"Invented Spelling"

I would argue that "invented spelling" (in which children spell words the way they sound) helps young readers. After reading Fox chapter 3, I tend to believe that "invented spelling" can help further a child's phonemic awareness. For example, a young writer using "invented spelling" must have an awareness of the sounds in words (either the beginning sound, the middle sound, and/or the ending sound) in order to spell, and therefore write. Thus, by writing using "invented spelling", children continue to develop their phonemic awareness thereby becoming more fluent readers.

At what point does "invented spelling" become misspelling? This I do not know. It appears as though the belief is that children who use "invented spelling" will naturally develop correct spelling through further instruction. I tend to believe however, that a fourth grader using "invented spelling" would not be seen as so, but rather as misspelling. At what point do we intervene?

I have observed a great deal of "invented spelling" in my kindergarten dyad placement. One student writing about a field trip to a local farm wrote: i likd th dgs. This particular student is an excellent reader and during the few chances I've had to listen to her read, I can tell that she is able to sound out the majority of the words that she does not instantly recognize.