Yeah, it’s another one of those kindergarten posts about spelling…
So last week when I was in Mikayla’s class volunteering for center time, we got to use all new crayons and glue sticks! New supplies for the new year. (I love new crayons. They’re so sharp and clean and pretty.)
So we were coloring and remarking about the new crayons and I happened to have my grandaughter Mikayla in one of the groups that day. Elizabeth and Weston and Mikayla got in a discussion about the crayons and their colors. I was telling them that each of the crayons had the “official” color written right on the crayon and I read one of the names off…”Blue Green”.
So then, they started handing them to me…
Kid: “What’s this one say?”
Me: “Scarlet”
Kid: “Scarlet is orange?”
Me: “Well actually, I think of scarlet as more red, but that’s what it says.”
Kid: “What’s this one say?”
Me: ” Burnt Orange”
Kid: “Burnt?”
Me: Yeah, I don’t know…I guess that’s what orange would look like if you burnt it.”
Funny looks on the kids faces, of course.
Kid: “What about this one?”
Me: “Cerulean.”
Kid: “Hunh?”
Me: “Yeah, that’s what is says…cerulean.”
Kid: “That’s blue!”
Me: “I know, right? I don’t know…you’ll have to email Crayola.”
So that started the conversation about coloring the bird “cerulean” and the pants “cerulean” and the hat “cerulean”…you get the picture.
So when I went back today, of course, the conversation came up again. I picked up the blue crayon and said, “Hey! Here’s the cerulean crayon.”
So Elizabeth (remember my speller of ”rth” a few posts ago?) sounded it out.
Yup, you guessed it…S-R-O-O-L-E-U-N.
Works for me!
I think that spelling is eggs-sell-ant! Seriously, she’s got the foundational tools that will serve her well for her entire life. The school Sarah & Jim started at in NY stressed phonetics; we moved to TX to a school system where they didn’t. The contrast was so dramatic I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself. Good job mom, dad, gramma, and everyone else!
I was taught phonetics for a little bit. Not sure how it affected me but I am an eggs-sell-ant speller! The thought process in Kayla’s school is getting them to understand what sounds the letters make first before you get them to spell correctly. And it makes sense…how can they spell stuff if they don’t know what sounds the letters make first? It would be too frustrating!
But I have to say…it’s REAL hard to sit there and let them spell a-r-e with just an “r”!
Thanks for the comment, Wendy! I always enjoy your comments cause you usually have a great story to tell!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA – Man I looked at those names last week and thought someone brought a box of Crayola’s in from another country. We stuck to the basics Tuesday although one of the little smarties picked their color for their scarf then proceeded to pop up like a toasted poptart and walk to the board. Well, guess what is there – a complete list of colors – spelled out. So, this little one thought he was weaseling his way out of sounding out the colors. It only took me once. These kids are smart. Oh – did you get that the last sentence about boots needed the ‘r’ instead of the ‘is’? My first group went home with poor grammer on their Bundled Boy! OOPs!