LETTERS: WRITING AND SPELLING

To the editor:

Children and adults misspell words. Because they unwittingly do so does not mean any of them are bad people. The news media was wrong to criticize a vice president of the United States for spelling potato with an "e." The liberal news media would have us believe they are bastions of spelling. They have other problems far greater. Now I hear about this thing called creative spelling and how it's going to make our children better writers.

The idea of encouraging children to go ahead and write the story even though they are unable to correctly spell some of the words is a wonderful idea. It is a very old idea, not new at all. The problem arises when the teacher fails to point out the misspelled words tot he student, leading him to believe his spelling is correct. That is where the disservice is done.

Both Chris Warren and Sen. Peter Kinder are wonderful, caring people. I know them both. Chris would not coach a team of Jackson High School scholar bowl students at a tournament in Cape Girardeau on a warm, late-February Saturday if she were not a right-minded, decent person. Peter Kinder would no champion the issue of education in Missouri if he didn't want to make sure our children are given the best opportunity to be well-educated. I hope teachers who teach my children and all children in my community will correct misspelled words as soon as the misspelling is noticed, not only on spelling tests. It will not inhibit the child's story-writing ability when corrections are made lovingly.

I believe most of our children are capable of understanding far more than most adults think. Good teachers like Christine are very important to children who aren't blessed with wise, able parents. I'm sure that all concerned adults like Chris, Peter and me want our children to become adults with more intelligence than we possess. It is my experience that when this message is properly relayed to the children, they become better and better students. That, in turn, helps teachers to become more efficient as teaching time is better spent.

If you have a child, let him or her know regularly and insistently how important it is to you that he or she grows up to be smarter than your are. And then help them achieve that goal.

Keep your wit. Keep your good sense of humor. Be optimistic. There is much more to life than misspelled English words. Try French or Spanish or Russian. Now there's a challenge. Many children would be able to pick up a foreign language at a younger age than you think. Come on, kids. It's smart to be smart. Do your best in school. You'll be glad later.

AARON HORRELL

Chaffee