“Invented Spelling”

A definition of “invented spelling” that comes up from a Google search is “The practice of spelling unfamiliar words by making an educated guess as to the correct spelling based on the writer’s existing phonetic knowledge.”

The Florida Center for Reading Research defines it this way:

An attempt to spell a word based on a student’s knowledge of the spelling system and how it works (e.g., kt for cat).

I define “invented spelling” this way:

A child’s effort to spell words in a written assignment before being given adequate classroom instruction by the teacher.

A surprising number of professional educators have bought into the notion that it’s all right to allow kindergartners and first-graders to imagine that they are “writing” when they produce such efforts as these:

I can think of no other academic skill that children are expected to perform before they have been taught how to do it.

The writing samples below show that five- and six-year-olds are, in fact, capable of producing writing that doesn’t require the teacher to possess ESP:

Two misconceptions drive the education establishment’s acceptance of the concept of “invented spelling” as a pedagogical device:

Misconception 1
Children learn to read and write in the same way they learn to speak.

The ability to speak is hardwired into the human brain. A child learns to speak by hearing others speak and by being spoken to. Writing and spelling are academic skills. They do not come naturally. They must be taught.

Misconception 2
Writing workshop techniques are appropriate in kindergarten and first grade.

Writing workshops have their uses with older students, but nothing is gained by forcing five- and six-year-olds to respond to writing prompts before they’ve been taught to write legibly and to spell the words they use. Grades K-3 are for laying the foundation of written language. The current fad of moving teaching content suitable for the upper grades to K-3 is indefensible. Children of affluent, educated, or extremely determined parents can survive it, but what about the others?

The children who suffer most from the travesty of “invented spelling” are those who come from homes in which they have not received a great deal of verbal stimulation or writing practice. These children need teachers to give them the skills they do not get at home.

In the words of Romalda Spalding, author of The Writing Road to Reading, “No child should be asked to use the tools of a written language until his teacher has taught them to him.”