Betsy wrote:

Rosalie B. wrote:
My niece is considering sending her child to private school because
they don't have spelling in the her son's class. The reason given is
that some people in the class are not native English speakers. Does
that reason make sense to anyone? It doesn't to me.


I know that there are other public schools where the majority of
students are not native English speakers that continue to teach
spelling. Although it varies quite a bit from school to school,
spelling is now often taught within the context of rules and categories
of words rather than just lists of unrelated words to memorize.

If spelling is the only issue she has with the school, it might be
simpler for her to hire a spelling tutor to cover spelling outside of
school.

If the spelling issue is just one example of many ways in which the
school is not serving her child's needs, the private school option may
make more sense.

She thinks the child is not being challenged at all. But having had
children and grandchildren in private schools, I don't think private
schools will necessarily be better. Plus I think it depends more on
the teacher than on the school.

OTOH, this IS in Washington D.C. where there are quite good private
schools and the public schools seem to be in flux.

She may want to find out whether spelling is taught in other classes.
The age of her child makes a difference too. Many teachers don't
believe in teaching spelling before second grade. There can be a risk
of stunting a child's writing vocabulary by insisting on correct
spelling too soon.

--Betsy

This child is in 3rd or 4th grade and his younger sibling is starting
kindergarten.