spelling - English class vs foreign language class

[Anonymous]

Why is it that my seventh grader has never been marked off for spelling in his various writing assignments through the years, but now that he is taking a foreign language he loses points for the slightest spelling error?

[Anonymous]

What a great point, OP! I love your perceptive criticism.

I wish I knew the answer.

And guess how my daughter learned grammar? certainly not through her English courses

What a sorry system we have!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that my seventh grader has never been marked off for spelling in his various writing assignments through the years, but now that he is taking a foreign language he loses points for the slightest spelling error?

Are they using a computerized system? They are extremely picky. Wouldn't you want your child to learn how to spell or do you want him carrying those flawed skills into the workplace?

[Anonymous]

"It's the message that is important." That's what I heard through all of my son's years in public school about his writing. Nobody cared about handwriting or spelling even in MS. I switched him to Catholic school for HS and they marked off for spelling and poor handwriting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What a great point, OP! I love your perceptive criticism.

I wish I knew the answer.

And guess how my daughter learned grammar? certainly not through her English courses

What a sorry system we have!

If your daughter is a native English speaker, then your daughter learned English grammar as she learned to talk. As Monsieur Jourdain says in Moliere's play Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, "Par ma foi, il y a plus de quarante ans que je dis de la prose, sans que j’en susse rien."

I have a middle-schooler and a high-schooler in MCPS. They've had their spelling mistakes marked off in English writing assignments. Mechanics is always part of the grading rubric.

[Anonymous]

OP, I thought the same thing! I am not saying it is wrong to take off in Spanish but so weird that in English, Social Studies and Science DD can spell a word wrong in every sentence (except formal Summative papers in English) and get 100%. In her Spanish class, not just conjugation but anything spelled incorrectly is taken off. It seems inconsistent to me. I would rather she does learn to spell!