X/P: Can't Decide Whether to Teach Spelling

[The Way of My People]

A little background:

 

DS(5) will be starting KG in our local public school next year. We have no intention of homeschooling him. His true loves are math and science, but he's also reading pretty well (mostly Level 2 beginning readers from the library).

 

Here's my problem: my son is OBSESSED with writing. For the last six months, he's been writing stories, letters to family members, reminder notes, lists, etc. He spends at least an hour a day writing, unprompted by me. He frequently asks me to spell words for him. My sister-in-law, who teaches first grade, told me NOT to spell words for him, that he should be allowed to just guess/experiment. So that's what we usually do, but it's causing problems. When DS shows his writing to people, he gets very upset and embarrassed if they can't easily read it. He works very hard to form his letters properly and use correct spacing and punctuation - so he knows they're struggling because the words aren't spelled correctly. If someone points out a misspelled word, he gets so embarrassed that he'll destroy the entire piece of writing (including stories he's spent DAYS writing and illustrating). It breaks my heart to watch him struggling like this.

 

But I've never actually intended to teach spelling. I've always assumed he'd learn that in school. He likes doing limited "school work" with me at home, but we try to keep it at less than an hour a day. I don't know if I really want to add spelling into the mix.

 

What would you do? Should I just ride this out until he starts school? Should I just spell words for him? If you think I should add a spelling program, which one do you suggest? I'd like to avoid anything with a lot of busywork. The kid doesn't need to fill out pages (he writes ENOUGH!), he just needs short, fun lessons that will quickly teach him to spell. Does such a thing exist?

 

Help!

[Mandamom]

I would say spell the words for him at his age. I'd rather encourage the writing rather than having him feel bad about himself due to the spelling within the writing.

 

If he has the tools to spell some words (i.e. phonics) than encourage him to use those strategies. For example if he asks you to spell a word and you might say "what is the first sound you hear?". sometimes you can go to the next sound but other times you just give him the rest of the spelling.

[Mommy to monkeys]

Spell the words out for him. . .

 

I would not under any circumstances TELL him to just "guess" or "experiment" with different spellings. Seeing it written down incorrectly only makes it more difficult for him to learn correct spelling.

[MomsintheGarden]

Spell the words out for him. . .

 

I would not under any circumstances TELL him to just "guess" or "experiment" with different spellings. Seeing it written down incorrectly only makes it more difficult for him to learn correct spelling.

:iagree:He is asking you for help. Give it to him.

[Mystie]

Guessing or experimenting is a bad idea, I think. If he wants to spell correctly, you don't want him to get frustrated (as he is) or get the idea that it doesn't actually matter.

 

I usually write out words (on a different paper) my kids ask about spelling when they are 4-6. No spelling program or curriculum, just answer their questions. And as I write it out, I sound it out so they make the connection that the letters are making the sounds of the words (particularly for the pre-readers).

[FO4UR]

Spell the words out for him.:iagree: The idea of letting them guess is a failed experiment.

 

 

Also, offer to scribe down what he wants to write, and then he can copy it with correct spelling and grammar. That is a very beneficial method b/c he will tell more than he will write, and he's seeing/writing it down in correct form.

 

It sounds like he's eager enough to try some spelling lessons, but certainly keep things short and sweet if you do.

[roanna]

My 6 year old was similar. He's ahead in reading and enjoys writing bits of things for himself in his notebook or a note to family. He spells quite well for his age but there are still tons of words he cannot spell. I tried the "guess at it" for a bit but it really did frustrate him. He has been much happier now that I've been teaching spelling.

 

I know everyone raves about All About Spelling, but honestly it is great. It's very easy to teach. It also teaches the rules to spelling, which a smart child like your son will really use when he writes. It will only take 10-15 minutes a day and about 2-3 minutes of prep time for you.

 

I wouldn't wait around for his school to do it because I'm going to guess they will not be teaching to his higher level.

[PookieMama]

Spell the words out for him. . .

 

 

:iagree:

 

If my child has a particular sentence or more that she wants to write, such as, "Happy birthday, Grandpa! I love you!" I will usually write the whole thing on a small whiteboard for her to copy. Makes things easier for both of us. I also purchased a small beginning writer's dictionary that has many of the words she would want to use, plus room to write in other words that are not included. You could easily make one. I think the one I bought only cost $2 or $3 on CBD.

[MerryAtHope]

Logistically, a PS teacher can't spell words for all of their students, so they will naturally gravitate towards methods that help them with classrooms full of children. Things that are necessary in classrooms are not necessarily going to be the best methods for a homeschool or small classroom. The beauty of homeschooling is that you can help your child when he asks for help, and he can progress more quickly because of it too.

 

I agree with all of the other ladies here, spell for him whenever he asks. I'd start him on a spelling program, he's obviously interested. All About Spelling is an easy one to use with young learners, there may be others.

 

Merry :-)

Edited October 6, 2012 by MerryAtHope

[Walking-Iris]

What's the point in "guessing" or "experimenting" when there's only one right way to do it? :001_huh: Little kids will naturally try to write with "invented spelling" but mainly because they are trying to figure out the correct way to do it. And for the "invented spelling" phase to be productive they need a strong foundation in phonics and some guidance in correcting their writing.

