I strongly dislike creative spelling

I am not sure what study indicated that allowing our 5-7 year old children to "creatively" spell their words in order to learn to read would be a good idea, but I would like a to establish my disdain for this practice. It's counter to every spelling test I ever took. It drives me nuts...I'm working with a child whose first language is Mandarin. His mouth does not form English letters or their sounds very well. Just imagine the words he writes down...I cannot begin to know what he's saying, so I find myself nodding and saying, "ahhh, good job, I think."

But, as I try to decipher this code, I flashback to reading Jacob & Sam's "creative" spelling as well, and remember how I disliked it. And, I have to wonder if this practice somehow attributed to the horrible spelling habits of my two older sons who, God bless them, would never, ever, ever receive an A+ on a paper without the use of automatic spell & grammar check.

Yes, I sound old. Yes, I typed my papers on an IBM Selectric Typewriter, with my mother shaking her head at how easy I had it from her days. But, I did keep a trusty dictionary next to it and checked it frequently. I even used a thesaurus! I did study for my spelling tests and passed them with flying colors. I did learn the difference between there & their...pair & pear...you get the picture.

Sometimes I receive emails with atrocious spelling and I will admit, my buzzer goes off, my respect level goes down, my ability to believe this person capable diminished. I must wonder...is that the effect of the creative spelling taught in schools? If so, I am quickly becoming extinct.