Here is something that may help mystery shoppers who can't spell.
I have considered the issue of spelling for several years. We homeschooled our children. We tried a teaching computer program for spelling without success. I picked words from their textbooks and words for things they use in everyday life. That helped. I took them to a continuing education class. I don't know how much it helped them. Basically, they learned from experience and spell checking. (Continuing education classes are offered by school districts and by colleges and are not a part of their regular program. I do not know how effective their spelling helps are.)
My sisters and I were always good spellers. We can drive down the highway and one of us will comment on a misspelling on a sign. Another one will comment that the typeface for the advertising is wrong. It drives our husbands batty. Unfortunately, we are now all in different states.
One of our sons has always had problems in spelling. When he was about 8, I took the children to the Holocaust Museum. I hesitated because of the content, but they followed me around to every placard as I read it to them. When we got home, this son, who at one time wanted to be a comic book artist, drew a picture of the POW pajamas he saw in the museum. . . . every stripe, the blood stain in the right place, the missing button, and then he wrote the word "Jew" in six languages around the drawing. I thought, "If he can spell words in six languages that he saw for the first time, he is using his visual knowledge." I know for a fact that my knowledge of spelling is visual.
I read a lot. I have done this all my life. I think I probably pronounce the words in my head because I can't read a word unless I know how it is spelled and I can't learn a word from another language unless I know how it is spelled, no matter whether it is pronounced the way it is spelled. My spelling in school was always 97 to 98% accurate. I know many more words now, and I would estimate that my spelling accuracy is stilll 97 to 98%.
My point in all this wordiness is that bad spellers need practice. You are not going to get practice just by using spell checker. There are too many words that look like other words. You need practice. Writing your reports is practice. I would suggest these things:
(1) Get a child's writing notebook that has a list of often-misspelled words. Practice them.
(2) Read the newspaper. If you can't read it every day, at least read it often. Circle the words you don't know. Look them up and write them in a notebook with the dictionary. This is time consuming so you might want to buy one newspaper a week. You will be reading all sections of the paper. Read business, real estate, automotive, news, etc. You will find that some of those words show up in mystery shopping. (I know a man who decided after high school that he didn't learn enough, so he bought an algebra book and a grammar book and taught himself on his dining room table for six months until he felt he was knowledgeable enough to present himself to the work world.)
(3) Look at the structure of words. I have no idea whether phonics helps. I didn't have phonics and I am a good speller. Phonics is popular now and hardly anyone can spell.
When I was a substitute teacher, I was correcting the spelling from signs on the classroom wall apparently made by the teacher. To avoid embarrassment to her, I hid the fact that I did it. I would sometimes grade papers. When the students realized I was correcting spelling and grammar, they would become very upset. When I passed out papers, I noticed that the teachers often overlooked spelling and grammar mistakes in their grading. I owned a secretarial service. I typed many, many documents. The primary reason that people came to me other than lack of time to do it themselves or lack of computer skills was probably lack of spelling skills. I found that the local school wanted me to correct the spelling and grammar of the term papers I typed for students. The parents insisted upon it. Later, when I went to training for grading standardized tests, I found that the essays were not graded on spelling and grammar. They were graded on content (what the student "knows"
. Folks, all of this is shameful in our society. I won't go into detail about how bad spelling affects understanding. It's too complicated.
(4) Practice. Reading is good practice for spelling. You, and only you, can make a difference. If you didn't have good teachers, or if you didn't pay attention in school, or if spelling just didn't click for you at a younger age, you need to do something now. You have to learn to spell. Whatever it takes, do it. You can't learn it by not practicing.
(5) Other help. Check out self-help books from the library or find websites covering spelling improvement.
Sandra Sue
I have considered the issue of spelling for several years. We homeschooled our children. We tried a teaching computer program for spelling without success. I picked words from their textbooks and words for things they use in everyday life. That helped. I took them to a continuing education class. I don't know how much it helped them. Basically, they learned from experience and spell checking. (Continuing education classes are offered by school districts and by colleges and are not a part of their regular program. I do not know how effective their spelling helps are.)
My sisters and I were always good spellers. We can drive down the highway and one of us will comment on a misspelling on a sign. Another one will comment that the typeface for the advertising is wrong. It drives our husbands batty. Unfortunately, we are now all in different states.
One of our sons has always had problems in spelling. When he was about 8, I took the children to the Holocaust Museum. I hesitated because of the content, but they followed me around to every placard as I read it to them. When we got home, this son, who at one time wanted to be a comic book artist, drew a picture of the POW pajamas he saw in the museum. . . . every stripe, the blood stain in the right place, the missing button, and then he wrote the word "Jew" in six languages around the drawing. I thought, "If he can spell words in six languages that he saw for the first time, he is using his visual knowledge." I know for a fact that my knowledge of spelling is visual.
I read a lot. I have done this all my life. I think I probably pronounce the words in my head because I can't read a word unless I know how it is spelled and I can't learn a word from another language unless I know how it is spelled, no matter whether it is pronounced the way it is spelled. My spelling in school was always 97 to 98% accurate. I know many more words now, and I would estimate that my spelling accuracy is stilll 97 to 98%.
My point in all this wordiness is that bad spellers need practice. You are not going to get practice just by using spell checker. There are too many words that look like other words. You need practice. Writing your reports is practice. I would suggest these things:
(1) Get a child's writing notebook that has a list of often-misspelled words. Practice them.
(2) Read the newspaper. If you can't read it every day, at least read it often. Circle the words you don't know. Look them up and write them in a notebook with the dictionary. This is time consuming so you might want to buy one newspaper a week. You will be reading all sections of the paper. Read business, real estate, automotive, news, etc. You will find that some of those words show up in mystery shopping. (I know a man who decided after high school that he didn't learn enough, so he bought an algebra book and a grammar book and taught himself on his dining room table for six months until he felt he was knowledgeable enough to present himself to the work world.)
(3) Look at the structure of words. I have no idea whether phonics helps. I didn't have phonics and I am a good speller. Phonics is popular now and hardly anyone can spell.
When I was a substitute teacher, I was correcting the spelling from signs on the classroom wall apparently made by the teacher. To avoid embarrassment to her, I hid the fact that I did it. I would sometimes grade papers. When the students realized I was correcting spelling and grammar, they would become very upset. When I passed out papers, I noticed that the teachers often overlooked spelling and grammar mistakes in their grading. I owned a secretarial service. I typed many, many documents. The primary reason that people came to me other than lack of time to do it themselves or lack of computer skills was probably lack of spelling skills. I found that the local school wanted me to correct the spelling and grammar of the term papers I typed for students. The parents insisted upon it. Later, when I went to training for grading standardized tests, I found that the essays were not graded on spelling and grammar. They were graded on content (what the student "knows"
. Folks, all of this is shameful in our society. I won't go into detail about how bad spelling affects understanding. It's too complicated.
(4) Practice. Reading is good practice for spelling. You, and only you, can make a difference. If you didn't have good teachers, or if you didn't pay attention in school, or if spelling just didn't click for you at a younger age, you need to do something now. You have to learn to spell. Whatever it takes, do it. You can't learn it by not practicing.
(5) Other help. Check out self-help books from the library or find websites covering spelling improvement.
Sandra Sue
