2nd grader coming home with misspelled spelling words

[Octobermommy]

My oldest has more advanced words than most of the class. She has now come home with misspelled words 4 times. After the second time we talked to the teacher & asked that she double check the words on my dd sheet. I don't want her learning the incorrect spelling as it is hard to get her to spell it correctly after this. My dh has been helping with homework this week so when I went to check yesterday I saw that a word was misspelled. ( my dh is admittedly not a good speller). To top it off she had a spelling test yesterday and made a 100 with the word spelled incorrectly.

What else can I do that would help this?

[egoldber]

So the spelling words are misspelled on the original list?

Is the list handwritten or how is the list generated? My older DD's spelling words have always come from a book or photocopy from a book.

[Octobermommy]

Handwritten by child. We've asked for teacher to double check the words. Teacher is also admittingly not a good speller.

[WatchingThemGrow]

seriously??? I'd be talking to the principal about that one if the teacher is having them copy them misspelled. 4 times? and getting the misspellings correct??? inexcusable. If your DC is at fault, then it is a different story and the teacher can make some accommodations such as preferential seating, some visual cues as to how the word is "shaped" or how many letters.

[trcy]

seriously??? I'd be talking to the principal about that one if the teacher is having them copy them misspelled. 4 times? and getting the misspellings correct??? inexcusable. a big :yeahthat:

[justlearning]

Handwritten by child. We've asked for teacher to double check the words. Teacher is also admittingly not a good speller.

Evidently she's not a good speller if she's misspelled a 2nd grader's words 4 times! At what point in the week do you see your DD's spelling words? If it's early in the week, I'd email the teacher the same day she comes home with a misspelled word to say "My DD came home with the word spelled x when it should be y. I have told DD the correct spelling but I just wanted to let you know in case the mistake was made on the board and could confuse other kids."

If she then writes back that your DD wrote the word down wrong, then I'd bring up the point that it's happened 4 times already and her (misspelled) words were graded as correct on the test.

Now I'm very curious...what were the 4 words and how were they spelled?

[egoldber]

Handwritten by child.

Honestly, I think this is a faulty system and there are going to be errors. I would either just plan to check the words or ask her to provide a photocopy of the word list.

[Green_Tea]

Honestly, I think this is a faulty system and there are going to be errors. I would either just plan to check the words or ask her to provide a photocopy of the word list.

:yeahthat:

I'd ask the teacher to please send home a list made by the teacher each week.

[larig]

:yeahthat:

I'd ask the teacher to please send home a list made by the teacher each week.

:yeahthat:
Hard to tell if it's a copying error or teacher's writing error. This really seems like a system set up for mistakes to be made. 1. the teacher could miscopy her list on the board (easy to do when you're trying to keep the kids under control) or 2. your DD could have miscopied what she had written. Giving a printed list would avoid this problem altogether.

[new_mommy25]

My DS is in second grade and sometimes comes home with misspelled words. The teacher writes them on the board and they copy. So the error is his. I just have him correct and move on. I don't see why anyone would contact the principal over an issue like that. It's trivial.

[sntm]

It's a faulty system - what if another kid doesn't have a parent checking their homework? I don't check every night - I don't have time sometimes.

I'd tell her she needs to provide a printed list in addition to having the kids copy them down (which I assume is done to help them remember.)

IDK, but it troubles me to have a 2nd grade teacher who admits she is a bad speller. Isn't that kind of an important part of your job? It would be like me (surgeon) saying I'm not really good with my hands or a police officer saying he's really bad at shooting a gun.

[Green_Tea]

IDK, but it troubles me to have a 2nd grade teacher who admits she is a bad speller. Isn't that kind of an important part of your job? It would be like me (surgeon) saying I'm not really good with my hands or a police officer saying he's really bad at shooting a gun.

I don't think being a naturally good speller should be a prerequisite to be a teacher, as spelling ability is not at all indicative of overall intelligence, BUT any 2nd grade teacher worth his or her salt should be able to spell 2nd grade words. And if the teacher does struggle with spelling and is aware of it, she should take extra measures to be sure that she's accurately spelling the words on the board.

