Spelling is an important skill even today because employers use it to gauge workers' competence and skill. Don't let your child be left in the dust this school year-educate yourself about the process of learning to spell and find out how to help.
Spelling can be one of the toughest parts of basic literacy that students need to master. A lucky few are naturally good spellers, but most need training and guidance to master the necessary skills.
It is an important skill to develop, though. Written communication, in the form of letters, resumes, and reports, is important in getting and keeping a job. A person's writing can make a lasting impression on those who read it, and that impression can be positive or negative. Poor spelling leaves the reader with an impression that the writer is careless, uneducated, or even unintelligent. These are certainly not qualities that prospective employers will be seeking!
Considering the importance of the skill, it is somewhat surprising that educational institutions vary so dramatically in their emphasis and methodology for teaching spelling. Parents need to educate themselves about the process of learning to spell and the ways to measure the success of the programs. As an informed consumer, you will be in a better position to evaluate a program's success with your child and supplement the process at home or request changes at school.
Spelling is a highly multisensory process. Auditory skills, such as phonological awareness (hearing separate letter sounds), auditory discrimination (hearing differences between similar sounds and words), and sequencing (keeping the sounds in their proper order) are just the tip of the iceberg. Visual skills also come into play as the student makes a judgment about whether the word looks right. This visual skill is one of the more important aspects of spelling because it allows us to tell correct from incorrect spelling. In addition, kinesthetic learning, or motor memory, is important in the skill of spelling. Our muscles actually perform the movements required to form familiar words on an automatic level.
In light of this information, it follows that a good spelling program routinely includes activities that address all three types of learning. It should include instruction in phonics skills, rhyming, and sound patterns. Words should be said and spelled out loud as part of the learning process. Visual skills should also be addressed. Noticing similarities and differences among words and a discussion of the patterns of tall, small, and hanging letters should be a part of the instruction. Words in our language are build from syllables that follow a specific set of rules. Syllabication is a key to efficient spelling, and should be addressed in the program. Finally, the program should include many opportunities for writing the words. Words should be used in sentences and stories, as well as on worksheets. Repeated copying will help your child create that motor memory of a word. Be sure the child copies the word completely and correctly, however. Copying the word one letter at a time (all of the first letters, then all of the second ones, and so on) interrupts the process of forming motor memory. Copying words incorrectly can ingrain an incorrect spelling that will be very difficult to correct.
It is also very important that the student be familiar with the word to be learned. Think of language skills as a pyramid. The base is made of listening. The student needs to understand the word when it is said verbally. The next level of learning is speaking. The word needs to be a part of the vocabulary the child can use when talking. The third level is reading. It is vital that the child be able to read the words that are targeted in spelling instruction. This is a common place for the process to break down. If you have a child who is struggling with spelling, be sure to check for an underlying reading problem. Only after the word is a part of the oral receptive and expressive vocabularies AND the reading vocabulary is spelling instruction likely to be efficient, or even effective. The word to be spelled must be at the top of the pyramid.
Spelling skills also pass through a number of developmental phases. Young children begin the process of learning to spell when they make the connection between print and language. Scribbles will be read proudly as they tell you what they wrote. As letters are learned, they will begin to appear at random among the other marks and shapes.
Experience with print will help cement the relationships between specific letters and sounds. Random letters will gradually become less random and more often related to the sounds in the word. Initial sounds usually appear first, followed by ending and then medial sounds. Consonants are used before vowels.
Most children are in the early elementary grades when their spelling gradually begins to conform to the sounds they hear in words. Finally, all sounds are represented even if they are not spelled correctly. As more spellings are learned and more patterns are recognized, their spelling becomes more and more accurate. Their experience with print allows them to recognize when words are misspelled, and their cognitive development allows them to use dictionaries and other references. Developmentally speaking, most children's ability to spell correctly is mature by middle school age. Focus in schools often shifts from spelling instruction to building proof-reading skills at this point.
Parents can use all of this information to help their children benefit as much as possible from school spelling programs and to supplement instruction when necessary. For example, if your child learns best through visual presentations, you can focus on this mode of learning and provide supplemental activities as needed. Awareness of the relationships between spoken and written language and of developmental stages will help you evaluate whether the spelling program will be effective for your child or if remedial help is needed.
Finally, it is important to be aware of how children's spelling skill is evaluated. Are grades based solely on traditional worksheets and spelling tests? These tools alone are not adequate measures of progress. Some children become masters of learning to spell words only long enough to pass the test. There may or may not be application of spelling skills to other writing tasks.
A better tool to evaluate spelling skill exists. A writing sample can be checked for spelling accuracy. This should be a longer piece, such as a story or report, and one chosen for spelling evaluation without the student's knowledge. To evaluate for spelling accuracy, simply count the total number of words in the piece and count the number of misspellings as well. Now, divide the number of misspelled words by the total number of words in the piece. Convert the answer to a percentage by multiplying it by one hundred. Proficient spellers score between 98% and 100%. At this level, the piece looks like the writer has good command of language. Isn't that our ultimate goal?
