I have always had a great excuse for not being able to spell in English. Our family moved while I was in 2^nd grade and I somehow missed phonics between the two schools. This has carried onto a second generation of Anderson boys, with a slightly different twist.

DeAnna has been working with Joshua on spelling words in English.  Last year he was picking up quickly on spelling words in English and could sound them out like a pro.  This year since all his education was in French, he has become a very good speller in French and learned how to sound out French words.  This week DeAnna and Joshua were working on spelling numbers in letters 0-10.  DeAnna first does a little test to see what words he already knows and then focuses on the words he needs to learn.  She started with zero.  He spelled zeowé.  An accent ague is definitely a French sound.  As she continued with the numbers it became very apparent of the difficulties trying to spell, read and learn bilingually.  He was delighted with six because he said, “I know how to spell six; it’s spelled the same in French.”  What an eye opener.  We compare our French learning with English, yet Joshua is comparing his English learning with French.