All that said, it sounds as though it's unclear in the OP's case that the teacher is the one making a mistake. As Larig pointed out, the system is flawed. The teacher should be sending home a photocopied list of spelling words each week and not relying on her students to transcribe them accurately.

[BDKmom]

All that said, it sounds as though it's unclear in the OP's case that the teacher is the one making a mistake.

The teacher is the one making a mistake if the misspelled word is being counted as correct on the test, as OP stated. I would definitely be at least bringing this to the teacher's attention and asking for a printed list of words. If the teacher is going to let the students study using the child's copied list, then she should be correcting the errors before they take them home to study.

As to whether it's OK that the teacher is a poor speller, it wouldn't matter to me, but she should at least study the words the kids will be working on ahead of time to make sure she has all those down. It is second grade for crying out loud.

[Green_Tea]

The teacher is the one making a mistake if the misspelled word is being counted as correct on the test, as OP stated.

I agree that that is unacceptable. I was referring to the list of spelling words, not the test.

(OP - was it a one time mistake on the test, or has she mis-graded in the past?)

[egoldber]

In many of DD's classes, the children have corrected each other's work.

[rlu]

In many of DD's classes, the children have corrected each other's work.

DS is in Second grade. His teacher (or parent assistant) correct spelling tests, but many of the worksheets for English, science or math are corrected by other students while the teacher calls out the correct answer.

For DS a (teacher) handwritten spelling list comes home on Monday with the test on Friday. The handwritten list is composed of the words for the week (a preprinted form from their English workbooks that also comes home) plus challenge words (not all the 2nd grades have the same challenge words each week so not sure where those come from).

OP might suggest the teacher send home a printed list (or email if trying to avoid paper waste). A question to ask though is why the child is miscopying the words - are the kids given enough time, is the handwriting difficult to read, vision difficulties, deskmate distraction (that's a big one in DS's class), etc.

[larig]

In many of DD's classes, the children have corrected each other's work.

yeah, we used to do that. we'd exchange papers and check one another's work. people who were friends would sometimes "miss" an incorrect one. Good point, I'd forgotten about that practice.

[Octobermommy]

I agree that that is unacceptable. I was referring to the list of spelling words, not the test.

(OP - was it a one time mistake on the test, or has she mis-graded in the past?)

This is the first time on the test, the others I have caught & corrected my child before she has taken the test. I have confirmed that the teacher is grading the tests. Teacher has given a "100" on a sentence that was not grammatically correct before also. We check work but sometimes I want her to make her mistakes that the teacher can help correct. I thought that would be good to have that enforced at school also but that is apparantly not happening.

Thanks for suggestions. It is eye-opening (in a good way) to see the varying opinions.

I am going to check spelling words first chance I can every week and talk to the teacher about looking for my child's mistakes more( hmm, how do I say that?) My child is one of the more advanced students in the class so I am thinking that sometimes she gives my child a pass maybe assuming it is correct?

[justlearning]

I'd still love to hear what the words were and how the teacher spelled them if you don't mind sharing. :)

[WatchingThemGrow]

I don't see why anyone would contact the principal over an issue like that. It's trivial.Assuming the teacher has the words misspelled on the board, accepts misspellings on tests and accepts grammatically incorrect writing on second grade/higher second grade material...sounds like maybe there is a teacher quality issue going on. I can guarantee that a principal who is working hard to make sure students are learning will want to know when instruction is sub-par.

[baboki]

seriously??? I'd be talking to the principal about that one if the teacher is having them copy them misspelled. 4 times? and getting the misspellings correct??? inexcusable. If your DC is at fault, then it is a different story and the teacher can make some accommodations such as preferential seating, some visual cues as to how the word is "shaped" or how many letters.

This. Seriously, that teacher needs to go.

[xmasbabycomin]

I think going to the principal is overreacting. My son has never missed more than one spelling word on his PRETEST and he doesn't get additional/challenge words. It seems to me you are still not sure if it is a copying error by your ds or her, so that shows you need to investigate further. It is important to know which it is. Just tell the teacher that you don't want to create more work for her, but you are concerned about the frequency of the problem and want to help figure out a way to prevent it, preferably by her handing out a typed list of the words, but you're open to other options. If its your son's error, you need to just ingrain in him the importance of accuracy and check his words the night he brings them home.