Spelling should not be tested in K

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Home : 2005 : March : 15

Spelling should not be tested in K
By Amy

Do all of the K teachers in this school test children on spelling? I am in my 19th year of teaching kindergarten. I do not and would not give a spelling test in kindergarten. I do not have colleagues that test spelling in
K. We have a sight word list we send home (word rings) for children to recognize these words when they see them to help them with fluency (since the words occur more often in all text) but we do not ask children to take a spelling test on even those words. Kindergarteners are encouraged to use "invented spelling" --spelling words just as they sound. I have parents that see writing samples

of stories these kids have written that are worried that the children may never learn to spell. Research says that isn't so. Invented spelling goes along with the philosophy behind phonemic awareness--the single biggest indicator of a good reader. Can your child hear alliteration--give him 3 words--2 that begin with same sound and 1 with different. Can he pick odd one out? Can he pick out rhyming words? Can he segment words into syllables and individual phonemes? for example ask him to give you all the sounds in a word, such as hat h-a--t. Ask him to identify first sound, the last, what do you hear in the middle. Most kids will start blending and reading before end of the year. Is your child reading? Find out if all the teachers at the school require spelling test. And ask that your child work on skills in a way that is less stressful to him. Does he have to write the words on computer. Put some shaving creme on the table and let him practice in that. Let him write with water on the sidewalk. Make it fun--he's too little to be having panic attacks! And his first experience with school should be a fun learning experience for him to be a lifelong learner. Good luck!