Reply to What can a 2nd grader spell? How. to teach spelling at home?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If he can read just fine, why does this matter?

Reading is the best way to learn how to spell.  Other than that, just have him practice.  Make a list of words you know he can read.  Have him practice writing them out.  Do this every week or so.

Personally, I'd spend the time having him read though.[/quote]

Ignore this poster. Spelling matters. It gets harder & harder to teach, so I would absolutely do spelling lessons with him. Second grade is a perfect age. Most kids have awful spelling now since schools don’t do direct spelling instruction. [/quote]

Np here. We are at a catholic school and our kids have had weekly spelling tests since first grade. Our friends at an independent private have had the same. My friends at dcps whose kids are in 2nd grade have told me they have not had spelling tests yet. I think this is a major failing of the system as spelling and writing well go hand in hand in my opinion. [/quote]

Yup. You are correct. Public schools twist themselves into pretzels as they explain why spelling instruction is bad. [/quote]

Agreed, with the caveat that my nephew was doing spelling tests in kindergarten at his parochial before he could read. That wasn’t the right approach, but neither is ignoring spelling completely. That said, I’m teaching my kindergartener English phonics explicitly and her spelling is better than some of the second graders at her bilingual school. She could spell food (and spelled comida as “conida” because that’s how she hears it, apparently). She said food has two o’s because it “has an ooooo in it.” That’s phonics.[/quote]

Right, but most students need deliberate practice in spelling. Spelling lists would show students the rule and vowel breakers. But now there is no practice. That's how you end up with 5th graders spelling everything phonetically. It's like teaching kids the letter sounds and how to blend but not giving them practice. How would they ever develop mastery that way? They wouldn't. Spelling lists are similar to decodable books for reading. They allow students to practice what they are learning. Without it, they never move on from spelling like a kindergartener.[/quote]

Oh absolutely. But testing kids in spelling before teaching the spelling rules is a futile exercise in rote memorization. My K student is reading on a mid second grade level (thank you, phonics!) and now feels like about the right time to start working on spelling. She’s got the fundamentals down and can get a good part of the way there by applying the rules. Now she’ll actually learn WHY and how to apply it to other words, not just memorize that specific word in a vacuum. I think we started spelling in second grade back in the nineties. Definitely third grade, but that’s just because I remember that teacher playing spelling games with the class…[/quote]

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