Schools are telling teachers not to correct more than three spelling mistakes and not to use 'angry' red pen because that discourages pupils and dents their esteem.
One member of the public says it's difficult to remember spellings.
Not true. It's easy to look the word up in the dictionary. I worked as a sub-editor and we checked every long word even if we thought we knew it.
As a home tutor I mark each query with a dot and ask the pupil to find the correct spelling in the dictionary. They then make a list of the new spellings which they have discovered and learned.
I can tell which pupils will make progress. One mother never got round to buying a dictionary in a ten week term. Another parent spoke to me the evening before the first lesson and turned up with two dictionaries for each of his twins by 10 am the next morning.
Foreign pupils often arrive with an electronic translation machine which may or may not also have and English dictionary and a thesaurus.
Several internet newspaper readers pointed out that pupils who can't spell will be at a disadvantage and lose money and self-esteem in the real world when they try to get a job. Pupils at private schools are taught spelling which gives them an advantage. Foreigners write better English than many natives.
Another reader commented that at university the teachers don't worry about upsetting the pupils. I find this sensitivity at odds with what we see on TV, outspoken criticism on programmes such as X Factor, Come Dine With Me.
One member of the public says it's difficult to remember spellings.
Not true. It's easy to look the word up in the dictionary. I worked as a sub-editor and we checked every long word even if we thought we knew it.
As a home tutor I mark each query with a dot and ask the pupil to find the correct spelling in the dictionary. They then make a list of the new spellings which they have discovered and learned.
I can tell which pupils will make progress. One mother never got round to buying a dictionary in a ten week term. Another parent spoke to me the evening before the first lesson and turned up with two dictionaries for each of his twins by 10 am the next morning.
Foreign pupils often arrive with an electronic translation machine which may or may not also have and English dictionary and a thesaurus.
Several internet newspaper readers pointed out that pupils who can't spell will be at a disadvantage and lose money and self-esteem in the real world when they try to get a job. Pupils at private schools are taught spelling which gives them an advantage. Foreigners write better English than many natives.
Another reader commented that at university the teachers don't worry about upsetting the pupils. I find this sensitivity at odds with what we see on TV, outspoken criticism on programmes such as X Factor, Come Dine With Me.
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