bad writting (sic)

I recently saw a post from an American gentleman, saying that his son, having graduated from High School, wants to travel - but can't get a passport because he has never learned cursive writing and therefore can't write a signature! Seems printing the name won't do...

I think a lot of it is the price of computers that correct spelling. Missing capitalisation and punctuation, and "textisms" annoy me too.

I once saw a mother ask: "Is it ok that my nine year old son can't write, he does all his homework on the computer anyway?"

Another post on a forum that astonished me was from a teacher who had failed an online arithmetic test which was aimed at primary school children. Apparently that was ok because she didn't teach maths.

Soutra

Given the decibels in the average school eatery, "dinning room" could be closer to the truth than you think!!

Was the notice hanging in the dinning room?

I will inbox you a couple of links.

Please do Soontobe. I suspect the course is suspect.

I do think the correct spelling is very important, right from a very early age. Mine were tiny (under three) when they learnt to read, I was reading board books to them right from birth. If a child learns to misspell a word when young, they will be stuck with that spelling for ages before they can unlearn it.

And if anyone thinks I am bonkers for teaching them so early, it earnt me a lot more free time to get on with things. And their spelling is excellent. All of their primary schools gave them spelling as homework, their current age range is between 19 and 29.

I don't think it's a new thing, DBH's aunt was a teacher and she can't spell.

MiceElf, I could send you a link about the college/course if you are interested. I remembered its name this morning. Had a look, and still cant work out whether it is a degree course or not.
And when it mentions things like entry requirements, it says please email...
And it does the same for other things as well.

Not sure what you are objecting to specifically about what I wrote, TerriS?

I was talking about my kids doing cvs, not teachers if that is the part you are objecting to.

Terri - there are indeed excellent primary teachers and TAs and I admire them tremendously. But the instances of mis-spelling by staff in the books my DGC bring home are too frequent to be random slips and are consistently wrong with the same words.

"F" for "th" is very common and I would not criticise a child of 5 for that! Adults who say "skellington", "arthuritis" "duh-warf" "mischeevious" "prostrate gland" etc on the other hand..............
And don't get me started on pompous public utterances which boil down to nothing at all when you peel off the layers of unnecessary verbiage!

I find it isn't just poor spelling, it seems to be poor speech too. My 5 year old GD says 'free' for three when counting, and calls her brother Arfur instead of Arthur. Her pronounciation of such words seems to be acceptable...

Oops! "came home"....

Soontobe - how incredibly insulting to primary teachers! This cohort of teachers aren't there to 'child-mind' until they reach secondary school! They have the hardest job in many respects - engaging children and inspiring them to learn with an enthusiasm that can turn them into active learners, setting the pattern for life.
The times my now grown-up children come home from secondary school and said about teachers, who clearly are disenfranchised with their jobs and pacing time until retirement.
Yes, I'm biased - my DD is a dedicated, hard-working primary teacher. With a joint honours in French and German, plus her PGCE. The children adore her and she is committed to them and their futures.
Your 'friend' could also be found in any walk of life, unfortunately.
Rant over!

I so hate these mistakes. I know some people have spelling problems and I think making allowances when looking at personal work is to be applauded. BUT it is now so easy to spell check and doing it before you put up a public notice should be automatic. What would I do? I'd underline the word and write in the largest letters I could get in "Is this a new subject? or do you mean WRITING?" Don't like the impression being given that a degree necessarily makes a better teacher. Some of the old Teacher Training Colleges turned out excellent teachers with very high standards. I was one of these and our training involved making sure any communication was accurate and well presented .

Didn't it used to be a ploy for small shop keepers to misspell the white window writing so that people would come in to come to tell them and end up buying something?

If I have the opportunity I correct spellings/apostrophes with big crosses - when I'm absolutely sure that is. The trouble is I'm finding more and more that I have to change a sentence around in order to avoid spelling something.

Some years ago we had our morris dancing training in a hall which was used for a pre-school. There were often spelling and punctuation errors on notices both for parents and children. I had a pen and changed them where necessary. I am very tempted to change notices where unnecessary apostrophes have been used. A friend of mine actually changed a sign in a supermarket where the wrong word had been used!

tiggypiro's suggestion is good. Or you could 'close the gap' if you have the appropriate writing implement so that it doesn't look as if a letter is missing—writing instead of wri ting or writ ing.

I believe that any writing that is on public view should be correctly spelt. My absolute horror is the misuse of apostrophes and capital I being written in lower case in the middle of a word. eg. BUSiNESS. Shop signs are the worst. Potato's and Tomato's. Screaming inside!

There is no such institution as a Teacher Training College. To obtain QTS - Qualified Teacher Status it is necessary to have a good degree and a Post Graduate Certificate of Education or a Master's.

Unless of course it's an Academy where Gove decided that QTS wasn't necessary and any crony of the sponsors could be employed. See scores of recent news stories.

My 6-year-old GS in Year 2 is learning spelling and having tests on it. Not sure I approve of that entirely. I'd rather he spent his time at home reading and being read to.

Spelling hasnt been seen as important in schools for about 20 years by my reckoning.
So now, the pupils are turning into teachers themselves.

Back when mine were in primary, spellings were rarely taught in themselves.
I knew that they were important, so gave mine spellings at home, much to their chagrin.
But I figured, that when they came to write cvs and aplication forms for jobs, the employers themselves would take notice of those with good spelling and those without.
Which is exactly what is happening.

Not sure whether the current school system now puts greater emphasis on spelling or not.

But it's just so bad that a child of 5 should have to be correcting his teacher! What on earth's gone wrong with the system...?

I would definitely mention it even though it is pre-school. Children learn things by osmosis as well as direct teaching, and a bright child will take this word on board - he/she needs to see it written correctly.

I too have seen many spelling and grammatical errors in the comments in the books my DGC bring home - I must confess it makes me squirm. One of my DGSs is reading and generally functioning academically at the level of an 8 or 9 year old (he is 5) and he spots these mistakes - and tells the teacher, who takes it on the chin I am glad to say.