[email protected]

David Albert, if you can, pls point us to your research on the origins of spelling in school. If I'm not mistaken, it was a device for putting immigrants in there place. Anglo-Brits of that century wnating to protect their stashes from enterprising immigrants. As I saw in school with Punjabi kids in the 70's.

Spelling=rank=class seperation!

Is that it David?



> See, you have had your issues and they are yours. I, however have not had
> issues accepting people as just people, and that was my point not to group
all
> Christians together. That is how I took the statement made and that is how
I
> replied to it. I'm not perfect either and I don't claim to be nor did I
when I
> responded. Maybe being tacky with my words is an issue I will have to work
on if
> I decide it really is an issue not because someone else tells me and the
> entire list.

I don't remember the post exactly, but maybe correcting the spelling of
Christian when it was obviously a typo was considered tacky.
Tia

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety." Ben Franklin
leschke@...


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

shantinik

--- In [email protected], tmthomas@s... wrote:
> David Albert, if you can, pls point us to your research on the
origins of spelling in school. If I'm not mistaken, it was a device
for putting immigrants in there place. Anglo-Brits of that century
wnating to protect their stashes from enterprising immigrants. As I
saw in school with Punjabi kids in the 70's.
>
> Spelling=rank=class seperation!
>
> Is that it David?

Yup. I talk about it at some length in my essay "Hebetudinous", which
is in my new book ("Homeschooling and the Voyage of Self-Discovery"(,
especially in the footnotes. As it turns out, I think this essay is
currently on my site (www.skylarksings.com)

But there are two "origins" -- the first predates the great
immigrant "invasions", and goes back to Noah Webster. His whole idea
was to make English spelling something peculiarly "American",
including getting rid of all those ridiculous silent "e"s, (as well
as the "ou"s.) He was, however, overtaken by pro-British sentiments
in the early-mid 19th century.

Spelling (as I write in the essay) embodies a "societal myth" (true
or false is not important, just as long as we operate as if it is
true.) "Spelling is a sign of intelligence: good spellers are .....,
poor spellers are ...." We all know it is untrue, and then go about
operating as if it is. So I do think it useful if kids LEARN to spell
(or at least to understand the societal myth behind it), and
absolutely irrevelant as to whether anyone actually TEACHES it (I
think usually a waste of time.)

Tim and Maureen

Ya, that's the essay I read!

-=-Yup. I talk about it at some length in my essay "Hebetudinous", which
is in my new book ("Homeschooling and the Voyage of Self-Discovery"(,
especially in the footnotes. As it turns out, I think this essay is
currently on my site (www.skylarksings.com)

But there are two "origins" -- the first predates the great
immigrant "invasions", and goes back to Noah Webster. His whole idea
was to make English spelling something peculiarly "American",
including getting rid of all those ridiculous silent "e"s, (as well
as the "ou"s.) He was, however, overtaken by pro-British sentiments
in the early-mid 19th century.

I thot he had died before done. Canada seems top have suffered with his
N.A. spelling with our Loyal ties to Queen's English. So now we have TWO
ways to spell "sul-fer" and two ways to pronounce "laboratory." Thus, I
grumble at him at times.


-=-Spelling (as I write in the essay) embodies a "societal myth" (true
or false is not important, just as long as we operate as if it is
true.) "Spelling is a sign of intelligence: good spellers are .....,
poor spellers are ...." We all know it is untrue, and then go about
operating as if it is. So I do think it useful if kids LEARN to spell
(or at least to understand the societal myth behind it), and
absolutely irrevelant as to whether anyone actually TEACHES it (I
think usually a waste of time.)
This one wrenched me around in my chair! As an English major, I held this
snooty attitude until I started working with the disadvantaged people I saw
when helping inventors commercialize their inventions. Couldn't
write/read/spell, but could conceive of products for humanity. That's not a
dumby!
So I gave it a rest, but this essay put it to bed!

My thots
Tim T
----- Original Message -----
From: shantinik
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 11:10 AM
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Re: Spelling WAS OT Same Sex marriage WAS
Sharing Culture


--- In [email protected], tmthomas@s... wrote:
> David Albert, if you can, pls point us to your research on the
origins of spelling in school. If I'm not mistaken, it was a device
for putting immigrants in there place. Anglo-Brits of that century
wnating to protect their stashes from enterprising immigrants. As I
saw in school with Punjabi kids in the 70's.
>
> Spelling=rank=class seperation!
>
> Is that it David?

Yup. I talk about it at some length in my essay "Hebetudinous", which
is in my new book ("Homeschooling and the Voyage of Self-Discovery"(,
especially in the footnotes. As it turns out, I think this essay is
currently on my site (www.skylarksings.com)

But there are two "origins" -- the first predates the great
immigrant "invasions", and goes back to Noah Webster. His whole idea
was to make English spelling something peculiarly "American",
including getting rid of all those ridiculous silent "e"s, (as well
as the "ou"s.) He was, however, overtaken by pro-British sentiments
in the early-mid 19th century.

Spelling (as I write in the essay) embodies a "societal myth" (true
or false is not important, just as long as we operate as if it is
true.) "Spelling is a sign of intelligence: good spellers are .....,
poor spellers are ...." We all know it is untrue, and then go about
operating as if it is. So I do think it useful if kids LEARN to spell
(or at least to understand the societal myth behind it), and
absolutely irrevelant as to whether anyone actually TEACHES it (I
think usually a waste of time.)


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