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my eight year old had a spelling test, he spelt all the words correctly, but his teacher marked them wrong, and wrote on his paper, you only use upper case letters when writing proper noun, he started all the words with a capital letter. what should i do as a parent?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

I'd let it go, unless it seems like a really big deal to you.

Just tell him not to use upper-case the next time he has a spelling test!

(This may not be a good time to mention that your post is missing several upper-case letters.

)

Clive

Sam1947 · Answer

I think the teacher was a little harsh, but technically correct. I would have counted off a few points from the total because of the incorrect use of initial capitals, but I would not have counted each of the words incorrect if they were otherwise spelled correctly. I would probably have awarded 95 points out of 100, with 5 points deducted for the capitalization errors.

But, I agree with Clive that it is probably better not to make an issue of it with the teacher. I would use it as a teaching moment with your child and remind him or her to only use capital letters at the beginning of a sentence or for proper nouns or pronouns. I would also remind him that life does not always seem fair, but that hard work and perseverence will reap rewards in the end.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

You may not know the whole context, anyway. Perhaps the teacher discussed this very point before the test.

Clive

Sam1947 · Answer

That is entirely possible.  Or, if the week's lessen had included the proper use of capitalization, that might make a difference in how I graded, as well.  All these possibilities are among the reasons why I would not take such an issue up with a teacher as a parent, but would use the incident as a teaching moment.

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