell, just that I can't always remember which one is the US spelling.

 

DS has used Singapore books for science and math, has read a ton of British Lit since a young age, but we have US books for nearly everything else. The spelling hasn't been an issue (although spelling is not his strongest suit anyway), but especially when he was very young there was a little bit of Paddington Bear in his vocabulary and phrasing... :)

[Laura Corin]

Have one British and one American parent and their reading material is similarly mixed. We decided to use British spelling (as moving back to the UK seemed more likely) and it's only taken gentle reminders to sort it out. I wouldn't worry.

 

Laura

[Truscifi]

I just point the differences out as British vs American. So far it has not been a problem for us, and ds5 thinks it is really funny that people speak the same language differently in different places. It has sparked whole discussions about differences between related cultures, American history, and the development of language.

[Nan in Mass]

For some unknown reason, my family uses some British spellings. Colour and grey are the most common of them, probably. I've used a mix all my life and it hasn't caused a problem. My son's composition prof at community college wanted to know why he had a "u" in honour and why he used so many commas. My son just said his family spelled it that way and it was in the dictionary as an alternative spelling, and then had his prof read aloud somehting he had written and said, "See? The commas are where the pauses are. It makes it easier to read aloud." His prof said ok and that was the end of that. My biggest problem was playing boggle with my father-in-law, but since the spellings were in the dictionary, he complained but let me get away with them. I wouldn't worry about it. You might point out that there are two (or more) ways of spelling certain words.

[TravelingChris]

I am a chameleon and I tend to pick up accents and colloquisms very easily and without thinking. WIth this thread, I remembered that I sometimes spell English and sometimes American depending where I am living and what I have been reading. I actually think that many of the British spellings are easier but either one is right. It doesn't matter. For that matter, my children always cross their 7s. That is so we don't have the same problem as the really funny commercial now for some clothing store. Notice that I don't remember which store but do remember the plot.