LETTERS: METHODS THAT WORK

To the editor:

In his Feb. 16 column, Peter Kinder quoted misspellings by second-graders as an example of how "the educrats are marching us into ... a great night of unknowingness." Apparently, he believes that the teacher in question does not value good spelling. Based on more than 20 years as a parent and a teacher, I disagree. The examples given show me that this teacher is a professional who understands how children learn to spell.

Allowing children to create their own spelling during learning stages has been used for centuries. Parents have always know that if they constantly correct a child's first efforts, the child soon ceases to try at all. Linguistic research begun in the 1940s supported this patient approach. We now know that the main way children learn language and spelling is not by being forced to be right every time, but by generalizing rules from what they hear and read.

For example, a toddler may say, "I eated the apple," even though he has never heard anyone say "eated." He is using a rule for forming past tense. Gradually, if presented with good English examples, he will self-correct for the exceptions. Similarly, in such spellings as "sas" for "sauce," the children Kinder quoted have learned phonetic rules for spelling. In time, they will learn more rules and their exceptions. The important thing, as any grandparent could tell us, is that the child continues to want to learn rather than being afraid to try.

Current practice in primary grades gives children a careful combination of spontaneous exercises, such as daily journals, and more formal exercises, such as spelling tests and reports. The informal exercises encourage children to try out what they have learned and to enjoy writing. The formal exercises demand accurate spelling and reinforce the existence of literary standards that the child is not yet able to meet without help. For these, the child receives more guidance and correction.

This should make clear by the 1988 spellers demonstrated very few errors. Second-graders in 1988 were no more able to spell difficult words than they are in 1996. The difference is that their teacher designated this as a formal assignment and helped them correct their spelling. The teacher in 1996 designated it as an informal exercise and left the spelling alone. Both of my own children did this same assignment, in two different elementary schools, between 1983 and 1988. Their spelling was as creative as that quoted by Mr. Kinder. But now, as high school and college honor students, respectively, they can both spell. Perhaps more important, they both love to write and are good at writing. I am grateful that their teachers did not destroy their love of language by always demanding perfect spelling in the primary grades.

Most teachers are professionals who know a great deal about how to help children learn. I can only hope that in the future Mr. Kinder will take the time to understand good teaching methods before he publicly criticizes them.

IDA DOMAZLICKY, Teacher

Cape Girardeau Public Schools