Why Are Our Schools So Proud of Bad Spellers?

on February 5, 2011 at 9:38 AM

Grammar nuts of the world, it's time to sit shiva for spelling. It's slowly being murdered. But I don't blame the texting. I think the real problem may be our public schools.

Every day my 5-year-old comes home with a new pile of worksheets. I'm starting to think there's a deal with the paper companies; they take down a tree a day in kindergarten. And every day I find big stars and flowery compliments on top of pages riddled with misspellings.

"I go up the slibe"

"We go to the prk" "

"I said my dad looks prite"

This is what I'm sending my kid to kindergarten for? To be praised for chewing up the English language and spitting it out, one mangled word at a time? Welcome to the new spelling, other parents tell me. They're not supposed to get it right.

In fact when I pulled out the pile of papers the teacher gave us back on open house night in September, there's a form that encourages us to "praise your child's early [read crappy] attempts at writing," and takes us through levels one through seven -- of which only one, the very last, resembles anything close to the words you see on your computer screen right now.

We were taught words and how to spell them correctly. But what we had down in nursery school -- scribble and pictorial "writing" -- is on this list from kindergarten. After that, our kids are being gently led through a process of "precommunicative" writing, then "semiphonetics" then (finally) phonetics. And after that there are still two more steps.

I finally understand the parents who "over-help" with their kids' homework. It is physically painful for me to say "oh yes, that's wonderful" over her shoulder when I see she's spelled like with a "y." Because if I say it's a job well done, Mom just gave her approval. It's right. She might as well file that one away as a "how to do it next time." What's the incentive for her to learn to do it correctly?

Even the form from her school confuses me -- it warns that by the time she's a "conventional" speller, she'll "spell most words correctly [but] may use phonics-based spelling for advanced words." OK, fair enough. But then there's this gem: "remember, we can only expect children to correctly spell words they have already learned!"

Wait a minute, you're letting them spell the words INCORRECTLY to begin with. They don't ever seem to learn to "correctly spell words" when the reward for waxing poetic about the "slibe" on the playground is awarded with a giant "awesome" atop the paper.

I would feel better about their assurance that she'll get it eventually if it weren't for the misspelled statuses I see daily on Facebook:

From a 15-year-old who attends my daughter's school: "my baby left for her cruise 2day nd i miss her alredy"
From another 15-year-old, same school: "I have cute stuff in my closet I haven't wore in months"
From a 14-year-old, same school: "ill be very blunt... we neverrr talk"

Quick, someone make this mother an "It Gets Better" video about spelling. Because the way I see it, unless I go all Tiger Mom on her homework, I'm going to add another member to the world's illiterate population. I love my daughter. I'm proud of her. But I'm not going to praise her spelling until it's right.

Do you feel like the schools are too easy on poor spelling?

Image via isox4/Flickr

About the author Jeanne Sager

writes articles for The Stir by day, slays closet monsters and bounds through bedtime stories with her elementary schooler by night. Diet Pepsi courses through her veins. The Phineas and Ferb soundtrack reverberates through her brain.

Filed Under: education, elementary school

Comments (50)

TKsMommie

on Feb 5, 2011 at 9:46 AM

I struggle with it too! My son is in first grade so phonetic spelling is understandable. And for some words I will tell him, you know what it does make more sense spelled that way BUT we then talk about the correct spelling. I had a mom who corrected our papers with a red pen. To me spelling and proper use of the language are EXTREMELY important, because when you spell and talk like that as you get older, you look like an idiot!

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acrogodess

on Feb 5, 2011 at 9:47 AM

My kids who are in 4th and 2nd grade can read way better than they can write. I do however correct their spelling all the time. I also correct their punctuation.

Ursula187

on Feb 5, 2011 at 9:49 AM

The writing method that you're witnessing is a variation on what's called "Kid Writing." The idea is to encourage, not just spelling and vocabulary, but also sentence structure and story telling as a part of writing. If children are only encouraged to write the words that they know how to spell, then they will not write much at all. Instead, "Kid Writing" encourages kids (mostly in kindergarten and first grade) to write stories using any words -- even words that they do not know how to spell. If they do not know how to spell it, then they are encouraged to write any sounds that they can recognize in the word (even if it's just one letter). The part that seems to be missing from your daughter's experience is the "adult writing" portion. In the "Kid Writing" method, the child should meet with a teacher so that the teacher can write the "correct" spelling for the words underneath the Kid Writing. That way, the child can actually compare the correct spelling of the word to his or her own attempts. If you do not want to praise your daughter's incorrect spelling, try praising the attempt, and writing the correct spelling of the word under the word.