 

My 5 year old uses Explode The Code and he likes the pages that resemble spelling lists. I say the sounds H-A-T and he uses his knowledge of phonics and letter sounds to write what he hears. With my children I just spell the word for them when they ask IF it's a word they aren't familiar with in their spelling or reading. But if I know they are capable of reading the word I'll give them the sounds/syllables and they can figure out to spell from that.

 

I think that telling a child cat is CAT only teaches them to try to memorize those letter name combinations. But if you teach them that cat is the sounds C-A-T then they will hopefully learn that they can use those letter sounds to figure out other words. And sometimes (at that age) it looks like they're using invented spelling. My ds recently wrote "ot" and said it was the word "art" and I knew he was using his knowledge of phonics to write what he heard. IMO it should all be integrated--reading/phonics/writing/spelling.

 

Really simple copywork is good for this age too. Using Dr.Seuss books or Little Bear for example. You could also transcribe for him at this age. As he tells you his "story" you write it and then read it back to him. He could even use it as copywork, so he's learning to write his own words and thoughts without worry about spelling because he's using a model.

 

That may help alleviate the embarrassment when he tries to show others his work.

[Crimson Wife]

Don't be so sure that the school will teach spelling in any systematic way. Most likely, they'll do the "list of random words" approach rather than teaching the rules. My kids do spelling bees and hearing the mistakes that their competitors make, it's so obvious that those kids would've benefited from going through All About Spelling or one of the other rule-based programs.

[DaffodilDreams]

Spell the words out for him. . .

 

I would not under any circumstances TELL him to just "guess" or "experiment" with different spellings. Seeing it written down incorrectly only makes it more difficult for him to learn correct spelling.

 

:iagree:

 

ETA: for help with spelling rules, I haven't found anything that beats Uncovering the Logic of English.

Edited October 6, 2012 by kimmie38017

[ChandlerMom]

I think there are 2 separate things going on WRT spelling in the early grades, simply put there is a difference between not correcting a child's misspelling in the early grades (not penalizing them for guessing and experimenting) and refusing to help them when asked!

 

Put another way, if my k-2 child misspells a word that is significantly above what she's been formally taught to spell, I don't point it out. Usually it is a matter of using the wrong phonetic rules or "hearing" the word wrong. Correcting excessively IMO just encourages them to limit their writing to the words they know they can spell correctly. "Enormous" becomes "Big".

 

OTOH, if my child ASKS me how to spell a word, I ALWAYS show them, even if I know it won't "stick".

 

If your ds is really interested in spelling and writing, I would see no harm in introducing him to short word lists. In K I had my dd come up with groups of 10 words she WANTED to learn to spell and posted them on the fridge. You might also try "word families" (cat/hat/mat etc) or high frequency lists. Give him his own notebook and when he asks you how to spell words, write them in there. Maybe he can draw pictures of the words if he wants.

 

Good luck!

[Hunter]

I like How to Tutor for early writers, because it is easy to teach handwriting and sentence composition skills at the same time.

 

The curriculum teaches slanted cursive writing, but you can use whatever handwriting style you choose. I use vertical cursive lowercase, and traditional manuscript uppercase, but that's probably more than you want to know. :001_smile:

 

A lesson is mostly just copying some tables of similar words and a few sentences using those words. First we talk about the phonics/spelling involved in the words, and then we talk about any grammar involved in the sentences, and then the student composes some original sentences.

 

No workbook pages. :001_smile:

 

I've only been using this a couple months now, so am only about 1/2 way though the book. I'm starting to include some Spalding spelling, and will gradually be transitioning over to Spalding for the Spelling, and Climbing to Good English for composition, and will finish HTT as mostly a handwriting course. Some of the rarer vowel lessons, late in the book, contradict a bit with Spalding, so I'll explain and gloss over the phonics, in those later HTT lessons.

 

Since your son is already writing so well, you might do better jumping right into Spalding. I adore the 6th edition lowercase cursive handwriting instructions, but otherwise STRONGLY recommend the out-of-print but readily available 4th edition.

Edited October 6, 2012 by Hunter

[Farrar]

I think there's a middle ground between "never help him spell and let him always experiment" and "don't ever let him experiment with spelling, make sure he gets it right."

 

Not all kids are motivated to write on their own like this, but when they are, then I think letting them sound out words and try to figure it out on their own has a huge amount of value. I also think stopping to spell every word right will inevitably stop the flow, making writing less appealing and can be really inhibiting for kids' sense of themselves as writers. So there are good reasons to just let him have at it.

 

On the other hand, the more you misspell, the worse the habit can get for some kids and if the spelling isn't slowly becoming more readable over the course of time, then I do see that as a potential problem. If he asks you to spell something, especially something hard, I wouldn't refuse. And I think teaching a little spelling alongside is a positive thing, as is maybe picking some common words to help him with, just a couple of words at a time until you see him spelling them correctly most of the time. You could post a "Ds's Words" list on the wall for him to refer to and add things as they come up and he needs to write them. You could play some word and letter games to work on common words. Basically, I would say don't help him with the writing of stories and letters and so forth, but do make a little "spelling time" on the side and see if that helps his sense of spelling overall.

