Super speller

If you didn't see the written words, could you spell sphere, phobia, phoenix and symphony?

What about triump, phase and morph?

Sphinx? Hieroglyphics?

These were the words my 9-year-old daughter needed to learn for her weekly spelling test last Friday. When I quizzed her, I was amazed at the complexity of some of these words. I, a self-proclaimed spelling and grammar geek, spelt sphinx incorrectly the first time. (In fact, I'm such a grammar geek, I blogged about it last year and today I grabbed my handy dictionary to look up the past tense of spell. I learned you can used both spelled and spelt. Only people like me would enjoy knowing that interesting little tidbit of information.)

This morning, I asked my son, who is in grade eight, to spell some of these words and he didn't get them right. Granted, English, spelling and grammar aren't his strengths (math and science are). While he did well in spelling tests because he memorized the words, he forget them promptly afterwards because they were random words with no correlation to one another.

I'm excited my daughter's grade four teacher is choosing a theme for his spelling words each week, selecting sounds and/or letter combinations to teach kids the composition of words. Last week's words focussed on the ph letter combo that sounds like f.

Spelling correctly matters. I know a whole bunch of kids went through school, encouraged to spell words the way they sounded, regardless if they were spelt right. But I think eventually the world caught up (or will catch up) to them because higher educational institutions and the business world generally care about good spelling. (Of course, then there's good grammar, which keeps people like me employed.)

Many customers also make judgements based on good spelling. I know I sometimes measure the professionalism of a place by the spelling and grammar used in its advertising. I got a pizza flyer in the mail the other day. In every instance, except one, fries was spelled "freis." You could order a panzerotti baked or "freid." I laughed and promptly threw the menu in recycling. Granted, the owner may speak English as a second language and I applaud him or her for small-business ownership. But when spending money on advertising, get someone - a friend, regular customer, another business owner - to proofread the copy.

I'm proud of my daughter because she takes pride in good spelling and grammar. Yes! She's a mini-me because she loves to read books and write stories. But she's a bit more entrepreneurial than I was/am because she's already advertising and promoting sales of a little story she wrote. She's got a great combination of writing skills and business instinct. It's awesome she's learning how to correctly spell the words she wants to use.

A proud mom and grammar geek,
Tina