Tia Leschke

> Yep. I see that in my five kids. The ones who are always
> communicating or expressing themselves in one way or another -
> talking, singing, drawing, writing - are the ones who've taken to
> writing at great length, whether writing notes, filling out forms,
> making lists, writing letters, writing in journals, or, like one son,
> constantly writing stories. A couple of others, who are less
> interested in communicating, and more interested in doing things with
> their hands (they're both really into mechanics, classic car
> restoring, and construction of various types), only occasionally
> bother to write anything. I know they can, they just prefer not to.

So how *did* they end up learning how to write? Lars is much like your
"doing" kids. I always thought that when he learned how to read, he'd
gradually become a better speller because of seeing the words correctly a
lot. Trouble is, having learned to read (under coercion, I admit) he
doesn't like to and basically doesn't. So he's not going to learn to spell
that way. This is a sample of his writing. He seems to have little trouble
getting his point across, and the stories he dictated when he was younger
were wonderful. Will this mainly phonetic spelling ever morph into
something more like standard English?

"The reson I do not like to rite

I ges The reson that I dont do much riting is that wan I sit dun to rite I
find it boring becus wen I look at a book or a cebord al I se is a bunch of
leters, ya wen you put them to gether you can get sumthing cool but well I
ges I wood rather espres my felings in my acshons rather then put sum woods
on a pees of paper or on a conpouter I ges wen I make
Something like a jump or sumthing, like wen I ride my bike its not becus I
wont to do sumthing that I cud hirt my self, like wen I do a drop it is not
becus I wunt to se hew menny feet I can drop,
Words that repusent dong sumthing just don't seme the same as dong it your
self like wen
You reed sumthing in the news hew do you now that it rilly hapond are you
rilly apost to lisen to sum dum blond for a ewer abuwt sum plais wer sum
person went and got lost for a few daes or sum pirson jumpt of a brig becus
he cudent taec all the stuff that he herd in the news. Look at y2k all the
news time it got and I don't thinck that ennething even hapend more then sum
computer that wus bilt befor I wus born.
Ok that's wie I don't like nonfikshon and fikshon well if you are gong to
lisson to sum pirsons amajinashon wie don't you go owt and hav sum
advenchers of yuor oine
Well I do rite becus I just rote this well im gong to bed and dreme sum
fikshon ...."

(I guess the reason that I don't do much writing is that when I sit down to
write I find it boring because when I look at a book or a keyboard all I see
is a bunch of letters, yeah when you put them together you can get something
cool but well I guess I would rather express my feelings in my actions
rather than put some words on a piece of paper or on a computer I guess
when I make something like a jump or something, like when I ride my bike
it's not because I want to do something that I could hurt myself, like when
I do a drop it is not because I want to see how many feet I can drop,
Words that represent doing something just don't seem the same as doing it
yourself like when you read something in the news how do you know that it
really happened are you really supposed to listen to some dumb blonde for an
hour about some place where some person went and got lost for a few days or
some person jumped off a bridge because he couldn't take all the stuff that
he heard in the news. Look at y2k all the news time it got and I don't
think that anything even happened more than some computer that was built
before I was born.
Ok that's why I don't like nonfiction and fiction well if you are going to
listen to some person's imagination why don't you go out and have some
adventures of your own
Well I do write because I just wrote this well I'm going to bed and dream
some fiction......

(This was written because we thought he was going to have to produce some
writing for the ps program he's registered with, in order to keep the
computer that they loan him.)
Tia

Betsy

Hi, Tia --

My cheery thought for the day is that if one had to take a skateboarding
test instead of a pencil and paper test to get a high school diploma, I
would *definitely* be a dropout.

If the kinesthetic people ever take over and start running the world, I
would be in trouble.

Simplistically, we might think that bad spelling is a sign of ignorance
or stupidity, but it ain't. ;-)

Betsy

[email protected]

I am curious as to how old Lars is? He sounds a lot like my 11 yo son.. He
hates to read and write. Now, hear and tell stories, thats great.. He is
very creative and also mechanically minded. Ethan would probably spell a
story in a very similar fashion. I just took my kids out of school last
week.. Ethan had been having spelling/vocabulary tests every week.. He would
ace the vocabulary ( matching) but fail the spelling test miserably.
Sometimes he would only get one or two out of 20 correct. My feelings were (
are) that I am glad he knows and understands what the words means. I dont
really care if he can spell them or not.

To me, spelling is a big old waste of time.. Either you get it or you
dont. My oldest son is a wonderful speller, its a natural gift to him. He
has probably only had to "look up"10 words in his 16 years He just knows
them, he visualizes them. Yet, in school, he still had to write those dang
spelling words 5 times each every week.. UGHGHGHG.. My daughter had to study
her words for about 15 mins, maybe have me call them out to her once. She
made 100 on every spelling test she ever took.. BUT, when she writes, she
often misspells words. She only memorized her spelling words for the test .
Ethan could study and write his words 50 times each, and on test day, he woud
still fail the test. So, to me, in every case, spelling was a . WASTE of
time. Sorry for the long rant,.. I do get wound up sometimes :-)

Teresa


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Tia Leschke

>
> Simplistically, we might think that bad spelling is a sign of ignorance
> or stupidity, but it ain't. ;-)

LOL!
Tia

[email protected]

In a message dated 12/9/2002 7:02:04 PM Eastern Standard Time,
ecsamhill@... writes:


> My cheery thought for the day is that if one had to take a skateboarding
> test instead of a pencil and paper test to get a high school diploma, I
> would *definitely* be a dropout.
>

My son would be valedictorian! <G>

~Kelly


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Tia Leschke

> I am curious as to how old Lars is?

Oh, I forgot for those who haven't already "met" him. He's 15.

He sounds a lot like my 11 yo son.. He
> hates to read and write. Now, hear and tell stories, thats great.. He is
> very creative and also mechanically minded. Ethan would probably spell a
> story in a very similar fashion. I just took my kids out of school last
> week.. Ethan had been having spelling/vocabulary tests every week.. He
would
> ace the vocabulary ( matching) but fail the spelling test miserably.
> Sometimes he would only get one or two out of 20 correct. My feelings
were (
> are) that I am glad he knows and understands what the words means. I dont
> really care if he can spell them or not.

I felt the same way when Lars was 11. Now that he's getting to the point
where he might have to fill out job applications and such fairly soon, it's
more of a worry.
>
> To me, spelling is a big old waste of time.. Either you get it or you
> dont. My oldest son is a wonderful speller, its a natural gift to him.
He
> has probably only had to "look up"10 words in his 16 years He just knows
> them, he visualizes them. Yet, in school, he still had to write those
dang
> spelling words 5 times each every week.. UGHGHGHG.. My daughter had to
study
> her words for about 15 mins, maybe have me call them out to her once. She
> made 100 on every spelling test she ever took.. BUT, when she writes, she
> often misspells words. She only memorized her spelling words for the test
.
> Ethan could study and write his words 50 times each, and on test day, he
woud
> still fail the test. So, to me, in every case, spelling was a . WASTE of
> time. Sorry for the long rant,.. I do get wound up sometimes :-)

I know the way the study spelling in school doesn't work. My step-daughter
is the only one of our kids with a high school diploma, and her spelling is
awful (not as bad as Lars' though).
Tia

Betsy

**My son would be valedictorian! <G>**

I'm in awe of the physical / spatial intelligence required to do those
amazing skateboarding tricks. Parking my car straight is a challenge to
me! And I should probably enroll in a class for "remedial dancing".

Betsy