Spelling in Kindergarten

As a kindergarten teacher, I say DO NOT SPELL it for her!!! :) The "inventive" spelling stage is part of the learning to read & write process. However, so is learning that some words have correct spelling. FOr some of my kiddos that know that the way they spell is "wrong," I set up a personal dictionary (just a small notebooke with a letter at the top of 26 pages. Then if they ask me to help spell a word I know they cannot properly sound out, we put in their dictionary. Hope this helps!!! I am so glad to hear the writing process being supported at home!

Whew! This should spark a debate! Knowing there are those who disagree, I vote for creativity. Once writing has become habit, work on the spelling a bit more. Perhaps correct the really easy words now so that she is at least aware of
the need to learn more about spelling. I just feel like you might shut a door to increasing vocabulary and creativity if you don't just turn her loose. Perhaps after she completes her story, you can correct it together or quietly make a list of words in her vocabulary to learn at the end of the week. Careful not to make it a punishment and don't get concerned with reaching for the spelling of words that should come at a future grade level until she is ready.
As a grandmother, some of the most precious things I have are little letters from my granddaughters and the spelling is all over the place and often very funny. At this end of life, mistakes can be endearing. Just my thoughts.
C. S.

In my opinion I would let her spell it however she wants too! My oldest is in first grade right now and they are concentrating on spelling but in Kindergarten I think it's more important to concentrate on phonics with her!

Love, K.

Ask her teacher!! They are alot of help!! Since they know what they will be doing next year.

My DD is doing the same thing. I suggest, to her, that she write in pencil or erase-able crayola marker. Then when she is done we pretend to be newspaper editors and we edit her writing. She has picked up an amazing amount of sentence structure this way too. But don't destroy the creative process while she is writing by making her stop in the middle and write the correct way. I do tell her to sound it out and write it how it sounds if she asks for help. Then we go over it afterward and follow the rules for spelling (but I don't force her to do this part. She doesn’t always want to edit her stories).
BTW if she loves to write stories you should check out Illustory. It's a kids activity kit (available at Target) that your DD can use to make her very own hard back story book.

RPocai

From a teacher's point of view, phonics isn't that great. Let her write her thoughts down, and then go back and proofread with her. She should learn to spell the words correctly instead of phonetically first...it will be hard for her to re-learn how to spell a word if she is constantly writing it incorrectly.

My son is in 1st grade and still spells things incorrectly. The teacher often has the class write short stories and they have to write in their journals every day. I mentioned this very thing to the teacher and asked what she thought of the issue. She said that she does not correct the mispelled words during those times. If it is a spelling word for the week she might bring it to their attention but she never corrects their journals or short stories. She believes that it is more important for them to express their true thoughts than it is to get the correct spelling. Hope that helps! :)

As a teacher (w/an English degree), I would say to tell her that she should write and spell how it sounds to her so her thoughts don't have to keep stopping. Then when she's finished, if she wants to ask you for help to "edit" you would do that for her. It may make her feel bigger to do that because real writers have editors, and she would have one too! Let her know that her thoughts are too important to interrupt and worry about spelling. Good luck, and she sounds very creative already!

As a previous 1st grade teacher I agree with the others! And congratulations on having a very bright, attentive learner! Encourage her to try her best first, reward her efforts, and if she still wants to see the "right" way then you can show her! You are doing the right things! However, there are "sight" words that she will not be able to just sound out ( the word 'one' for instance.)
Other things you can do: have her tell you a story while you write the words and then she can go back and reread what she has just said. Maybe you could illustrate it together!
As she is still learning to read encourage her to use her pictures (that's why they are there) especially on words that are new or hard to sound out.
It sounds like you are doing a great job with her!!!

I am an elementary gifted and talented teacher. I vote for having her spell by sounding out first so that she gets her thoughts down. You can always go back over it with her after she completes her story and edit the paper together. I do this with my Kindergartners and First Graders.

That's great that she is so interested in writing. As a Kindergarten teacher that is one of the hardest skills I teach. Most 5-6 year olds are not interested or so scared to make a mistake they won't even try. I agree with what you are doing. Right now phonics are important and the more she writes, the more she will read. Spelling is less important than telling the story. In first grade she will start spelling words and tests in class. One way to "mix" it up might be to take turns writing a sentence or a page. The biggest thing is to keep her writing. Hope this helps.

S.