This morning, as is their wont during the winter, the kids were tubing while waiting for the bus.
Today, DD is belly down on the tube, just starting to go, when the little boy next door (about half her size if that) decided he was going to jump on top of her. He lands in such a way that his mouth connects square to the back of her head and he continues into a perfect flip, back into the snow. The adults are laughing, but all of a sudden, he's crying and very bloody.
DD has a small bump on the back of her head and he's short three, already loose, baby teeth.
Needless to say, he missed the bus and appears more upset that the tooth fairy might not credit him for all three teeth.
Know something ? I think that is great, that's what childhood used to be - a series of small misadventures often ending in casts or stitches. I find kids today far too sheltered and wonder how they will manage when they hit the real world and their new boss is not interested in congratulating them for a half-assed job or boosting their egos :)
The nicest thing about my next door neighbor and good friend is that we feel exactly like that - you have to get dirty and sometimes get hurt along the way. And the kids have to work out their issues. L is 7, about to 8, and since his older brothers are 21 and 19, he needs an older "sibling". And DD needs to be the oldest sometimes too.
Our village library is staffed totally by volunteers and last week were delighted to have a nice young woman come in offering her services....until we asked her to shelve some books, alphabetically by author's last name.....she didn't know her alphabet......Sharon in Canada
I'm a firm believer in the fact that some very intelligent people can't spell and that it doesn't have a lot to do with their level of education, their ability to read and comprehend what they read, or their IQ.
Nonetheless, a resume full of spelling errors will not be impressive and heaven only knows, it doesn't take much to learn to spell. The reverse is also true, I looked twice at a person who said very little but presented a beautifully written piece of work.
If you are really intelligent surely you know how people regard sloppy work and you are intelligent enough to learn to spell, now, if not in school. That's what I meant originally, kids are told the piece is okay (in spite of the errors because we mustn't damage their egos by saying they made mistakes) so they leave school certain they are perfect and can't believe others do not see them that way.
See ? He didn't want work going out looking very ignorant ! A solution to a recognised problem, that's what you were.
However, there seem a good many around today who because of the system of the child NEVER being wrong, seem to believe they are perfect, in every way. Why wouldn't they if nobody saw fit to mention they were wearing the Emperors Clothes lol
I have discussed this at great length with a teacher friend here and he says it is not easy when the parents will not see any flaw in Bobby. He said, 'Send home a note, then wait for gunfire' - it appears it is always his fault the child is not doing well, never mind the other kids in the class are fine. He himself is an impeccable speller and I am sure tries to instill good work habits in kids.
Oh, I thought it sounded considerate on your part and intelligent on his because he knew it needed checking. You know I wouldn't congratulate you on being a boring woman lol
Very true. But some people, regardless of intellectual capability, do have issues that interfere with their ability to spell. My DB is dyslexic, not very, but was constantly doing poorly in spelling when in elementary school, finally they figured out the dyslexia, and he got some special counseling to work with it. Essentially, they (teachers) told my parents that when he grows up and has a job - he'll have a secretary to fix his spelling. And it's true. He's very bright, and quite capable in his field, as a litigator who also consults (his clients - other lawyers for the most part). At the same time, he knows enough to be sure that his documents are thoroughly checked.
Having been caught myself with stupid typos in a resume, I hate that. Now I go back and check the dictionary in WORD to remove any misspelled words that may have been accepted in error.
See above. All of our god kids learned to spell, and their parents work through it with them, I know lots of young children that seem to have fun learning to spell. OTOH, I'm one of those people that does spell well, always did, and was always the spelling bee kid (even if my DM wouldn't let me go to nationals 'cause I was too young). It's pretty said to assume that all kids are told "it's okay" when turning in a paper with spelling and grammar errors. I think that is more likely an issue specific to different areas, school boards, etc. I've heard plenty of whining from the 14 year old god daughter about her paper getting marked down for sloppiness, poor grammar, etc. But, I'm sure it happens as you say.
It's the whole thinking and presenting ideas in a clear format that IME seems to be missing in the education through high school. I can remember teaching thermo, and for the first half the term, letting kids redo their homework because it was so poorly presented, unclear, couldn't follow their work - which meant in those kind of problems there was no way to give partial credit, or see where they went wrong. And this is a junior class, not a freshman one - but primarily with kids taking it early - as sophmores
- they hadn't really been thru a basic engineering class that required them to present things in a structured, clear, manner. Chemistry usually does that. And English with grammar used to, but who knows any more. It was astonishing to me to be explaining the reason to have your work be legible, logically constructed, and....in ink (so you cross out the error, don't erase - let's the back-tracking be seen for info as you work). I'd let them turn the homework back at the next class - and usually that was done.
