to mark my child's report,and send it back having highlighted errors?!

[motherbeyond]

my dd is 3,and came home with her 1st report.the first thing was our surname was spelt incorrectly "mr and mrs galagher"! who spells gallagher with 1 L?

then,inside,there were several glaring grammatical spelling errors.

so,what do you think?is it arsey if i point them all out?

they're supposed to be teaching my child the basics...and yet they can't even spell simple words like,quiet...and use tense correctly

I think its rather rude tbh, your dd is not at the writing stage so needs not know anything about it atm.

My spelling and anything to do with English writing is diabolical.

YANBU. If we want higher standards, we have to start with the teachers.

Why does it matter what people are paid??

Lowly paid people (like myself)can still spell you know!spacespaceHow patronising that people say it is ok to be a bad speller if you aren't paid muchspacespace

I think YABU because the important thing is the relationship between you and the 'teacher' If you are very concerned about her spelling (we used to get some real howlers when we got a report each day) Talk to the head and ask that there be some career development in this area.

As for the two spaces debate, the convention has changed because word processors vary the gap depending on the punctuation. So you always put one gap and the text displays appropriately.

What SarahMumtoAlex said.

Two spaces is from the days of typewriters; they could only do fixed spaces, whereas computers can vary the space.

i don't know if i had to do this in the latest edition of Word, but in 2003-2007 edition, you had to go into the Tools menu and tell it that you wanted 2 spaces after the full-stop.

strawbs: it's lowly paid people (like me)...

In secretarial college (!) I was always taught two spaces after a full stop, one after a comma.

Since editing magazines and newspapers, I've had it beaten out of me as the convention in print is for just one space.

But a space before a question mark (as mentioned earlier in the threat)? No no no...

As for correcting someone else's grammar when you can't be arsed to write correctly, no no no...

TWO SPACES!

And yes I know capitals mean shouting

As a teacher currently writing reports, albeit 30 and not 170 (wibble) I will admit that some copying and pasting goes on! Hence he/she, Katherine etc. But they should be checked by more than one person.

At 3 I would guess it is not a teacher writing these. Not sure if that makes a difference though.

My instinct is two. But I am another sub-editor who had the instinct beaten out of me. I fall from grace regularly though.

But back to the OP. Firstly, the child is three, and, with respect, is neither at school nor needing a very formal school report. But if you wish to make an utter arse of yourself, feel free to return the offending document, marked. I'd also consider adding items like "Latin conjunction" and "trigonometry" to it so that our child does appear to be learning something proper at school. That way they'll hate you but at least get the chance to ridicule you in the staff room.

oh yes, I can imagine the staff room chat over that...

Yes, I agree, please do it, if you want them to hate you forever and label you as a pain in the backside. I do see your point though, slightly.

I was taught that it was two spaces after a full stop but apparently it's no longer required see here if you're really interested ;) and I'd already noticed that on here that two spaces are automatically converted to one.

herbaceous, the Belgians put a space before a question mark and an exclamation mark!

If it was a teacher who had to teach her spelling and grammar then fair enough - but at preschool the only syllabus they're following is playing. There are more important qualities in a nursery nurse than their ability to spell.

I've been sorely tempted to do this a few times, but have managed to rein myself in. From my experience, children learn far more from parents, even when it comes to formal concepts, than they do from teachers up to about age 7. Don't worry about what your child is being 'taught' at school until formal maths begins.

I think it would be unnecessarily pedantic, and maybe even hurtful to correct a report, especially if the teacher is a nice, kind person who seems to be otherwise doing a good job, and if your child is enjoying her time at school and feeling secure in her care.

motherbeyond - I would simply forget it.

Poor spelling and grammar is widespread - unless it has a direct (negative) impact on your child, I would not do anything about it. In particular, I would not antagonise someone who is looking after my child.

In September, your child will be in a different setting and this will be ancient history.

Before pointing out the spelling mistake in your surname, I would check other correspondence from the preschool and see if it is actually a mistake in their records or not.

Yanbu to be a bit annoyed. Perhaps asking nicely if you can have another copy with her name spelt correctly because you will be keeping them for her, will probably have the same more polite effect. I always ask for dcs reports to be reprinted with the correct spelling of thier names -every year it gets spelt incorrectly. Am not so bothered about the typo's within, unless I received on the the many reports last year where the teacher had cut an pasted chunks and forgotten to change the names. Then I would be going in for a polite word.

lol at MrQ.

Unfortunately, typing skills are not taught on PGCE courses so teachers do tend to make the odd error when completing the numerous reports we need to write! Thankfully we are now allowed to type them, previously all ours were hand written which is a xxx when you have just finished and spot a spelling mistake half way down the first page.

tethersend I was joking about the it's/its/its'... good grief. That's the last time I try and be funny.

;)

One space after a comma, two spaces after a full stop, you fuckers.

Don't care about the OP just wanted to educate the philistines

oops I meant obviously!