Does it matter that dd2 (year 1) can't spell for toffee?

[PoorOldEnid]

she is a v good reader and v bright generally but her spelling is terrible - mainly because she writes so much and so quickly she clearly isn't thinking about spelling at all

the teacher doesn't seem bothered

I love that ds2 has hit the stage of writing endless lists and stories and working out exactly what they are saying.

e.g. I work on a cunpyootr and I had myoozlee for breakfast .

So much more creative than bog standard spelling

DD once wrote a story about sheep grazing in a "feeowd". I hadn't realised what an Estuary accent she had grown up with until then

That ghoti thing is a George Bernard Shaw thing - he made a big movement to regularise English spelling. People keep trying to do this, but it never works, because:

1. All the existing books would be wrong.

1. English has no Offical Body who could impose such a change (unlike French or German)

1. The goofy spellings help show the meaning/history of words

1. Any phonetic spelling would be phonetic in only one accent. Who gets to pick the accent?

No worries if she likes writing and doesn't get labelled as a 'bad speller'. If you want to feel like you're helping though, ELC does some great stuff to help with phonics, try 'jolly phonics', puzzles, games and books. They're good fun and lots of schools use them. I wouldn't worry yet though and don't overload her with schooly stuff, she's still small.

Don't worry about it. The fact that she is enjoying writing is far more important; the spelling will come. This time last year DD was the same - wrote loads but spelling erratic, as is normal for that age group IME. The spelling improved loads over the year and she is now at the start of Y2 and her spelling is much much better, as you would also expect.

I love to see DD's emergent spelling - I find it adorable to read. It s quite sad now to see it far less.

I think as long as the spelling is phonetically 'correct' let her get on with it. I treasure one of ds stories about "mashiyns". Even now at the beginning of Year 2 I am impressed how much his writing and spelling is improving. Go with the flow and enjoy it!