[my3beautifulboys]

hi, Ds(7) has almost finished his term for year 2, he has learnt so much this year and his teacher has been great. Just tonight he was playing a game with his younger brothers, he was writing down sentences, some of the words he wrote wernt spelt correctly, but he had a good go. Like 'leg' was spelt leeg, 'scratch' was spelt skrach, 'broke' was spelt brok, 'your' was yor. The english language is very difficult for children to comprehend, and how some words do sound.
Is this level of spelling normal for year 2/3 children? we are in w.a

[Lyn86]

I would think he should be able to spell leg and your. The others are slightly more difficult, but wouldn't be suprised if a year two could spell them.

[mibi]

My DS is 7.5 and in his 2nd year of school (Year 1 in NSW) I would think he could spell "your" and "leg" correctly. Scratch would probably be tricky for him - I don't think he'd get the "t" and I think he'd get "broke" but his name is Jake, so the "oke" in broke is similar to "ake" in Jake - he usually gets those words right. Having a good go is probably just as important at getting the words right - at least he's trying, and he's getting the sounds pretty close - the English language is pretty tricky

[threetimesblesse...]

I have a 7 year old DS who is in year 1. He is able to spell those words.
At the end of year 2, I would be concerned with those spelling errors.

[my3beautifulboys]

Thanks, yes i wasnt sure but i would have thought he should know leg and your, he has been bringing home spelling books, where you look at the words, memorise them and write them down, he got 7 a week, such as spring, season, stick, round, rocks, (he just tonight spelt rock 'rook') he had no trouble with those words and by the end of the week could spell them well. I'm not sure why he's having trouble with simple words?

[feliz6]

I think he was really close with scratch and broke which are a bit tricky that I wouldn't worry about it. I might expect that he could do leg though. Perhaps you could ask him how he figured out he should spell leg that way and that might help to correct the error. E.g. if he is saying the word as he writes it he may be mispronounced it ad he's writing it. Also if he can spell beg peg meg you could talk about leg being similar. Or if he can spell words like feed with the ee you could talk about th
The sound ee makes and can you hear that in leg? No so therefore ur spelling is incorrect what should it be?

[Jemstar]

I would expect that by the end of year 2 a child would generally be able to spell leg, your and broke. Scratch I would expect perhaps 'scrach'.

It is possible that if he's doing this writing at home he's just very relaxed about it and 'going with the flow' so to speak and not really trying/thinking about it that much. I know when my boys are playing at home there can be more errors than otherwise. Also, did you ask him about the spelling? Is it a possibility that it was a deliberate part of the game?

[my3beautifulboys]

Thanks for youre suggestions, that sounds great. I will spend time with him and talk to him about the spelling of leg, and see how he thought it was leeg instead. I know when we spell words out loud sometime he doesnt have too much trouble there, and he takes his time to think about the spelling. Its sometimes when he goes to write it on paper, its like he's thinking ahead and perhaps not focusing on the word he' s on. He wrote a piece at school today, he gave it alot of thought and it was written well, he wrote thankyou, letting, driving, correctly, but then he spelt at the end of the paragraph, 'sleep' slepp, and 'your' yor.

The game they we're playing was just before bed, so it was abit of a rush, i didnt expect the spelling to be perfectly correct, as theyre pretty tired at that time.

This post has been edited by my3beautifulboys: 11/12/2012, 11:37 PM

[~shannon~]

I would expect that by the end of year 2 a child would generally be able to spell leg, your and broke. Scratch I would expect perhaps 'scrach'.

It is possible that if he's doing this writing at home he's just very relaxed about it and 'going with the flow' so to speak and not really trying/thinking about it that much. I know when my boys are playing at home there can be more errors than otherwise. Also, did you ask him about the spelling? Is it a possibility that it was a deliberate part of the game?

Agree. I was also going to suggest that he might have just been wanting to write faster. When my DD has a head full of ideas she wants to get it all down on paper really quickly and that's when mistakes pop in. When I tell her to slow down, she starts spelling words correctly again, and comprehension and grammar improve too.

[mum850]

Hi, my DD is in year 3. Sorry but I would be worried about my child's spelling if they were making those errors at end of grade two.
I am quite interested in spelling as many of my friends' kids get weekly spelling lists to learn. At our school, there is no spelling homework, but our school does really well in NAPLAN including in spelling. I would like to know about any evidence to see if routine traditional spelling homework improves outcomes in a general classroom. (As you would all know, the weekly spelling list times a few kids can be a difficult thing for parents and kids for various reasons)
Having said that, if I had a child who was having trouble with spelling, I would want to look into helping them at home.