Posted by John Lambert on January 20, 2008 at 07:58:31 from 64.59.144.85 user Benedict.
In Reply to: Re: Introducing children to reading (was FLASHMAN) posted by Jock on January 20, 2008 at 23:33:41:
If you don't learn spelling, punctuation and grammar as a child, when are you going to learn them? I think I always knew how to spell, and although I found grammar classes terribly boring, I could and still can speak grammatical English. I never saw the need to study formally what I already knew. In England I was given the (easy) poems of Wordsworth, Browning, Tennyson, Walter de la Mare and a great many more to read. I was also taught French, Latin, History, Geography, Arithmatic and Algebra. When I came to Canada at the age of 12, I was given a kid's book called Streets and Roads. The difference was enormous, so I spent most of my time gazing out of the window. Now, 60 years after leaving England, I still thank my teachers who bombarded me with grammar, spelling and poetry. I know I would never have got them in a Canadian school at that age. Because of this early education, I developed a lifelong love of reading, including poetry. It also helped me to have four books published. So, I cannot agree with people who say education destroys creativity; in my case, education inspired me to creativity. Certainly you will find occasional spelling mistakes in my posts, more because of hitting the wrong key than because of ignorance.