Challenge Words/Attention to Detail

Tonight we only had time to do the homework, reading a short H level book and a short math assignment, some spelling practice and some "challenge words" of my own. The challenge words were:  mountain, vacation, invitation, television and invention, with the last two being the only two that my daughter spent much time on.  I've got to use some harder, more varied words next time I have challenge words.

For the spelling practice, we went over the hard words on the spelling list.  This is only about the 3rd spelling list for the year as the teacher just started spelling tests about 3 weeks ago.  From kindergarten until now the focus has been on "invented spelling," under which the student can write however he/she feels the words are to be spelled without an adult making/suggesting corrections.  The purpose as it was explained by the teachers was to encourage an early love of writing and to foster confidence in doing so, and eventually over time the student would start spelling words correctly. 

But around Christmas time, I noticed when I started to look at everything so much more carefully that my daughter was misspelling words that I knew she knew how to spell. So, I had a friendly talk with my daughter about the importance of doing her best and spelling correctly in her writings those words she knows how to spell.  Along with the spelling issue, I noticed a lack of attention to detail, sloppiness and errors when she knew the material from her rushing the work.  So, I had a further nice talk explaining that she should take her time and go back and check her work.  I further explained to her that when she knows material but does it incorrectly because she's not careful that the teacher will think she doesn't know and may give her more practice lessons and work in that area.  She was amazed and hadn't realized this.

I believe the rushing and the lack of attention to detail was another product of the invented spelling and the whole language.  After all, under both methods it doesn't matter if a student is accurate.  It's perfectly acceptable for a student to read and write however they want.  And, that path is easy, so why would a student strive to do better without active encouragement?  Further, by taking away the evaluation of whether work is correct or needs improvement, in my opinion, the method reinforces by habit, incorrect answers, and removes all the challenge.  Perhaps under this method a child's feelings aren't hurt from being told the answers are incorrect, but at the same time, where does a child get a true sense of achievement and the feeling associated with accomplishing something through hard work?  

Since my talks with my daughter, I've noticed neater printing, fewer errors and better spelling.  However, tonight I had to remind her that every word has at least one vowel in it and if she writes a word without a vowel, she should stop and think about the word carefully and what vowel or vowels should go in the word.  She had spelled the word "her" as hr and I know she knows that word.  When I brought it to her attention she inserted the "e."  This kind of help should be given in the classroom too.