As soon as I post about Jon’s spelling they change the rules… Jon’s teacher decided that since he is spontaneously using so many tough words in his creative writing, his spelling tests from now on will feature the trickier words from those pieces (rather than words from the Dolch list). She figures this will improve his spelling in his writing, since those are words that he uses and thus are more relevant and meaningful to him.

She also decided that spelling tests wouldn’t always be on Fridays; he could take the test whenever he felt ready. (That sound you hear is a cheer of relief from his parents: Jon usually memorizes his lists within 3 days; practice sessions after that are pretty soporific.)

Looking at his new list is an eye-opener: It’s quite a bit more challenging than his previous lists. “Halloween”, “elevator”, “pirate”, “building” are some of the words; “building” caused a few tears of disbelief and frustration today. That darn English language!