The thing about correct spelling and grammar is that *effective* communication is the most efficient and rewarding way of sharing ideas. If your communication skills are flawed, then you'll spend more time explaining and apologising for ambiguity in the end. I always used to teach kids that we write things down so that someone else can understand what we want to tell them. That means, 'write well, spell well and gram well'. (I made that up ;-> )
There's no shame in being a faulty speller (at least, I don't think there is). Just like being poor at sport or a less-than-perfect cook, we can't all be great at everything. Nevertheless, it's well worth *trying* to spell correctly so others can read what we write and get our drift correctly the first time. It's the same with grammar. People who don't have auto-pilot for spelling need to buy a dictionary of some sort.
I know there have been arguments since forever about whether phonetic spelling is good or bad. I have to come down on the side of traditional spelling because it reflects the history of the word and I'm fascinated by history. See, to leave the diphthong (æ) out of 'encyclopædia' removes the word from its Greek origin. (Gr. Paedos: education. Like in 'Paedagogy', which is a subject I took in my post-grad year). Now, this is an entirely personal opinion and I'm not foisting it on anyone - just sharing what I reckon. Even the Oxford Dictionary has 'encyclopedia' as its main entry. I think that's a shame. The change has been made for the convenience of those who don't want the bother of getting it right.
Getting it right is, I think, the crux of the matter. When my parents were growing up, you got it right or you got a whack! When I was growing up, you got it right or you did it again. When my DS was growing up, you got it right or you got it wrong and no one cared. Now, as my DD is growing up, you get it wrong most of the time and you're praised for it! (NB. My DD and DS are both impeccable spellers and I'm happy about that. DD could spell 'encyclopaedia' correctly when she was six.)
I think what we're really bemoaning is the general trend away from excellence in many areas. It's my belief that lowering standards of excellence has (especially in primary education) permitted children to advance without ever learning the skills of concentration and focus required to observe closely and get things right. Again, this is my personal barrow, but I'll push it till I die! I believe it does our kids a huge disservice as it denies them the chance to reach their full potential.
One last comment before ending the diatribe. I don't believe that spelling skills are learned as effectively by rote as they are simply by continual exposure to correctly-spelled reading material. My kids
*never* did their spelling homework and hated the repetition of spelling lessons. Both read widely, though, and 'acquired' spelling as if by osmosis. I reckon that's why some brains pick up spelling while others don't. If you're not wired that way, then you don't have a dictionary in your brain and you'll have to consult the Oxford. Oh well. While my kids can both spell like the dickens, neither is much good at sport. Let me tell you, it's *far* worse to be a poor athlete in school today than it is to be a poor speller! Things that make y'go 'Hmmmm...'
With the peculiar spelling of so many English words, a dictionary is useless for a really poor speller. How can you look up the word laugh if you can't spell it?
As a really poor speller, I beg to differ. My dictionary is indispensable, even if I have to search to find the word I meant to use. I know how to spell laugh. It's things like independent, irritable, things with double or single letters that are issues.
As a really poor speller, I beg to differ. My dictionary is indispensable, even if I have to search to find the word I meant to use. I know how to spell laugh. It's things like independent, irritable, things with double or single letters that are issues.
Elizabeth
I think I'm a decent speller, but sometimes I have the same problem. I think part of the problem is that I've gotten out of the habit of proofreading my own messages, which has always been difficult for me to do. I'm great with someone else's stuff, but miss mistakes in my own. I guess my brain skips typos because it expects words to be correctly spelled.
After several years of using Microsoft Word and getting annoyed because it kept underlined words that I knew were _not_ mis-spelt someone pointed out that MS Word underlined spelling errors in green and grammatical errors in red (or was it the other way around?) - being colour blind they both looked the same to me!
Well, I guess that's the point of reading widely: so you can be exposed to lots and lots of irregular words and have some idea of the spelling to start with. Of course, the importance of correct spelling varies with your intent. I'd die before I'd send an incorrectly spelled letter to the Queen or the Prime Minister or for a job application. Here at rctn and in letters to friends, I'm not quite so vigilant about it all. Software spellcheckers are OK as far as it goes, but the one in MSWord annoys me because it clearly has an American accent! ;-D
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