Is Invented Spelling Okay?

Yes! Yes! Yes! A million times yes. First things first, invented spelling, or more appropriately developmental spelling, is just something kids do. Saying that a young child can’t spell developmentally is like saying a baby can’t crawl. They just do it. Ask any kindergarten or first grade teacher and they will tell you that they can skillfully read what young children write because “invented spelling” isn’t random. This is why the term developmental spelling is more appropriate -- it is one stage in a trajectory of spelling and writing development.

So, your child comes home from school and has written about seeing a blue jay or riding a bike. The writing looks something like this:

I se a bloo ja (I see a blue jay.)
I can rid a bik (I can ride a bike.)

In both of these examples, the child has successfully mapped each phoneme in the word to a letter. This is HUGE! Something to encourage and celebrate.

Should children learn to spell words accurately? Of course. Developmental spelling and learning to spell don’t have to stand in opposition. Having children write using developmental spelling provides them with repeated opportunities to map sounds to words, reinforcing their understanding of the relationship between sounds and letters. By combining an understanding of developmental spelling with formal spelling instruction, teachers can develop more effective spelling programs and students can build confidence as writers and spellers.

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