Although I find her hybrid spelling status vexing at times -- I had to learn the correct spelling for words from the get-go -- I have to admit that it makes her writing a lot richer in content than it otherwise would be. Not to mention that her attempts to sound out words regularly results in transcriptions that reveal something about pronunciation that would otherwise go unnoticed. This week's homework is a great example:
I struggled to figure some of the words out, but once I did, I was delighted. "Veginya" for "Virginia"; "cheravled" for "travelled"; "Callaforsyu" for "California" -- these transcriptions capture the nasal quality of American English pronunciation beautifully. Linguists can learn a lot from children. Toddlers especially. But the lingering use of "kids' spelling" at Skylar's age gives that utility a longer shelf life. I just hope that the transition from this hybrid spelling situation to all-grown-up all the time works out as well as the last one.
