Dear parents,
Kindergarten is an exciting, busy time for children,
teachers, and parents alike. The young students learn so much every day;
research has shown that the most significant kind of learning takes place when
students make connections and build their own understanding of given topics
(Tompkins, 2005). Some of the most important connections are formed when
children use what they know about reading to aid in their writing and vice
versa. Because of this, it is critical that teachers and parents not only
“allow” but encourage students to use temporary spelling when writing.
The purpose of writing is to convey ideas, stories, and
thoughts. In order to successfully convey those thoughts, one must create
writing that can be read by others. It is far more powerful to encourage a
child to listen for and record more sounds so that a friend could read the word
than to tell a child that he has not spelled the word with “book spelling” and
to provide that spelling for the child. Also, a focus on the purpose of writing
instead of the minute conventions of writing allows children to become more
engaged in the process. Children have wonderful ideas that they love to share
in their writing. A child who writes more and reads more will with guidance,
build a better understanding of the written language than a child who is very
anxious around the subject.
When a child uses temporary spelling, errors can provide
fabulous information to parents and teachers. If a child successfully writes
beginning and ending sounds of a word but has a hard time with the short vowels
in the middle, this is also likely to be a challenge spot in reading. By
highlighting examples of relevant words in books, providing applicable word
sorts, and other activities, it is possible to create a deeper understanding of
those short vowels. This will allow the child to generalize what he has learned
on a much larger scale than would be possible if he had simply learned one word
by rote memorization in isolation (Bear, 2007). Children must build their
understanding of patterns within written English in order to become successful
writers.
Kindergarteners can become focused on conventional spelling;
they may ask, “How do you spell…?” if this happens during homework time, there
are many wonderful alternatives to simply spelling the word for your child.
First, “stretch the word.” Say the word slowly and be sure to use correct
sounds. Young children often know a given phonetic chunk but may not be
pronouncing it correctly himself (i.e. “fank you” instead of “thank you”).
Stretching the word also helps the child focus on all of the sounds in a word
instead of just the beginning and ending sounds. Finally, stretching the word
models an effective spelling strategy for the child.
Another strategy for helping with spelling on homework is to
connect a challenging word to words the child knows. This can be done in two
ways. First, identify a more common rhyming word. A child may know how to spell
“lip” but be stuck on “trip.” Identifying the rhyming word can help the child feel
more confident to have a go with the “tr” sound if he already has figured out
the “ip” part of the word. Similarly, there may be a familiar word within the
challenging word. For instance, if a child is stuck on “snowman,” it can be a
big help to point out that “man” is a known word and to build “snow,” as best
he can, onto the beginning of the word. This is also helpful not only with
compound words, but with words that have word endings on them (e.g. “swimming”)
and with long words (i.e. “compartment”). Most importantly, be sure to
praise the effort the child is making! Just as a parent encourages a baby who
tries to say a word, adults must encourage young children who are learning to
write (Butler & Turbill, 1987). Congratulate the child for attempting to
include a vowel or vowel pattern (e.g. “vowel, consonant silent e”) or for
including both letters of a digraph (i.e. “this”). This will reinforce
the skill and will help the child take more risks with writing as time goes on.
Thank you, in advance, for your help in encouraging your
child to use temporary spelling on homework and other writing at home. Some
people may think that it is counterintuitive to encourage spelling what seem
like errors and they may be concerned that their children will build habits of
incorrect spelling. On the contrary, however, by using the above strategies to
aid in temporary spelling, you will build your child’s orthographic
understanding at his level. As your child begins to recognize root words, etc.,
his trial spellings will become more accurate. Focusing on improving temporary
spelling instead of focusing on complete accuracy will help your child become a
more engaged, confident writer and will provide the opportunity for your child
to make connections between reading and writing that are relevant to him.
Please feel free to call or email me if you have any questions or concerns.
Take care,
Meg Keene
