Comments:

Alice - 2006-08-29 22:35:18
In my experience, spelling is a get-it or don't thing. And while reading seems to give some children a much better feeling for spelling, other avid readers read right through the letters and see only meaning. And while I won't give up on kids who want to work on spelling, I try very hard to stress the importance of not slowing down while you are writing to mess with the intricacies of conventional spelling. The real key to the whole writing process is capturing those ideas; we can always work on editing them later. You're a writer; you know this, but it is a little different because you have confidence in your spelling. Help her learn to recognize when she has a word misspelled. I have my students underline words as they write (or make a dot in the margin of the line) if they know they've been uncertain about correct spelling. It makes the editing easier, especially on timed or in-class sorts of writing where there won't necessarily be a second draft. I'm going on and on here... I guess I just want her to know that there are skills she can hone that will balance out a weakness as trivial as spelling. A book, a tool, another person can help you spell, but those ideas swirling in her mind that only she can express because they're hers alone... they're the treasure we don't want to slip away. /end teacher mode Are your kids back to school now? Everything going okay in back in the traditional setting?
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