Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion spelling interest - when does it start?

DD10 spelled her first words (2 and 3 letter words) between 18-24 months. She was never really obsessed with spelling until very recently. Last year she was first runner up in her school-wide bee without studying the words and she went out by mis-hearing the pronouncer and correctly spelling a different word.

This year she is totally consumed. She has won her school-wide bee and keeps a notebook of words she needs to learn.

DH and I are good spellers and rarely have to look up words, but if we ever need to check a spelling we can now ask DD. :-)

Thanks for all the replies!

Very interesting how some children keep and expand their interest in spelling and for others, the interest takes a back seat to other areas. Neat!