Dr. Karin Lynch will announce expanded opportunities in this valuable program soon. I have again asked Dr. Linda Caillet, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, to contribute specific instructional information. Recently, I have been asked with some frequency about invented spelling. Let me begin with information from the Reading Program Advisory, Teaching Reading. With young children, particularly kindergartners and first graders, invented or temporary spelling is definitely appropriate.
Children use it to express their thoughts in print.
Thus, they provide teachers with an invaluable means for assessing the spelling progress of their students. By engaging students in thinking actively and reflectively about the sounds of words and their spellings, the use of temporary spelling lays a strong cognitive foundation for formal instruction in both spelling and phonics. Research demonstrates that combining ample early support of temporary spelling with systematic, formal spelling instruction results in more rapid growth in both correct spelling and word recognition than does either approach alone. We know that poorly developed spelling knowledge hinders children's writing, disrupts reading fluency and obstructs vocabulary development. Thus, it is critical for the success of all children that programmatic instruction in correct spellings begin as soon as the first grade and continue across the school years.