When do you fix incorrect spelling in dictation?
My children were not good spellers when they started using your guides. With dictation, I am seeing improvement, so I am now a firm believer in the Charlotte Mason method of dictation. We have only ever done dictation the way it is planned in our Heart of Dakota (HOD) guides. My question comes because I am confused by something I just randomly read about dictation on another Charlotte Mason website. The site stated that you should watch and correct the child if they make a misspelling. I thought we were to let them make whatever mistakes they make, and then correct them at the end. Then, have them repeat it the next day if there are mistakes. Am I understanding that right? Now, I’m confused! I’d like to do it the way Heart of Dakota (HOD) says to do it, but maybe I’m doing it wrong. How do I handle incorrect spelling in dictation?
Sincerely,
Ms. Confused About Fixing Incorrect Spelling in Dictation
Dear “Ms. Confused About Fixing Incorrect Spelling in Dictation,”
Charlotte Mason advocated not allowing a child to see a word incorrectly spelled even for a moment, so she did have students erase and fix any spelling mistakes within their writing immediately.
As far as HOD’s studied dictation goes, we do follow Charlotte Mason’s suggestions with this. We have kiddos study the passage first, have the parent dictate it phrase by phrase, have the child repeat the phrase, and then have the child write it. This is all done from a single reading, without repetition.
The kiddos check their writing against the passage in the guide and mark and fix any mistakes right after writing the passage. So, we only delay fixing the incorrect spelling until the child has written the passage and goes to check it.
Blessings,
Carrie
