I am so grateful that there are on-line communities of homeschooling moms to give one another encouragement and support as well as spread the message about this superior method of education. However, one thing really frustrates me and that is horrible writing and grammar from these same moms. After all, if they can't differentiate between accept and except, advice and advise, there, their, and they're - what are they teaching their kids? I cringe when I see blatant misspellings in people's posts, especially when they describe how they have put together their own homeschool program because others are too difficult. "After all," they claim, "I ended up just fine not knowing all that grammar and diagramming stuff." Yes, public school teachers are little better, with many who can't write well, have to take the NTE several times in order to pass, and in at least one case, have taught for years without knowing how to read or spell. But as I was reading the Seton Yahoo group lists, I came across this from a mom and just had to laugh:
I am using the xyz sixth grade syllabus, depending on the option that one chooses it does do formal sentence diagramming. What I mean by formal it the lines with the words on it some slanted underneath etc. The other option for grammar through xyz does a more modern way of sentence diagramming. xyz does stress that one learns there grammar.
Let me just say I am grateful we start 1st grade with homophones and teach diagramming beginning in 2nd grade. Please, please check your grammar and spelling before posting on the internet, poor wording reflects badly on the rest of us homeschoolers.
(this said with my spell check busted from overuse. If you find errors, please let me know!)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
12 comments:
It bugs me too. We all make mistakes, even if we proofread, but I think most people don't bother to do it. Laziness? A casual attitude? Ignorance? Not sure.
Kat, I am with you on this one. As a journalism grad, the spelling errors and poor sentence structure I see daily in emails and on blogs make me nuts. There are more than a few blogs I quit reading because the English was atrocious, and most of the Seton group emails I have to not read.
Well, I write for a website for pay and my EDITOR doesn't even know grammar rules! She's "corrected" my use of TEMPER as a verb (I guess she didn't realize it could be a verb until I supplied her with the definition), asked me to capitalize a phrase following a SEMICOLON, and asked me to change "AN homage" to "A homage".
I'm a self-taught grammarian, which is why I have TWO language programs for the kids!
I just had to laugh when I read this. It drives me absolutely crazy when moms type so many mistakes. I belong to the KONOS yahoo group, and some of those e-mails just send me over the edge. I know that people think they can be less formal when using an on-line format, but I think they should be peeking at their kids' grammar lessons for pointers. So funny!
I do get frustrated with blogs, e-mails, and list posts and list posts that have numerous grammatical errors. It does make them hard to read and comprehend.
And on the other hand, it does seem that no matter how many times I re-read my own entries, problems sneak through. They are usually small and not blatant, but when I read the post as published, there they are, glaringly obvious.
I am not sure why it is that I only see them once the blog entry is published. Format? Color? I don't know. But I can tell you that I am going to pay someone to copy-edit my dissertation.
I just recently blogged about a similar concern. The grammar mistake driving me crazy is the your/you're confusion.
I actually hope they are just not paying attention but I suspect that far too many people don't know the difference.
This is a huge pet peeve of mine also. I get especially frustrated with improper use of apostrophes, even from otherwise decent writers.
There are times when I am embarrassed for them, but mostly I try to remind myself that they are just a glaring statement of public school failure.
It's unfortunate though, that they at times speak in public forums and thereby represent us poorly. They are ammunition for people to claim we are "unqualified" to teach our own children.
Oh boy, I SO agree. I always cringe when I read homeschooling blogs with grammatical errors. We have also had two leaders in our support group whose grammar was atrocious. I would always blush when they posted on our yahoogroup. Good grief! Use your spell check, at the very least!
SmallWorld
Great post - I agree. I can tell when an error occurs from typing too quickly versus the repetitive misuse/misspelling of words. Drives me crazy! But who cares if it drives me crazy; the point is that it reflects poorly on homeschooling parents.
I nodded my head my entire way through this post, and I was going to leave a comment stating my own grammatical pet peeve. But then I thought, "Nah, no one's going to read it now," and I went on to my next targeted link on the Carnival. Arghh! There is was again! My very own pet peeve on the very next page!!! People! Do NOT use apostrophe's for plural words!! Ever!! (Ha ha, I did that on purpose.)
"Please, please check your grammar and spelling before posting on the internet, poor wording reflects badly on the rest of us homeschoolers." You incorrectly connected two separate sentences with a comma.
This is why I have my son practicing spelling and grammar at TypoBounty.com. This new generation cannot forget how to use proper English even though we are now in the world of texting. Kids now do not know the difference.
Post a Comment