He's A Little Bit 'Kwerky'; She's a Little Bit Rock and Roll

Yep....that's my boy. He's a little bit 'kwerky'. I wouldn't have him any other way.

This past week, Drew participated in a school spelling bee. He breezed through the first round. But his second round brought t-r-o-u-b-l-e. The word was quirky. I love that word, always have. I have described myself often as a little bit quirky. But Drew's spelling.... you guessed it....was k-w-e-r-k-y. And with it died the spelling bee ambitions of my sixth grader.

Now, the blame for this bee boo boo falls squarely on an elementary education philosophy that teaches, even encourages, phoenetic spelling. I remember frequently hearing from both of my at the time elementary school students that they only had to spell correctly in spelling class. As long as the teacher could follow what the student was sharing, in other subjects there was no penalty for misspellings. As long as the student was communicating effectively...oh how my English teacher mother or my Advanced Composition teacher aunt would have had a field day with that point of view.

In this case, however, I will have to give my son credit for his rather, well quirky, spelling of quirky. I have to say that I like it, in fact kwerky may be a better spelling than the actual accurate one. Doesn't kwerky just elicit images of quirkiness? It does for me. Kwerky just seems to take quirky to a whole new level.

I have blogged before that Kate invented the word coincidink.....(pronounced co.ink.e. dink), and I am convinced we may one day find Mr. Webster recognizing that one. What a great word for the happenstance. Now the brother of the creator of coincidink has effectively retooled the word quirky. And a proud Dee beams. Who needs a spelling bee champ in the family anyway? Let's show a little creativity in our spelling.....as long, of course, as we are communicating!