diaperjoys Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Inspired by the turtle that (literally) arrived on our doorstep this week, our son drew a picture and wrote a note of explanation on it. trtl witi ts heb in iisell This, translated, reads: "Turtle with its head in his shell." Should I be concerned about this spelling? He'll turn 6 this summer, and I'd say he's reading at a 2nd grade level. I'm an experienced 2nd grade teacher from a Classical Christian school, so I'm pretty familiar with how they typically read. He wouldn't be at the very top of the class, but certainly in the mix. I had thought that his spelling ability would be a bit closer to his reading ability. We were going to do Evan Moor Building Spelling Skills Grade 1 beginning in the fall, and then go on with the Logos School materials after that since that is the program I have the most experience with & is reasonable independent. But it occured to me today that last year, when he was stumped on reading, he really caught on when I gave him a stack of index cards with relevant words on them, and had him sort them by beginning letter, then again by middle letter, then again by ending letter. Hands on. Maybe All About Spelling would be a better pick despite the higher cost and more teacher-time. Is this spelling (or lack thereof) unusual?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Yes that is perfectly normal, it is called inventive spelling and is a common and normal stage before actual spelling. I am impressed he is only 5 and writing full sentences like that even if they are will inventive spelling. Aside from his name my 5.5 yr old (Turns 6 in Aug) can not write anything, he only knows about 5 or 6 letter sounds at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yslek Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 It doesn't look unusual to me. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meldamo Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 It looks really good to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 It looks typical to me too. And very adorable. :) Becca just turned 6 two weeks ago, reads at a very high level, and has been learning spelling for a year. She still gives us a lot of invented spelling, but I'm not concerned at all. BTW, we love AAS - it's not terribly teacher-intensive at all, IME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Yep looks like a 5 yr old wrote it! :lol: Spelling and reading are two ends of the earth at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langfam Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 Just perfect!!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razorbackmama Posted April 4, 2009 Share Posted April 4, 2009 I'm IMPRESSED! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Wow! Good for him! It looks perfectly normal. Even older kids often have trouble when spelling *and* writing at the same time. I've had kids that could spell perfectly if gave them a list of words. But once writing, all the thinking must have been funneled to content because the spelling was off. But great writing. :D Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 (edited) It is not bad and definitely not cause for worry or anything, but I actually couldn't read it. The endings for some of the words seem to be stuck to the beginning of the previous words. Does that make sense? For instance, the other day, my ds 5.5 wrote a letter to his dad. It said: Dad, I hope yoo wil bring me sawr skitles wen yoo come home. Obviously, it is phonetic (mostly - he is learning silent e and has that part DOWN...LOL Now...to realize that you is not spelled the same as "too" even though two o's do make the same sound as the ou in the words...) but the words don't run into one another. I am not sure if that is odd or not as this is my first time teaching a child to read. ETA: Curiousity got me and I had ds write this sentence to see what he would do. Here is his: Turtil wif its hed in its shel. Edited April 5, 2009 by Tree House Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom to 3 Island Boys Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Looks VERY similar to things my 5 year old has been writing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo2 Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Looks good. In my opinion, ANY spelling by a 5yo is good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 ETA: Curiousity got me and I had ds write this sentence to see what he would do. Here is his: Turtil wif its hed in its shel. DD's would look just like this except turtle would be spelled: trdl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lotsofpumpkins Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Wow! My 5 1/2 year old can only spell his name and the names of his siblings, as well as CAT (and maybe the other -AT words). My 7 year old is a really good reader, but I found that it's way easier for her to read something than to figure out how to spell it (even if it's words she JUST covered in a phonics lesson a few minutes before). So, accurate spelling definitely can take some time to develop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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