Any ideas??? 8 yo spelling using sounds rather than letter names!

[Dinkysmummy]

As the title suggests... I have a friend who came to me yesterday and asked what I meant for her dd who is 8 and spells using the phonics sounds rather than letter names.
So she would spell mum "mmm uh mmm" rather than M U M.

[learnandsay]

I'd suggest to the mother that she speaks to the teacher about it. In the meantime she should probably play lots of I spy with her daughter and extend the game to spelling the whole word and sometimes writing it down.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

A little confused by your message, but I don't really see that this a big problem. I still spell words out for DD (9) using phonics to help her see how a new words is formed. They are still Learning huge numbers of words at this point.

[scaevola]

It doesn't "mean" anything at all.

Knowing the names of letters isn't that important, they're no need to put effort into teaching it as such: just let her pick up the letters she doesn't yet know in her own time (ready to bet she does know some/most already).

Using sounds not names in her out-loud spelling is a non-problem which does not require intervention.

[tabulahrasa]

At 8 I'd expect her to still spell like that.

[Dinkysmummy]

It is very difficult to convey on here. I didn't know what to say.

Apparently the teacher isn't very forthcomming and the mum felt this was 'abnormal' as her son (10) wasn't spelling in sounds at 8 yo, he was using letter names.
It has nothing to do with the harder words. It is any word. She knows full well how to spell her own name and yet still spells it with letter sounds rather than names.
I just wondered if it was something that was common or not.

[Dinkysmummy]

Ok I wasn't saying it was an issue. I didn't use the words 'meant' and 'abnormal' that was her own mother... I was just passing the question on!

Please don't make me feel like an idiot! 'non problem that doesn't require intervention'

I didnt say I thought it did... Maybe the title was ill worded

[cumbrialass]

I still spell out phonetically for my year 6' s who struggle, it actually helps them to think about which of the phonemes to choose, so if I am spelling out "weight" I will say "w-ay-t", look at what they write down and then discuss whether they have selected the correct version of "ay" , what the options are, whether the word looks right etc. Far better than simply telling them the correct spelling.
( I still sound out to my sons and they are 20 and 18

[LadyIsabellaWrotham]

I still did this into my twenties - never held me back academically, it's a question of choice.

[Poorlysick]

I think if he is 8 and still in y3 they may still be doings phonics work in class, I work with a y3 class who still do. I think its quite normal for an 8 year old to still be spelling like this.

[overmydeadbody]

Tell the mother it is perfectly normal and a good way to spell out words, especially if the girl knows he digraphs and trigraphs.

[mrz]

We use sounds not letter names for spelling from Reception to Y6 because letter names are helpful for alphabetic order but not for spelling.

[Dinkysmummy]

Thank you, I will let her know that is is perfectly normal...

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Dinkys I don't think anyone is trying to make you feel like an idiot. It is just that the thread title and the way your thread is worded gives the impression that both your friend and you think this is a big problem. The general MN is trying to convey that it isn't.

[stifnstav]

We watch Countdown just as I did as a child! I love it. DS likes the clock music. Hopefully it will sink in by osmosis when he's older.

[Dinkysmummy]

Sorry maybe it was just an ill worded response.
If I had thought it was SN related I would go on SN board.
What does it mean was ambiguous and was meant to come across as normal/slightly odd but completely acceptable for age/slightly behind in this area (which is normal for kids to be behind in certain areas)

So I apologise for taking offence and for my wording in the OP

[CecilyP]

I know what you mean, OP. You don't mean she is spelling phonetically in her writing as per cumbrialas's post, but rather, she uses basic letter sounds as their names when spelling out loud. So, if her name was Chloe, say, she would spell it to others as kuh, huh, luh, oh, eh, rather than cee, aitch el, o, ee. Neither bears any great relation to the pronunciation of the name, and I would have thought 8 was quite old to still be doing it. However, if others say it is not a problem, perhaps it is not - and it will be a few years before she has to spell things out over the phone. I can only agree with others that word games using letter names (including Countdown) may be the way forward.

[mrz]

I hope she wouldn't "c-h-l-o-e"

If her name is Chloe and she is saying the sounds it should be "c-l-oa-ee"

[prettydaisies]

My Y7 daughter still switches between letter names and sounds when spelling something. It's quite odd to listen to, but her spelling and written English is good, so not a problem I feel.

[CecilyP]

We know that, mrz, and I am sure that she writes her name correctly with the correct sounds. However, if someone asked her how she spelt her name (and they didn't already know) if she said, "c-l-oa-ee", they would be none the wiser.

[Poorlysick]

Only if she was sounding it out Mrz if she was spelling it out to someone who didn't how to write her name then she surely would include the huh.

[mrz]

If you spell out a word using sounds then you wouldn't say huh ! (ever) Poorlysick