Am I Overreacting? Concerning Son's Spelling Test

Updated on October 16, 2008
R.E. asks from Justin, TX
4 answers

My son is in first grade, and last week, he had his first spelling test. We worked hard all week and he could spell every word, even the 2 bonus words she gave - change and temperature. Well, yesterday, he brought home the test he took on Friday. She counted all but one of the words wrong - the word I. He started all of them with a capital letter, yet spelled them all correctly, even the bonus words. She still counted them wrong and wrote on there that only proper nouns begin with a capital letter. This irritated me for several reasons. One, have they even learned about proper nouns 6 weeks into first grade? Two, the only word we talked about capitlizing was the word "I" because that one must always be capitalized. All the other words could begin with a capital or lowercase letter depending on their location in the sentence, so I didn't really talk to him about capitalizing or not on those. Three, I taught first grade for 8 years, and especially on those first spelling tests, I wasn't all that picky on the handwriting. The point of a spelling test in my opinion was can they spell them right. Maybe I was a poor teacher, but I find this to be extremely harsh. Maybe in May or even January be that picky, but for the very first one?????? I'm debating what I should do about this. Any suggestions? Should I just let it drop knowing he doesn't have number / letter grades in first grade or should I say something? I have always been one to give the teacher's the benefit of the doubt knowing what they go through daily, but this is over the top in my opinion. What do you think?

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C.R.

answers from Dallas on

You will probably be having parent/teacher conferences soon. You could discuss with his teacher what her expectation is so you understand her grading system better. My first grade daughter comes home with spelling tests that are marked all over for capitalization errors and for letters not quite formed right. She writes on the test "100" though. I am glad that her teacher takes the time to teach her the correct format....it doesn't count this year but next year it will and I want her to be prepared. I think it's important to look at the teacher overall and the success that your son is having (or not) in her classroom. If he's having a great year then I wouldn't get too worked up about it. If you feel like the teacher makes him feel like he can't do anything right, then I would call the teacher immediately.

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C.T.

answers from Dallas on

I, too, am a former teacher-3rd grade. I, also, have two sons. I think this is unfair. First graders shouldn't be expected to know a proper noun from a common noun. The only word I would have required spelled with proper capitalization would have been the word I and I would have put a note on the spelling list stating that. I would definetly speak with the teacher about this and see if there is a reason for counting off for capitalizing the words. Maybe it comes from higher up and she had no choice. Good luck. I'll be facing the same kind of problems next year when my oldest enters school.

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J.T.

answers from Dallas on

The words were misspelled. You were a first grade teacher, this is a good time to explain to your son that capitalization can make the difference between a word that is spelled properly and one that is not.

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L.D.

answers from Dallas on

I am a teacher and I find this to be harsh. Perhaps a better idea would have been to take off half a point on each one to send the message of how to correct the work, but still provide your son with credit for what he did do correctly. If it were my child I would voice my concern. You have that right as a parent. Things like that just crush a child's spirit and I don't understand why teachers do things like that. Good luck to you!

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