I don't remember ever having a spelling test in kindergarten. That said, I don't remember much of kindergarten. But now I have a kindergartner and I feel like his spelling words are way too hard.

I don't really know anything about education. I feel like an idiot saying this, but I try to be involved in the school. He's my oldest/only school aged child. He's pretty typical, he's learning to read and spell and math pretty well.

But today is his third spelling test, ever. We've been "studying" his words all week together, and I wish I could feel confident for him. He is crushed when he misses words on his spelling test. I don't want to put too much pressure on him, as HE IS FIVE.

His words this week are :

thermometer
whip
thirteen
wheel
think
whiskers
thumb
whistle
thorn
thimble
whale
thermos
wheelbarrow

This is more of a vent than anything else. He goes to a charter school that is known for being tough. I just never imagined he'd need to be spelling these kinds of words at 5. What about KID, CAT, DOG, MOM, DAD, PIG -- we just should skip those words and go straight to ELEPHANT and THERMOMETER?

None of these kids even know what a thimble is!

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