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Question: A practical question concerning early literacy. When children (age 6-7) are expressing themselves in written texts that are technically (spelling) too difficult they often write mistakes. What should teachers/parents do best (next to showing their appreciation, applauding the attempt and stimulate the child for their ability to start his or her written communication skills)? • Ignore the spelling mistakes not to discourage the child and stimulate the effort • Correct all the spelling mistakes and risk to take the child’s motivation away Lots of teachers and parents find it very difficult to ignore spelling mistakes, even in words that are far too difficult for the child at that time. What is the risk in early literacy when children write/read spelling mistakes in their process to learn how to write correctly? Will they go into ‘automatisation mode’ and remember the wrong spelling even in words that are far too complex for child’s development? Will the mirror neurons play dirty tricks? Should we allow children only to write what they can spell correctly? What about the joy in writing? Should we put the emphasis on the communication aspect in writing or more in the technical aspects? To be clear: the question involves only SPELLING mistakes in EARLY literacy. Thanks a lot for your views on this topic (and sorry for spelling or other mistakes as English is not my mother tongue)
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