Spelling matters to me, mostly because the world today, well, can’t spell. I give the kids $10 a week for a perfect spelling test. What do they get if they miss one? Nothing. Perfect spelling is rewarded. When I came in off the road L proudly presented me with his spelling paper saying he had gotten 100. “I owe you money then sweetie” and he gave me a test with a big 90 written on it. When I asked about it Lincoln said he spelled the words correctly but she took 10 points off because he didn’t write it in cursive, something they are learning in third grade. We practiced for the next week and as I was dropping him off on Friday the last thing I said was “Don’t forget the cursive.” When I picked him up I asked if he remembered to write in cursive. He said he didn’t have to. I looked surprised. He says “I explained to my teacher she was costing me money because I was spelling the words correctly but not able to do it in cursive perfectly yet” and she told him he didn’t have to write it in cursive. Gotta smile.. It’s a great feeling, too, to know your kids can fend for themselves.