or am I just a pedant?

[pookamoo]

DD's nursery can't seem to spell her name right.

It is not a difficult name, and it was fine for the first 10 months she was there, but for the last 2 months, it keeps being written down wrong.

Say DD's name is Susan (it isn't). They spell it Susen. Not even a real name, so not as if they are making a slight change and calling her Susanna or something.

Last week, they even wrote "Susen ate all his dinner" FGS they must have changed her nappy three times, they know she's a girl!

I did mention it before Christmas, and they said they would look into it, but even her paintings are coming home with the wrong spelling!

To be honest I was originally a bit put off the nursery by the poor spelling in the brochure that they sent out. Then I went to look at it, decided that it was more important that she would be looked after by nice, caring people in a lovely setting. They aren't going to be teaching her to read and write, so I thought I would overlook it.

Now I am fed up with it. I know that not everybody is good at spelling, (I'm not always perfect myself, I know) but I think I need to put this in writing to them. Should I also mention the fact that there were many spelling mistakes and punctuation errors all over their brochure, which they send out to prospective parents? Probably not.

AIBU though, to think they ought to get my DD's name right?

Oh, and it seems to be ALL the staff, not just one.

throes, chipping, not throws!

When I started work in Germany, I would ask a colleague to check my letters for spelling and grammar mistakes before I sent them to a customer.

Dyslexia is no excuse for sending out brochures with several mistakes - I highly doubt that a person with dyslexia would volunteer for this task.

YANBU OP.

yanbu. if you have trouble spelling don't get a job teaching children how to write their name. some people have difficulties that are not their fault but they should make appropriate career choices.

i'm allergic to animals so would not become a vet or work in an animal rescue centre.

Yanbu at all.

I agree that dyslexia is not an excuse, but from personal experience I know that it possible for pedants to inadvertantly cause much upset when they are trying to be helpful. I am now much more cautious than I once was. I would definitely deal with this issue, but please be aware that this is not necessarily just laziness or lack of education.

And the idea that someone with poor spelling should not work in a nursery is ridiculous.

Yanbu. My DS2's school couldnt spell his name right. I gave them the benefit of the doubt because its a name that can be spelt in several different ways. TBH his birth mum sort of made up the spelling anyway

But after months of it and getting letters with his first and surnames transposed, both misspelt etc I got really fed up. It indicated a lack of care. The treatment he got in other areas bore that out.

He now goes to a lovely SEN school and they get his name right.

My spelling is a bit rubbish. I dont like the snobbish pointing out of spelling mistakes BUT in an edcuational context I think its acceptable to do so (well not in a snobbish way).

pookamu I offered to proofread DD1's playgroup newsletter as it was riddled with inaccuracies and typos. They did not take me up on it and the next one was just as bad. I've stopped offering. I'm not sure if they think that it doesn't need checking, or if I'm some smug bitch who can bugger off. I suspect the latter...
(btw, I do copy-editing and proofreading for a job so I do know what I'm talking about. Sometimes.)

muddle I agree with you but if people do have poor spelling it should be kept an eye on.
Poor spelling isnt a disability (unless it is connected to a LD). It can be improved and if you work with children you have to work on it.

I never learnt to spell properly. I am not illiterate but some words totally stump me because I never learnt the rules properly.

I would really struggle if I worked in a nursery or school. I do work with young children but in a setting where literacy is unlikely to be an issue. Phew!

DS's nursery had displays on the wall. They misspelt the names of vegetables. The displays stayed up for months. That was lazy and I objected to it.

Some of the best carers I have worked with have been almost functionally illiterate. They may have struggled to put their thoughts on paper, but are fabulous, wonderful, caring people who work twice as hard to make sure they get it right when they have to record information.

Ridiculous that if part of your job is to teach children to write their names you should be able to spell their names?

Is it also ridiculous that my doctor should know my arse from his elbow, or my electrician should know which is live and which is earth?

I know that I am pedantic but have loosened up a bit over the years. However, I still think that the sort of mistakes the OP describes in the nursery prospectus would bother me because it suggests nobody can be bothered with attention to detail and I'd be questioning which other areas of their business they have similar disinterest in.

YANBU at all in expecting your child's name to be spelt right because there is absolutely no excuse for getting this sort of detail wrong.

Can I ask what sort of nursery it is? I mean is it just for really tinies or do they go up to just before school age? If it is just babies, I would just tell them off about the name but if they are going all the way up to 4/5 then they will be starting to teach some children reading and writing a little bit and this needs to be sorted out. I dont think you are being pedantic at all - it drives me crazy when people get names wrong - I actually think it is very rude.

YANBU - I would make a fuss. But then I AM a pedant. So re your OP, not sure! LOL. Seriously though, you're right, say something again.

They haven't responded to my email.

purplepidjin The fact that they are really caring and a fantastic setting made us look past the poorly presented brochure, so I do agree with you. After a year of every newsletter riddled with errors, it grates a lot bit, so the spelling of my DD's name was a good opportunity to bring it up.

Pixie it goes from 3 months to 5 years, my DD is in the age 2-3 group.

YANBU. The spelling issue would annoy me, but the fact they don't respond to you asking them to get the name right, and don't answer your emails, would be even more annoying.

pookamoo the people I have worked with have unanimously recognised their own difficulties and we've worked as a team to play to each others' strengths. So, I would do the writing and they would tell me what they wanted written for example. We would never have sent information outside the team that wasn't proofread and corrected.

As a bit of an update...
When I dropped DD off this morning, the nursery owner called me into the office and said she would be very grateful if I would proofread their prospectus!

Now, where did I put that red pen