Should I correct DD's phonetic spelling?

[ArabellaBeaumaris]

Dd in reception, writing danst (danced), bounst (bounced), prinses (princess) etc. should I correct or leave it?

I don't correct my Reception daughter's spelling but I do talk to her about the words that she has misspelled, (sometimes) especially if there is some commonplace rule that will help her with words of that kind in general. It's not that I want her to correct it there and then, but it's that I want her to be aware of how we spell things in English and why. (But it depends on how far you're willing to go down that road. I'm willing to go quite some distance.)

If they are phonetically plausible attempts then I wouldn't correct at that age

Yes we did. We praised her for getting it right phonetically but explained that in English you often have the same sound with more than one spelling or some spellings are just very different.

She is now in Year 1 and spells very good and had no issue being corrected.

Check with the teacher, ours were happy for us to correct.

I think it depends how you correct it. if you were to sit and say 'no that is wrong' then that would be unhelpful obviously but I tend to say 'that is excellent phonetic spelling, it is a funny word and we actually spell it ...'

perhaps if there is a link like they are ed words then you could just talk about the ed ending.

I hardly did at all in YR as it was enough that he was writing. If he asked I did. Now in Y1 his phonics knowledge is a lot more secure and he is able to take on board the correct spellings, and indeed use them, so I correct him most of the time.

Having said that, he's just written "Litracy book" that I haven't corrected, and "landed on my bottem" and "I had to go to the docters", that I haven't corrected either, but these are in bits of his own writing at home that he hasn't shown me, I have just seen, if that makes sense. If he shows me them I may correct his spelling, but maybe not as the moment sort of has passed if that makes sense .

I tend to correct words I think he should be able to spell - so now in year one I leave all things like bajecta (projector) but correct whent to went, wen to when etc - words that are commonly used I correct, everything else I leave - I'm a firm believer in letting them be creative and not constantly fussing over ever spelling as I feel it would put him off having a go. He will now often ask which spelling is the right one, ie the other day he said "In name is it split a or a i to make the ay sound?" If he asks I tell him but if he tries and gets the wrong one I sometimes correct but will say something like "that's a really good try and you have the right sounds but for this word it's this sound" etc - I play it by ear as some days he's far more volatile open to correction than others.

Yes, it depends on the child. If you put yourself in the shoes of a 4/5/6 year old who has written something, shows Mum or Dad and first thing they say is "you don't spell x like that", you can imagine it might be a bit deflating. However, at some stage I think it becomes a disservice not to correct them as they need to learn to spell. For DS it was certainly this year.

It's interesting though, as DD, 4.5, already asks "How do you spell x?" when she's trying to write a word. That's in imitation of big brother though, and what she really means is "help me sound out", so I do, and give her the correct spelling as I go. Perhaps by asking at this early stage she may learn the correct spellings more as she goes along than DS who wrote very phonetically and then gradually corrected. We shall see.

When my daughter was in Reception last year, I sometimes used to ask her if she would like to know the grown up spelling for things if they were wrong, especially if it was a very common word. I obviously never told her it was wrong as such and I think it's important to recognise that the child has made a good attempt and I did always say that her spelling made sense if it did (but grown ups actually spell it this way). Sometimes she said that she would like to know the spelling and sometimes she was just too focused on what she was writing to care. I just mainly let her get on with it. A year later, she will spell most words correctly on the first attempt and will often ask how a sound is spelt before writing if she isn't sure. More importantly, she hasn't been put off having a go at harder or more complex words - and she will still get these wrong sometimes but other times she can work out a good idea of what might be right. She will also now quite often say 'that doesn't look right, which part do I need to change?' which is quite sensible, I think.

I think your daughter's spellings are very good for the end of Reception, actually, and it sounds like she has a good grasp of how sounds are spelt so you may find that as time goes on you don't need to do a lot of correcting.

LOL at "landed on my bottem" and "I had to go to the docters" - there's a whole story in there!

