[celestron71]

Let me say this: The ability to spell isn't the same thing as actually knowing HOW to spell. We all have the ability to spell but some of us are abysmal spellers, me included from time to time, but we are adequate due to the fact we had to spell when growing up. Using calculators, texting and other means of communication is already having an effect on our children. Have any of you had a young person wait on you when the power was out and have them try to make change? They are useless at it. They can't do math in their heads and a little thing such as counting back is beyond them.

This is from allowing calculators to be used in schools at an early age. The same thing will be seen in children in a few years as they start texting at 6 years old, it will affect their spelling, IMO.

[luckystarmom]

Actually, some people don’t have the natural ability to spell.

My daughter has auditory processing problems, and has difficulty hearing the different sounds in words. The public school did not teach her how to spell. We pulled her out of public and put her in a multi-sensory reading program for dyslexia, and she can spell okay now.

She still can’t sound out some words. She does not text. When she does send out e-mails, it is always perfectly written. Texting doesn’t follow the rules for spelling. It’s more of a spelling based on sound. Texting is much harder for her.

On a side note, my son did not start using a calculator until honors Algebra II. He had to use the graphing calculator in that class. They had assignments just on how to use the calculator.

When he was 7, he went to a garage sell with my mom, and bought a few things. While the women working at the garage sell were typing the amounts into a calculator, my son figured out the correct amount of change in his head. My mom was very proud of him!