Should I correct a teacher?

[Sadgirlonatrain]

In my son's recent geography homework, one of the questions on the sheet referred to the decline of coal mining in the North East.

"How would this of effected the area?"

No wonder the use of 'would of' is so widespread now, never mind the incorrect use of 'effected.'

Would you say anything to the school?

Which part of the country are you in?

I know that teachers should be able to write properly but there are lots of places where regional accents change how people write without them really noticing.

Definitely
Is why we have chosen private - state schools are often rubbish

I would.
I recall walking into a classroom once where a TA had labelled everything to help with reading. All well and good except for the drawer labeled 'knifes and forks draw'.

No

I know a TA who always writes “know” when she means “now”. It’s so confusing!!

I did once. When my daughter's primary school teacher sent home a list of spellings and one of them was spelt incorrectly. Pointless exercise!

If this was a consistent issue then maybe but once, no way. There are far more pressing issues that go on in schools imo and I’d not make this my hill. I understand the concern though.

Maybe not but, we are talking - Geography!!

Sometimes grammar etc is very overwhelming for us - it doesn't make us stupid or any less intelligent than the rest of the 'grammar police'!

I am dyslectic and also have a number of other grammatical issues but, thank goodness i have been able to work and function in a very highly paid position whereby my English isn't strutinised BUT, supported!

Jog on!

Of course not, you will sound like an absolute idiot.
Why?

What an odd thing to complain about.
Complaining that a teacher is teaching your child incorrect English is not at all odd, regardless of what subject they teach.

Yes, definitely! That teacher is not properly literate. Good grief.

Regional accents don't change the fact that a teacher should be writing sentences with correct SPAG.

The teacher who taught me for English language O level, did not have English as her first language, though she was fluent. And of course, as a useless monoglot, I have every admiration for that. But...she wasn't perfect in it. And when I wrote an essay and used the word habitat, she crossed it out and wrote 'not a word, this is the name of a shop'.

And yes, my mum went in next day to see the head, with my essay in her hand.

But to be honest, I think you'd be on a hiding to nothing in this case, OP. Teacher literacy standards have plummeted (and I'm a teacher). Some of the younger teachers at my school would share documents with me for proof reading before they sent them out, after they realised I was good at noticing 'typos' (which clearly weren't typos).

The best you could do is point out a 'typo' in this case I think.

At secondary I would have explained to my DC that is was wrong, and if they were happy the most I would do is correct it on the worksheet if being returned.

At primary I have been known to stick a post it on saying 'I think you missed this typo' or 'temporarily forgot' if it were an issue of eg missing 2 out as a prime number. Rule of thumb, always assume the teacher knows really.

Doesn't need to be a complaint, just a quick, polite email to the teacher saying there was a mistake on the homework.

What is why you have chosen private school?

The fact that one poster, who doesn't mention what type of school her DC attends, has observed that a single geography resource has poor SPAG?

Depends if it is primary or secondary.

A primary teacher is a generalist. They may be brilliant at maths, science, PE, art, music, etc. just very weak at English. I would leave it, and consider getting an English Language tutor for the year.

A secondary teacher of geography or humanities should have near-flawless English, so I would definitely complain to the head of department.

effected / affected - could be an accidental slip by someone who does know the correct meaning, but was writing in a hurry.

would of - could only possibly be written by someone who doesn't understand why it's wrong, IMO.

What if someone can't afford to get a tutor for their child, just because the teacher can't grasp SPAG. That is the most ludicrous suggestion.

No. I'm an editor and have noticed countless, countless mistakes in communications from the school over the years. If I pointed them all out I would look like the world's worst pedant and it would wind up the staff beyond belief.

Have resigned myself to just calling the kids' attention to the errors and making sure they know the correct phrase/spelling/grammar/usage.

Exactly. That is so wrong and such a stupid reason to offer as an “explanation”. Teachers should use English correctly. EVERY time.

No I don't think it is as important as a lot of people on here.

I think engageging a child and developing a love of the English laguage and reading is far more importnat rather than focusing on the negative which can make children not want to enage because they are being scrutinised.

(I have issues and i have delibratly not changed my wording/spelling)!!

Let's be kind to enach other and support our kids - you dont have to be exact and perfect to be able to be amazing.

Like seriously, I'm thick as mince but even I get frustrated with such things!

Absolutely! Shocking in my opinion.

I definitely would. Depending on the teacher, I may bring it up in a light hearted way, but I would definitely be mentioning it. That's pretty shocking

Oh for goodness’ sake. Do as stop trying to accept ignorance and illiteracy in teachers.