Is Spelling Necessary? by Susan Mandel Glazer

When children are learning how to write, remember that they need time to grow into being "perfect" writers

In answer to the above question: absolutely! We all need to make sure our spelling is in standard form when we share our written creations. And that's when our spelling should be perfect.

So why ask the question?
When children begin to write, there's a notion that everything they write must be correct, handwriting must be perfect, no misspellings and so on. When our children begin to speak, it's okay to mispronounce words. I remember my 29 year-old nephew at age two scampering around a family gathering saying, "Bika, Bika, Bika." His dad and others pointed to objects and repeated, "Bika?" We eventually discovered that Darren was calling for his uncle, Ricky. The adults chuckled and said, "How cute! He's so smart!"

Growing with rehearsal
Learning to speak is "cute" and even "brilliant." Learning to handwrite is not the same. There is little allowance for trial and error; criticism replaces probing and coaching and skepticism surfaces about the child's ability to write. Most people believe its fine to practice words orally so that articulatory muscles are trained to say words correctly. It's not, however, okay with many to believe that children need the time to grow into becoming writers. And that's because there are many parallels between learning to speak and learning to write. Both processes are developmental and grow with rehearsal, repetitive activity and time.

Talking out loud
A bigger issue for me is the notion that learners need to "be quiet when you write or you won't be able to think." When I compose, I often do it out loud. I talk to the imaginary people who I believe will agree with me. I snarl at those adversaries who attempt to defeat my goals. Talking helps me to negotiate both sides of the issue and to create my own text.

As I've mentioned before, I have a problem with spelling, so it's even more important for me to say words out loud as I write them. I say some words slowly, holding onto the vowel to prolong the time it takes me to recode from speech to print.

Spelling tests
Many of you, for one reason or another, administer spelling tests. From experience, I know that most of us often say the word: "penultimate." Then we continue, "This is the penultimate ingredient I need to make my cake, the next to last thing." Now, make a picture in your mind. Visualize one of your children who struggles to listen. This is the child who you want to say to all the time, "Be sure you're listening to what I'm saying!" Whatever you do or say, the poor kid doesn't seem to be able to listen. The child tries to hold the spelling word in his or her head. Despite his or her best effort, something stops him or her from keeping it isolated so he or she can write it when the word is put into the context of a sentence. The child loses the sound of the word and gets confused by the sentence. When you deliver the next spelling word and then say it in a sentence, the child just gives up.

Assess only spelling
Children feel this way when they struggle to keep a word in mind, especially when the word is mixed in with others. My point is, if we're assessing children's spelling, we should assess only that. Make a rule for yourself that children must know the meanings of words or there is no need to learn to spell them. This implies that the words children are expected to learn must be part of their content and literature studies and their everyday lives as well. If a child doesn't understand a word's meaning, there's no reason to want to remember it. Putting the word into a sentence is distracting and destructive to many children's thought processes. Here's an example of the test I did using the word "penultimate:"

1. I said the word slowly and distinctly.

2. I asked the children to say it with me.

3. I then said, "Say it as you write it."

Hearing and writing
This technique may not help students to write words whose sound/symbol relationships don't match. But when kids hear themselves say words, it helps them to understand when words are written the way they sound. When they talk as they write, they can "hear" and write simultaneously. Listening to one word without a surrounding sentence forces students to focus on that particular word. Try it despite the fact the most of the phonological system of our English language is confusing. See what happens and let me know.

Susan Mandel Glazer is the Director of the Center for Reading and Writing at Rider University in Lawrence, NJ.