Bree1984

on Feb 5, 2011 at 10:07 AM

You're the parent. It's your job to correct and guide. Pick up the slack. The school isn't the end-all, be-all in your child's education.

asmcbride

on Feb 5, 2011 at 10:09 AM

I hate to tell you, but it does not get better if left in the hands of the school. I was part of one of the first classes this style of teaching was tried on, and to this day I still have terrible trouble spelling correctly. Spell check has become my best friend. The only thing that kept me from being any worse was my parents stepping in and taking control when I was in the second grade. They basically told my teacher to shove it and started correcting my homework and working on spelling at home. What pushed my poor mother over the edge was when she noticed that I consistently spelled "of" as "ouv." Yep, that's what public school did for me.

VeronicaTex

on Feb 5, 2011 at 10:21 AM

I was a teacher for 21 years...both in English and Spanish ....I taught 3rd to 6th grade mainly

I heard of the method you described encouraging kids to write....I believe in the public school in which I taught it was called Writing to Read....I am blessed to have not had to use that method because I would have been fighting it internally all the way...No, I believed in getting that red pen out then makng my kids use the dictionary to correct it....

I was extremely picky when I was a bilingual teacher...My kids, after making their own vocabulary cards and I giving a test where I provided blanks and some letters had to take their test...They did well. It helped build their self-esteem in English...I was really surprised to see Spanish-speaking kids make terrible spelling mistakes...My husband is a prime example...Extremely intelligent man..like many others, not gifted with the ability to spell....This is very common...I will be bold here and say just not everyone has that gift...So if it is not important in the job (especially now days) Why care? I would love to see if available that people would use spell check...But if they don't..I will look for the gist of what they are saying and consider more the tone and feeling behind the words....

Nonmember comment from Anon

on Feb 5, 2011 at 10:28 AM

I do think you're worrying a little early. I mean, your kid spelled "said" right - that's something. Rather than praise the whole paper, I'd pick out the difficult words that she recently mastered and praise her for those, and point out how a certain phonics rule can be used to correct a word she got wrong. Kids won't be crushed by being corrected, but a 5-year-old is going to misspell words. ... In recent past decades, they wouldn't even start teaching words until 1st grade, or worrying about correct spelling until at least 2nd grade. So be happy they are back to expecting written expression of KG kids. ... I agree though, that they lose the improvement as the kids get older. All I ever hear is excuses for why teachers don't expect excellence. It's all Bush's fault, or whatever. They went to 4 yrs of college to default to that? Makes me wonder what the teachers' colleges are teaching nowadays.

Facebook comment from Danielle Garceau

on Feb 5, 2011 at 10:39 AM

My step daughter is in 5th grade and she brings writing home also. She has to be the world's worst speller. Every other word is spelled wrong, plus she doesn't know how to use punctuation or her grammar. Same scenerio here, there are zero correction. Ursula makes a very good point, I could totally see my step daughter avoiding anything that she would have to put a little effort into. But on the other hand, she has the "I don't care" additude and will not go over and byond what is expected of her from her teachers. There don't have vocabulary words or spelling in the 5th grade and that bothers me. I don't think the teachers should make off for spelling and grammar, but at least correct it in red pen.

on Feb 5, 2011 at 11:03 AM

I invite anyone to visit a public school. I can see from having taught in At Risk schools that that is the trend, not to emphasize spelling, but more the sentence structure and getting thoughts down on paper...

I do not put the blame on the teachers for not doing things as were done when I was growing up in the 60s, before Sputnik appeared in the picture and the "race for space"started and changed everything, especially putting the emphasis more now on Math and Science..We students were under no pressure at that time, not in the way kids are now...(Many schools'kids handle this well, but in an At Risk school, and with kids with learning disabilities...It is a daunting task...)

My teaching career started in the Catholic school in 1983....As each year progressed, until 2006 when I finally left the teaching field, more and more information and demands were piled on each year....Kids were doing things in 3rd grade that I did in 9th. (Word problems, specifically)

In Texas in the public schools in which I taught the TAKS test reigned supreme....I can see very easily how correct spelling has gone by the wayside...There simply is no time to do this.in the classroom..

I am so glad to see that parents are taking the initiative at home to improve kids spelling...but beyond that, with the new technologies and demands on the kids and parents NOT capable of helping their kids at home...This is going to be a continuing problem....

RanaAurora

on Feb 5, 2011 at 11:15 AM

As the child of nothing but English gurus and teaching nuts, I did ask my son's teacher at what point spelling became important. The answer? AFTER learning all the letters and letter combonations phonetics, really learning how to sound out words, etc. The "bad" spelling is just the outward demonstration of them trying to sound things out. As they become more comfortable with their phonetics and syllables and all of that, the spelling naturally improves as well, along with teachers doing spelling exercises to help with common words.

It's cute and normal. Give it time. That's not to say you can't gently say, "Oops, what OTHER letters make that sound?" when they use a k instead of c, you know? Definitely correct mistakes, but try to remember that this is supposed to be cute because it's normal and part of the learning process. You don't learn antidisestablishmentarianism overnight! :D

And for god's sake, don't type shorthand, even on cellphones. Teach them that there IS no place for bad writing once you DO get past first grade. If they see Mommy writing "where r u?" that won't help one bit. *shudder*