<p>Who potty trained you, taught you how to tie your shoes, taught you how to use eating implements, how to count, your ABCs, and on and on and on… geez proof read for her with a GOOD attitude, she’s earned your respect and patience.</p>
<p>the mistakes i see the most are your/you’re and than/then. your/you’re drives me crazy…my third-grade sister can keep it straight…</p>
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<p>There might be some truth in this. My child is a first generation American and he was a good speller since early elementary school. He did not have a good English environment to pick up English at home during preschool years. We even worried that he might not be able to pick up enough English before he started elementary school. So, we “hired” some teenagers to “babysit” him for a few hours each week even though there is really no need for a babysitter.</p>
<p>I still remember that his 1st year preschool teacher said that she believes he started to understand some of their conversations. A year later, he was the first person who could read and spell the names of all his classmates when he was still the worst to converse in English. We were even accused by one of his preschool teachers that we really should not “coach” him to read written English at such a young age but we really did not. (Our only concern at that time is his conversational English. We tried very hard to acquire as many audio/video tapes for children as possible: Wee-Sing, Disney, etc. You name it, we probably have it.)</p>
<p>I think the only reason behind this is that he needs to compensate his aural facility by any other means he could possibly have access to under such an “accelerated” (also stressful? I do not know) language learning environment. One of the other facilities may be his visual one.</p>
<p>When he was in 2nd grade, one classmate complimented his reading skill by saying something like “It is really not easy to read a 200-page book.” That classmate might not know that just 3 year ago, he barely knew any English. One year later, he represented his school to join a district-wise spelling-bee contest and won. His public speaking skill was still not that good at that time. In high school, his PSAT/SAT verbal/reading scores were very very high, even though he was still not a very good public speaker. We can tell he is definitely a visual learner. Hmmm…but why does he have such an enjoyment in music if he is a visual learner? He happily took a music class every semester and some summers in college, even though he is not a music major. All of his recreation is related to music. I can not understand this part.</p>
<p>I think visual learners have an advantage. mathson used to say for spelling test he’d just close his eyes and rerun the videotape of his teacher writing the spelling words on the board and he’d copy them down again. I don’t think you have to be just one kind of learner, many people are a mix.</p>
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<p>The OP did write that she felt guilty writing this. So, please do not be too harsh on him/her. I do not know the age of OP. As a parent, I do know many younsters will have a transition period when they appear to be impatient with whatever their parents did or said. It seems to me that, by behaving like this, they can somehow prove to themselves that they are independent of their parents and have “grown up.” After this transition time and they really grow up, they will likely behave differently. It is just a part of growing up, I think.</p>
<p>This reminds me of something happened to me. I know one mother who even does not know how to use a computer, like how to send an email. None of her high school children are willing to spend enough time to teach her. It is also likely they had tried many times but still did not succeed in it and gave it up.</p>
<p>At one time, she heard that we would like to get rid of a very old computer, she enthusiastically asked us to give her that computer. She thought if she had her own computer, she would magically learn how to use the email. (Every other member in her family appears to have his/her own computer. They are middle class.) In the end, she did not take our junky computer. I hope she has her own computer now and has learned how to use it.</p>
<p>Heck…my own parents, who are in their 80s, refuse to come anywhere near a computer. They even complained to us that the cell phone we gave them is too difficult to use and put it away. Its battery is almost never charged unless they have a “big trip” to another city, which is like 10-20 miles away. Then, they kept worrying they might not know how to use that thing during the trip. (Actually, only one of them barely knows how to use it.) They also have a hard time comprehending anything coming out of that cell phone. We have no choice but shout when we call them and they use that cell phone.</p>
<p>My H, a Ph.D., can’t spell for toffee. He works with other Ph.D.s who have been known to come to him for help in spelling! Yup, he’s a scientist. But I do believe there is a spelling gene. I’m pretty good at spelling in several languages and lousy at math.</p>
<p>I wonder if there is a correlation between good spelling and lousy math? </p>
<p>My H is good at math and lousy at spelling. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to spell, it’s more that he is careless. If he stopped to think, he would, of course, know how to use "there " and “their”. (Both he and my S still misspell MY NAME on occasion. That’s right, I’m their wife and mother but they cannot spell my name consistently.)</p>
<p>I am good at spelling and at math. My husband, as I mentioned in an earlier post, cannot spell to save his life. When naming our kids we had to nix certain names because he would never have been able to spell them. But is very good with numbers.</p>
<p>I am an excellent speller, learned my phonics in school. S is very poor. His teacher believed in what she said was called “inventive spelling”. She explained that if a kid spelled please as plese or pleas, then the child wasn’t corrected because those spellings are pretty much how the word sounds. It was her explanation that over time, the child would see the correct spellings and then magically catch on to what the correct spellings were. His Mom and I didn’t like that all. We told the teacher we use “inventive mathmatics” at home. We told her if he puts down a wrong answer in his arithmatic not to count it as wrong because he’ll catch on later. She didn’t fully change her philosophy, but our point was made, and she did modify her method.</p>
<p>Interesting about names swimcats’ H can’t spell. Were the names under consideration traditional African names? Or <em>cutesy</em> spellings of common names? Surely he can spell Shirley!</p>