My mother's horrifed, but I think it's brilliant!

[manchestermummy]

Reception DD1 came home with a piece of work about her favourite game:

The duc duc goos I luv the best.

My mother is disgusted and thinks it's appalling she's not being taught to spell properly, but I think it's ridiculously cute and I am so proud of her.

Bit of a stealth boast, but there you go

Seriously, this is okay, isn't it? It's very neat.

[IShallWearMidnight]

DD1 wrote in her starting reception book that her favourite game was her peepul (playmobile figures and random McD toys who had very complicated lives) - imagine my delight when 15 years later we saw this at Kew Gardens .

[badtemperedaldbitch]

In reception my dd drew a picture of herself and labelled all the body parts.

Tif made me laugh.

Because of the spilling, but also because everyone else stuck to the arms and legs

[jamdonut]

ItsIcyOutsideIThinkINeedThorin* Was that "news about Mario Brothers" ?? or something like that. I'm pretty good at deciphering phonically spelled words (a skill needed by a TA !!) Sometimes you just get defeated though...

[clarence1972]

my favourite was my daughter asking for the wigh em see ay song for christmas...

[BertieBotts]

I don't think children were ever corrected on spelling at age 4, were they?? Perhaps she's remembering wrong. I would have thought that in this stage the important thing is that they are attempting to form words independently, and forming the letters recognisably if not 100% correctly - form and spelling come later, surely?

[MuddlingMackem]

Some great ones on here, but I think my favourite has to be Haberdashery's DD's "No ftogrufee With out pumishin". Although eminemmerdale's DD's "consikwintlee" is a close second.

Both DD and DS have done some good ones, although I can't think of anything on a par with these. I did like DD(6)'s 'Look and Lisin' a couple of weeks ago though. :)

[DownyEmerald]

I absolutely love this stage. I wish dd still wrote like this. One of her friends sent her an email the other day about something that happened "ajis agow". I printed it off I liked it so much.

What someone up thread said about them having the confidence and desire to write something down and not have any hang ups about the "proper way" to do it - it makes me tear up with the lovely happiness and uncomplicatedness of it all.

[manchestermummy]

It must be the but it took me forever to figure that one out! We had "A waiyn a naincher" which was most puzzling.

[acebaby]

Sounds like she is doing brilliantly. I love their wonky spelling. Ds2 (reception) wrote about a 'scre wf' (scary wolf). Ds1 has only just learned to spell (fairly) well now that he is in year 3.

[Mashabell]

LadayMargolotta
My children aren't taught to read and write until the year they become 6

Where do u live?
Could it be that they are learning to read and write in a language whose spelling system does not pose the reading spelling problems of English (so, go - to do - blue, shoe, flew...)?

English-speaking children have to start exceptionally early because learning to read and write English involves much more learning (especially word-by-word learning, rather than by rule) and so it takes nearly three times longer than the European average of just one year for mastering the basics of reading and writing.

[weegiemum]

I'm not sure English needs to start earlier. My oldest 2 dc started school at 5.6 in Scotland, but didn't do a jot of English at school until they were almost 8, as they did everything in Gaelic until then (dc3 started a little younger but still didn't read or write english, or speak it in the classroom, till halfway through p3).
I think they should be allowed to be creative, but once they know a proper spelling, should continue to use it.

[nooka]

ds's writing was incomprehensible for years. I was always most impressed by the deciphering skills of his KS1 teachers. He is dyslexic and has poor fine motor control plus a very large vocabulary so it was more like breaking code than reading. dd on the other hand wrote very well but also very correctly, so when she was writing she'd always wanted not only to check her spellings but also that she was doing the right thing. ds produced streams of consciousness if he was in the mood it was much more fun :)

[nooka]

School starts much later here in Canada (my children has all their early schooling in the UK) and in the States too, so I don't think that all English speaking countries do start young.

[Thewhingingdefective]

I think it's rather fabby. Well done to your DD.

[LadyMargolotta]

Even thirty years ago in the UK, I didn't learn how to read and write until I was five. We had spelling tests every week.

Do they have spelling tests now at school?

My children here in Belgium have spelling tests every week, and dictation, from as soon as they start learning to read and write.

I don;t think that english is the hardest European language - certainly not hard enough to warrent it taking three times longer for an English speaking child to learn too read and write (although I am not sure that is fact anyway). I don't think as a language it is especially difficult eg. German grammar is far more complicated. Many Europeans speak English as a second language. My dh and his family say that english was fairly easy for them to learn.

I think it takes on average longer for a British child to learnt to read and write because they start so much earlier.

[sunnyday123]

My dd is in reception and I'd be made up with that! We are told not to correct spellings yet as its all about the phonics. I think it would confused my dd if I started correcting spellings as many words spell differently to they sound. Surely it would then make reading more difficult. In dds school they don't consider spellings until year one at all, once most of the class are above stage 4 reading.

[sunnyday123]

(Except for the 'tricky' words like go, no, are, you etc)

[Ronaldo]

I am sorry but I am with the OP's mum. The spelling sounds as bad as the description of the game.

I have taught my own DS to spell correctly from the outset. This is because sooner or later he will have to learn to spell or take much stick from those who pride themselves in being the "spelling police" ( and these are people much in evidence on MN despite all the praise being given here to this approach).

There is no point in letting a DC learn something that they will later have to unlearn. The same aplies to "baby" language. One should speak correctly and write correctly. They are basic skills.

[LadyMargolotta]

This is why there is criticism of the use of phonics to teach englsih - it just doesn't help for so many words.

Wrong spelling should be corrected because if a child continues to use the wrong spelling, this will become inprented in her brain and may be difficult to unlearn.

That is not to say that I would be horrified at the OP's child's spelling - I would be very encouraging if my four year old even attempted to write that. But I would gently correct the spelling.

[LadyMargolotta]

Sorry inprented is the dutch word. It just means imprinted.

[saintlyjimjams]

Do you make them take their first mouthfuls of solid food with a knife & fork as well?

I think most children can cope with learning to replace 'gee gee' with horse by the time they're old enough to be laughed at. Ds1 is a teenager who will still sometimes say gee gee but that's because he can't say horse.

[LadyMargolotta]

saintlyjimjams - you are talking about progressing of ability, rather then learning something wrong, and then having to relearn it.

[mrz]

I would praise the child for working out the sounds in the words and then show them how to spell those sounds correctly in those words.
(yes is a way to write the sound "k" but in this word we spell it is a way to spell the sound "s" but in this word we spell it is a way to write the sound "u" but in this word we spell it ) that way the child gets the praise they rightly deserve but also get to see the correct spellings.
The child is very young and they are showing a good understanding of our language which is the first step to spelling.