Last night it was time for Addie to go to bed. She stopped, sat down on the sofa, crossed her legs and I knew this was important.
I had stuck a clear plastic tote on top of the entertainment center. It had a variety of stuff in it and I was going to go through it after Addie was gone.
She said “Granny! There’s a little red box in that box up there and it looks like something you would have bought for me!” I told her to go to bed and I would finish my row, come in there with the tote and we’d see what it was. I had no idea what it was but sure enough, there was a little red tin I had saved from something for her. It had bees on it and I knew she would like it.
While digging through the other stuff in the box, I found a zipper bag that had little books I had picked up for her – pocket size books. One was Christmas stickers. One was Thanksgiving stickers, one was Christmas peel and stick gift tags and one was a Halloween activity book. I gave her the Halloween activity book and a pencil and told her she could do a few pages in that book. She noticed there were crossword puzzle type things on some of the pages. One page would be the puzzle and the opposite page would have pictures of things that would be the words you used. She said “I love these puzzles” but then she looked at me and I could tell she was disappointed. She said “I can’t spell!”
I asked her if she knew the sound of her letters and if she couldn’t sound out a word and spell it. She said she didn’t think so. I went and sat by her and we began sounding out the words and she found that she COULD spell them. There were a few that baffled her. Why does pillow have a “W” on the end of it? She didn’t hear the “W” sound! Robot has a long “O” so why isn’t it Roebot?
Addie! It’s 10:30 p.m. I want to crochet a few more rows on the pumpkin before bedtime. Trust me! Robot is NOT roebot and pillow does have a “W” on the end!
I didn’t know the rules about why there’s no “e” in robot, nor do I know why pillow, window, shadow, arrow, etc. have a “w” at the end. At 66 years old, I can spell (though my typing may cause you to think differently!) and I don’t even care about the rules at this point. If I don’t know them by now, I can get by without knowing them.
She was so excited that she could spell. She went to bed and got up 5 or 6 times to either tell me words she thought she was spelling correctly and wanted me to tell her if they were correct, or wanting me to ask her words to spell.
It’s the little things! Who would have thought both of us would get so much joy from her realizing that she can spell! I’ve heard Nicole say over and over “I can’t spell” so . . Nicole and I are going to have a talk about that word “can’t”, especially using it in front of Addie.
Just as Addie was finally going to bed, I said “What a great day! You’ve learned to spin and spell on the same day!” Wrong thing to say. She turned around and said “I can spell ‘spin’ and I can spell ‘spell’!
By then, it was time for me to go to bed and those last few rows of crochet didn’t get done but there are things more important than finishing a crocheted pumpkin before bed!
Susan Nixon says
As a beginner, though, if she sounds out pillo or roebot, it’s perfectly acceptable. It’s called invented spelling, and it straightens out later, providing the ability to communicate in writing in the present. Those words get taken care of in the editing step. =)
Judy Laquidara says
Yes, thank you! ANYTHING is better than clamming up and saying “I can’t spell!” I would hate for her to be in high school writing “pillo” or “roebot” but second grade, after missing so much of first grade, that doesn’t bother me and I thought it was pretty good that she even thought of those things.
Teri says
This is wonderful! WTG Addie & Granny 🙂
cindy says
The second grader here agonizes over spelling words for school because she has a bit of OCD in her and wants desperately to get everything right. She is so very phonetic and it upsets her when she makes a mistake. I tried to tell her it was because the English words we use came from so many different languages. We just had a lesson on Latin which seems to have helped her understand somewhat. Enjoy that young one.
Mary Jane says
I’m a retired first grade teacher and loved this post!
Judy Laquidara says
Thank you for teaching first grade. That’s such an important year. Addie has been so blessed to have excellent teachers!
Nelle Coursey says
You are helping her so much. She may have gone on believing she “can’t” do things and you prove to her she can when she tries. I think the phonics way is the best way to teach spelling. Mainly because this is the way I learned. But some people learn easier and better using other methods. But then as you say there are all those secret words that have letters in them that are silent!
Ruth says
I remember when my children came home from first and second grade with “story pictures” to show me. They would draw a picture in the blank space at the top, and then write phonetically (sounding the words out as best they could) the meaning of the drawing in the four or five “writing space lines” below. Often the teacher would add a correct spelling to a word that the parent wouldn’t be able to decipher, but never correcting every single word. I think this activity helped the child to connect the sounds with the letters better.
It’s SO exciting to encourage a child to TRY!! Adults too, of course!
QuilterBea says
You could use dictionary.com or word genius as a resource to exploring the origins of words and various meanings. It can be a fun experience; words are fun. Love phonetics!
moneikquilts says
My daughter can’t spell, but she wasn’t taught in K/ 1st grade, just memorize sight words. Now it’s a struggle as a 4th grader. We’re working on it, but the teachers can see how the previous curriculum didn’t work. I am so happy they now have phonics and are learning to spell and sound out words. Mathew who is in 2nd grade is a great speller, but he learned from K on, 5 words a week he learned to spell. -ow is a vowel-consanant combination that makes that sound. Again, a phonics thing.
Judy Laquidara says
I think Addie has had way more sight words in K & Grade 1 than phonics.