Teaching spelling in school

[HamTown]

In what grade does your child stop having spelling instruction?

I went to open house night at school this week and was surprised (horrified?) that my 4th grader will not have any spelling curriculum this year. It is not a tested subject (direct quote from the teacher) so they won't spend much time on it. She doesn't encourage the students to use dictionaries and the rationale is that "we are so dependent on spell check that it doesn't really matter."

I'm curious to see how other school systems are handling this. My child is a poor speller (he takes after his father ) and I'm worried he'll never learn.

 

[mum4jenn]

Our schools teach spelling up through 5th grade. They had a list each week to learn and a test each Friday. HOWEVER...I have always found it odd that when the kids write reports and other papers for display and such the teachers do not make sure that there are no spelling errors. They will display papers on the walls and other locations that are full of spelling and grammatical errors and I just do not understand this.

Way back in the dark ages the teachers corrected the papers and you had to make all the corrections and re-do your paper until it was 100% correct before it went on display.

 

[C.Ann]

I don't know if my DGD has them this year (just entered 6th grade), but I know she had them up until last year..

One of my gripes with society today is that schools encourage (sometimes even insist) that students use computers for their assignments - which can result in the computer making all of the necessary "corrections" - leaving the students in a position where they actually don't have to learn many of the things that we did "back in the olden days".. I don't see how that can be a "good" thing.. It's simply "easier" - for everyone involved..

 

[pixiedustaholic]

My DD12 is in 7th grade and still has spelling tests each Friday.

My concern is cursive writing. They just kind of gloss over it in 3rd grade around here and then drop the issue. DD never writes in cursive except to sign her name. I saw a story on the news the other night that said a lot of schools are dropping cursive writing from the cirriculum? Not trying to hijack the thread but curious as to others' experiences.

 

[Minniemama350]

My middle school kid still takes spelling tests.

 

[HamTown]

Cursive was discussed just after spelling! They are supposed to learn it in 3rd grade but it was really a joke. My son's teacher will start requiring some cursive after Christmas so I guess I'll have to start working on that with him at home because he really has no idea where to start with it.

 

[Chelley00]

My 8th grader still has spelling tests.

 

[3doodlebugsmom]

In our school district, we have spelling through the sixth grade. They learn cursive in third grade, and in fourth grade all writing is expected to be in cursive. Cursive continues in fifth and sixth grade, all reports have to be hand written. A couple of times the kids were allowed to type a paper.
When they get to Junior High, all papers are typed. I have kids in fourth, seventh, and eighth grades.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

My 4th graders spelling words are all in Latin......I cannot even begin to spell them. and I've always been a fair speller. I even got a snippy email today from her teacher saying that dd's sentences w/ her words for last night's homework were not "up to par". Sounds like this is going to be a fun year.

 

[barkley]

spelling through 8th grade, handwriting through 8th grade BUT this was at the private school my kids go to.

when we had open house at the public highschool a few weeks ago the freshman english teacher was telling us that both the district and the state we live in are looking at requiring spelling and heavier grammer curriculum in the highschools, reason being is with the popularity of texting kids are losing what skills they have. dh is back in college and was talking to one of his professors how he remembered having many more 'blue book' (essay) type tests back when he got his b.a., professor replied that he and the majority of his colleages had gotten to the point that they rarely gave them because the majority of younger students could'nt put together a legible, correctly spelled sentence absent the spell and grammer check functions on their laptops

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

My oldest 2 stopped having spelling tests after 5th grade. In middle school they have vocabulary tests.

The research that I have seen shows that you are either a good speller or you are not. Intervention, remediation, spelling tests or whatever you want to call it didn't really matter. A lot of students that memorized the words for the test weren't able to retain that knowledge and use it in their written work later. The same few students would make a 100 week after week.

 

[teacups]

As a homeschooler I'd just like to add that you can certainly supplement your childs school work how you see fit. You know your child needs spelling, the school wont give it. Go to your local curriculum or teachers supply store.

I think its sad that just because it is not a tested subject that it isnt a concern.

Good luck!

 

[RitaZ.]

My DD12 is in 7th grade and still has spelling tests each Friday.

My concern is cursive writing. They just kind of gloss over it in 3rd grade around here and then drop the issue. DD never writes in cursive except to sign her name. I saw a story on the news the other night that said a lot of schools are dropping cursive writing from the cirriculum? Not trying to hijack the thread but curious as to others' experiences.

It depends on the school. DS#1 went to an elementary school where cursive was taught only in 3rd grade and not very much time was devoted to it. Like your DD, he just signs his name in cursive.

DS#2 and DD went to a different elementary school where the students were taught to write in cursive and expected it to use it on a regular basis. Their principal believed that it was an important part of the curriculum. I thought that was a good thing.

As for spelling correctness, I agree that it isn't top priority in most schools. My kids do get spelling tests in middle school. They're pretty good spellers, though. Punctuation, or lack of it, is a bigger problem, IMO.

 

[*BTMRR*]

As a homeschooler I'd just like to add that you can certainly supplement your childs school work how you see fit. You know your child needs spelling, the school wont give it. Go to your local curriculum or teachers supply store.

I think its sad that just because it is not a tested subject that it isnt a concern.

Good luck!

Very true!
Our school no longer teaches the multiplication table (they are trying to get away from rote memorization). The multiplication table is something I memorized in third grade, and I have used it many times every day of my life since then. I want my kids to learn it. I'm making a game of it and having them learn it at home, with some little rewards along the way.

Luckily our school still believes in spelling tests and handwriting. These are all skills that people do use in daily life even in 2009.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

DD is in 6th - still has both spelling and vocab. Cursive is required on assignments.

 

[Sparx]

i had spelling through the sixth grade, but not after.

 

[suzannen]

My DD is in 10th grade at a private school and they still have vocabulary tests which include spelling every week.

 

[clori]

my dd is in fourth grade. They have weekly spelling tests and papers are at least marked if words are spelled wrong. However spelling is not a grade on the report card. Cursive was taught in 3rd grade. We were told not to work on cursive until the letters were taught so the kids wouldn't learn them the wrong way first. They got thru all the small letters but not all the capital letters. I know dd's spelling tests this year come home in cursive but not sure if that is required.

Last year multiplication only needed to be learned up to 10x10 and this year at the very beginning they went to 12x12. I have no idea when papers can be typed but I know keyboarding is taught the end of 4th grade.

 

[mjkacmom]

They stop in 6th. Even I have to admit that my spellling has gotten worse since computers!

 

[freckles and boo]

My kids have spelling until fifth grade and they barely touch upon cursive. I have mixed feelings about this. I think nice writing and solid spelling is important, but there are far more valuable ways to spend that classroom time. Beautiful handwriting isn't a critical life skill unless you plan to be a calligrapher.

I am happy that our district has put a renewed emphasis on math facts. I appreciate many of the elements of Everyday Math, but one if the great weaknesses is that the kids aren't getting the rote memorization of facts. Having to reach for 8x7 instead of just knowing it can really slow down their thinking.