[Melodiya99]

When dd asks me how to spell things, I just help her say it slowly to sound it out, not just telling her the letters (unless she tries first and it's an irregular spelling, but even then I ask her if she thinks it looks right). She hates spelling things wrong, so over the last year she's become so much more independent because she feels more confident sounding things out and spelling them herself. But fwiw, I would seriously avoid using the letter names and only use the letter sounds as it helps avoid confusion and helps them associate spelling with sounds:)

[justLisa]

I think there's a middle ground between "never help him spell and let him always experiment" and "don't ever let him experiment with spelling, make sure he gets it right."

 

Not all kids are motivated to write on their own like this, but when they are, then I think letting them sound out words and try to figure it out on their own has a huge amount of value. I also think stopping to spell every word right will inevitably stop the flow, making writing less appealing and can be really inhibiting for kids' sense of themselves as writers. So there are good reasons to just let him have at it.

 

On the other hand, the more you misspell, the worse the habit can get for some kids and if the spelling isn't slowly becoming more readable over the course of time, then I do see that as a potential problem. If he asks you to spell something, especially something hard, I wouldn't refuse. And I think teaching a little spelling alongside is a positive thing, as is maybe picking some common words to help him with, just a couple of words at a time until you see him spelling them correctly most of the time. You could post a "Ds's Words" list on the wall for him to refer to and add things as they come up and he needs to write them. You could play some word and letter games to work on common words. Basically, I would say don't help him with the writing of stories and letters and so forth, but do make a little "spelling time" on the side and see if that helps his sense of spelling overall.

 

I agree with all of this. DD writes random things. She actually spells very phonetically but likes to leave out vowels LOL.

 

AAS would be a great thing to do with your son OP regardless of if he is in school or not. It's quick and dd thinks it is fun.

[4ofus]

Personally, at your son's age I'd spell everything he asked. Just my .02. At that age I also kept large lined sticky papers in the kitchen & everytime they asked about a word I'd write it on a sticky & post it on the wall. In the kitchen. We spend almost all of our time in the kitchen :). We'd review READING those words from time to time & they could refer to them for spelling help.

 

If he's asking for help he doesn't want to spell it wrong. He's primed & ready to receive correct information. I wouldn't make him guess.

[kdownie]

Spell the words out for him. . .

 

I would not under any circumstances TELL him to just "guess" or "experiment" with different spellings. Seeing it written down incorrectly only makes it more difficult for him to learn correct spelling.

 

:iagree: Exactly. My dd's first teacher encouraged "inventive spelling," but I now am happy to spell words for her to help her learn the correct way instead of just making up something that sounds right.

[Soror]

My dd is similar, I spell whatever she asks but don't correct her own writing unless she asks. She does a lot of both. We are working on phonics as well and when I think she is able to figure it out by what we've learned then I try to help her figure it out.

 

Today she had dh spell out-

Dear God

You have been sacrificed on the cross.

 

When it is something that long I wouldn't attempt to have her figure it out as she would get to frustrated. We just play it by ear.

[SnMomof7]

If he ASKS for spelling help - give it to him! I don't think a child should ever, ever be encouraged to guess or experiment. Bleh. We do have an accepted standard for spelling in the modern English language (thankfully!) and we should use it :).

[kalanamak]

:iagree:He is asking you for help. Give it to him.

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

Learn the rules yourself (Unlocking the Logic of English covers them in an enlightening and readable way) and *mention* them here and there. E.g. omit--o mit-- O says its long sound at the end of a syllable.

or

love- English words don't end in i, j, or v.

[The Way of My People]

Thanks to all of you! These are some really great suggestions, and I appreciate the advice!

[RootAnn]

I agree with the previous posters, but want to make a suggestion.

 

Give him his own little book to keep track of words he's asked you to spell for him. That way, he doesn't always have to ask you how to spell them, and he'll be able to see the ones he uses frequently over & over again.

 

Give him a little spiral bound notebook (4"x5" for example). You can either just list them page by page or alphabetize it, your or his choice.

 

Even if you already wrote it for him, you can always respell the words. Everytime you spell for him, write the word (you don't have to rewrite it if you've already put it in there - just point it out & respell it). Eventually, he might want it alphabetized if it wasn't already. But let him realize that himself.

 

... And if you added "spelling," I'd go with something that taught the phonograms & spelling rules vs. a half-hazard program. (All About Spelling or get the Logic of English book for yourself.)

[JessieC]

Make him a spelling dictionary out of a notebook--each page is a different letter A-Z. When he asks how to spell a word, write it in his spelling dictionary, so he can look it up next time.

 

He will grow out of this stage of asking how to spell everything. DD was like this from 5-6, and now at almost 8 just goes crazy with her creative spelling. Now I almost wish she did care more about spelling everything right! But the spelling dictionary does help.