Cried is now cryed instead of crid - and she knows when to use "when" versus "win." The stage her teacher is working with her now is spacing between the words - she came home with a "space man" clothes pin this week to help in that area. By keeping an open mind and trusting that the teacher knew what was best I have come to understand that that children do not start out with Algebra - they learn the process step by step - just as spelling is a step in the process of writing.
English can be a confusing language to learn as there are many different pronunciations for letters - such as long sounds versus short sounds. Letter and sound relationships are a crucial part of knowing how to read. Phonics versus whole word recognition can help in this matter and help to develop young readers who are not afraid of trying something new. I agree with Lyon and Moore, page 95, when they stated that "the purpose of phonics is to help children as they read and write." Furthermore, on page 118 they also mention that phonics is not a one-size-fits all program. Assessment records can keep track of a child's progress so that the teacher can decide what strengths and strategies to build on for each student. As a teacher's aid I found it important to pay attention to when the assessments were taken, 3:00 on a Friday afternoon is not a good time for an assessment.
Having had both personal and classroom experience, I feel like I will be able to put future parents' mind as ease as they notice the same misspellings that I noticed in my child. I hope that by encouraging students to be creative with their writing that they will be more enthusiastic about reading and writing in all of their subjects.
Julie, thanks for bringing your personal experiences into this. I have had those same moments of wondering if the teacher knew what she was doing. It's very hard not to panic. You want to know with all your heart that your child is not behind or struggling, or that if he/she is, someone is paying attention to it. It really helps to see samples of children's writing while we're working toward understanding of the process.
ReplyDeleteThank you for being willing to share something from your own child's experiences. And wow! Look at the progress she is making. I can tell a huge difference between example one and example two. At the same time, when I read sample 1 I was still able to understand what she was trying to tell the reader. Some of her spelling mistakes make sense to me. For example, when she spelled cried as "crid" makes sense because the sound she is looking for is "eye" and therefore uses the letter "i". You can tell there is logic behind her spelling mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that you were able to make direct connections from the reading and apply that to your child's work. You can easily tell that vast improvements have been made over the past year!
ReplyDeletei was really impressed by both of her writings.
ReplyDeletebefore i got into education, i didn't understand the point of journal entries or writer's notebooks because i thought they were pointless if the teacher wasn't even going to grade them. now i feel that children need a chance to freely write without the dooming fate of "the red pen"