I'd leave most of it, especially the more ambitious words.

If she's started learning spelling lists of words, I might (gently) correct spelling patterns that she has learned. But I wouldn't want to do that at the expense of her trying our a richer vocabulary.

docter is presumably the adults' fault. It's a mispronunciation. The only problem is that many people probably do say docter, because saying doctor properly would probably make a lot of people feel silly.

A bit like you don't say: the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain, properly in a loud and clear voice, either.

My vowel sounds are terrible learnandsay, so yes, the spelling is often wrong due to that.

Today I was doing some "oo" words with DD. We did book and look and cook. She then pipes up, "and monstoo" (monster). Had to explain that this was different "er", but she is right in that I say it exactly the same (as in book etc) .

and yes, the "on my bottem" and "had to go to the docters" were part of some lyrics to DS's pop song . Here is the full version.

"I am in the street then I slip over and I bump my bottem and I say
ouch! and I need to go to the docters and I have broken a bone and I need a bangege."

Sung....

freetrait the at the end of doctor is called a /schwa/ which is a weak vowel sound that isn't pronounced as it is written

Thanks, had vaguely heard of that. Will probably remember it for about 5 minutes then forget again .

What I mean is that it isn't that you have terrible vowel sounds freetrait they are meant to be pronounced as a weak sound.

Thanks, in that case yes. But I do have terrible vowel sounds, well perhaps not "terrible", they are similar to lots of others who grew up where I did, but basically a lot sound the same.

just use your posh spelling voice when helping your daughter to write monster

If she's started learning spelling lists of words, I might (gently) correct spelling patterns that she has learned. But I wouldn't want to do that at the expense of her trying our a richer vocabulary.

My DD doesn't get spelling lists so better be sure your school does it. I also think letting a child think that her spelling is correct and then correct her a year later is strange as well.

I didn't correct at reception stage as she was learning lots of other things and getting them right that she did not know before school. She is now in yr2 and most of this misspellings are spelt correctly as she has worked through her letters and spellings.

She still spells new words phonetically, and if they are words she has not had too much exposure to, or they are complicated, I don't always point it out. It depends on what she is doing though - if she is writing for fun, I won't correct at all as she is practising and expressing herself, but if Dh is working on homework and would be expected to get it right, or it's obvious it's wrong, then I will point it out, but won't make a big deal and I will ask her if she can think how to do it differently.

What I do though, is, read, read, read with her and get her to read read read (not huge deal as she loves reading anyway) and help her practice her spellings for tests so she can practice those words she might find difficult.

She will not continue getting these words wrong forever, and phonetic spelling means she is thinking about how it should sound which is great.

Ah yes, posh spelling voice, that sounds good .

I don't correct, but DD has starting asking if she has spelled things right. I see no merit in not being truthful, so if she asks about a specific word, I tell her how to spell it and why. My mother was very critical about everything I did so I am quite determined not to make the same mistake!

Learnandsay
many people probably do say docter, because saying doctor properly would probably make a lot of people feel silly.

It's the spelling of doctor that's silly. All normal people, Shakespearean actors apart, pronounce it docter. There is no good reason whatsoever why it should not follow the main pattern of 'brother, father, fitter, potter, poster...' - other than to make learning to spell more difficult than need be.

I would leave the majority of young children's phonemic spellings uncorrected. It risks putting them off writing from too young an age.

professor, rector, elector, I'm sure there are many more. I think some are far more likely to be pronounced correctly than others without making people feel silly. (I'm not sure why that is.)

moderator, advisor, accelerator, actor, bachelor, author, competitor, debtor, conveyor, councillor, editor, traitor, visitor, warrior ...
pronouncing them with a schwa as the final sound is correct.

My dictionary, which was published in 1932, gives the pronunciation of each of its words. Factor and rector both have the same final sound (tor) with |o| stressed. It's perfectly permissible to say factor and facter today. But previously factor would have been correct, rather like aitch, and haitch today.