SPELLING! While I do believe that most people are lean mean learning machines from the womb to the tomb, that doesn't mean the urge to learn is unstoppable. My own learning was frustrated for many years because of a situation at school. In grade three I had an unsympathetic teacher. At that time any problem a child had learning was the child's fault and I was called names and segregated from the "normal" kids because I could not spell. I used to get upset and my voice would get higher and higher as I tried to explain the unexplainable. One teacher exclaimed, "Oh shut up, you sound like an old woman." Not a particularly cutting comment, compared to some of the other things I had said to me, but that phrase somehow stuck and would come back to me for years when ever I tried to explain that it was not that I wasn't trying, it was that I couldn't figure it out. Finally when I was 35 I read a book on Neural Linguistic Programming. The author, Richard Bandler, claims that he can teach any child to spell in about a day. The key is to teach the child how to visualize words. All good spellers, Bandler claims, visualize words in their head. I, being an auditory learner, would repeat a word over and over trying to memorize how it sounded. Sometimes I would repeat the letters over and over in a sort of chant, Bee Eee Cee Eh You eSs Eee. Bandler points out that this way of learning to spell is very inefficient. What a revelation to me to hear this. And why did I have to wait some 30 years to discover it? I am still not a good speller, and I am still amazed at how much general intelligence is judged on this one ability alone. My learning was handicapped for years because of that judgement and did not really take off again until I got my hands on a computer in college. When the burden of spelling was finally lifted I was able to surge forward with all the questions and curiosity I had held back for 8 or 9 years. I have never looked back. And surprise, surprise, my spelling has slowly and steadily improved. It is funny in a way how this has shaped my life. I am completely dedicated to life long learning. In fact I think it is fair to say I am addicted to it. I tell my children that once you are bitten with the learning bug, everything else is secondary. Would I have had this desire if I hadn't been frustrated as a child? Is it healthy to be so engrossed with acquiring skills and knowledge? Isn't it somehow greedy or selfish? These are important questions in a world where only about 29% of the world's population can read. Where only 1% of the population has a college education, where only 1% of the population has a computer. The computer saved me from a life of frustrated learning, but what about the 99% of the world that does not have this advantage? How do we as responsible knowledge owners best distribute what we know? But then here I am asking questions again. We started the Armchair Academic because we believe that pursing the answers to these and other questions is what makes life rich and meaningful. If you have any thoughts on these questions, or if you have similar questions that probe the depths of what it means to live and struggle in this world, please feel free to post on the bulletin board at: |
|Disclaimer: The Armchair Academic is in no way connected with the above links, however the information on them may be useful. Neither the Armchair Academic nor Homestead is responsible for the content of these pages.| |
SPELLING! While I do believe that most people are lean mean learning machines from the womb to the tomb, that doesn't mean the urge to learn is unstoppable. My own learning was frustrated for many years because of a situation at school. In grade three I had an unsympathetic teacher. At that time any problem a child had learning was the child's fault and I was called names and segregated from the "normal" kids because I could not spell. I used to get upset and my voice would get higher and higher as I tried to explain the unexplainable. One teacher exclaimed, "Oh shut up, you sound like an old woman." Not a particularly cutting comment, compared to some of the other things I had said to me, but that phrase somehow stuck and would come back to me for years when ever I tried to explain that it was not that I wasn't trying, it was that I couldn't figure it out. Finally when I was 35 I read a book on Neural Linguistic Programming. The author, Richard Bandler, claims that he can teach any child to spell in about a day. The key is to teach the child how to visualize words. All good spellers, Bandler claims, visualize words in their head. I, being an auditory learner, would repeat a word over and over trying to memorize how it sounded. Sometimes I would repeat the letters over and over in a sort of chant, Bee Eee Cee Eh You eSs Eee. Bandler points out that this way of learning to spell is very inefficient. What a revelation to me to hear this. And why did I have to wait some 30 years to discover it? I am still not a good speller, and I am still amazed at how much general intelligence is judged on this one ability alone. My learning was handicapped for years because of that judgement and did not really take off again until I got my hands on a computer in college. When the burden of spelling was finally lifted I was able to surge forward with all the questions and curiosity I had held back for 8 or 9 years. I have never looked back. And surprise, surprise, my spelling has slowly and steadily improved. It is funny in a way how this has shaped my life. I am completely dedicated to life long learning. In fact I think it is fair to say I am addicted to it. I tell my children that once you are bitten with the learning bug, everything else is secondary. Would I have had this desire if I hadn't been frustrated as a child? Is it healthy to be so engrossed with acquiring skills and knowledge? Isn't it somehow greedy or selfish? These are important questions in a world where only about 29% of the world's population can read. Where only 1% of the population has a college education, where only 1% of the population has a computer. The computer saved me from a life of frustrated learning, but what about the 99% of the world that does not have this advantage? How do we as responsible knowledge owners best distribute what we know? But then here I am asking questions again. We started the Armchair Academic because we believe that pursing the answers to these and other questions is what makes life rich and meaningful. If you have any thoughts on these questions, or if you have similar questions that probe the depths of what it means to live and struggle in this world, please feel free to post on the bulletin board at: |
Richard's Spelling Lesson |
