I recently found a blog that is moderate, informative and well-researched. I think you might like it, too. In an ongoing debate conducted by Dr. Cairney, I recently responded this way. I'd love your opinion after you read this. Do you have a definite belief about teaching young children to read?
"Thank you, Dr. Cairney, for the moderate, unbiased view you are presenting to parents and educators. You have expressed both sides of the debate about teaching babies to read with honesty and clarity. In addition, I have read most of the books you mentioned. They are valuable ones.
I am an educator who also taught my own children to read before entering school, not by using any program, but by playing with words and sounds and creating lots of games for them. Because of that, they were all good students. I taught them as 3 year olds, not babies. I now own a Reading Center where I focus on teaching children to read and on helping struggling children pass their grade levels and attempt to "catch up" with their peers.
I agree with you on so much that you stated. But I do disagree with your (possible) conclusion that parents should focus on other quality learning experiences. First, reading with 3 year old children can be a way to play with them. It should not be only drill or practice or even sitting still. It can be exciting and playful, too.
I, for one, could only "imaginary play" with my children for three or four minutes at a time before I was looking for something else to do. But playing "reading treasure hunt," or "slap that," or "hide and seek" using words or colors or numbers held my interest much longer. They loved it too! And reading play is so much better for kids than television, even quality programs.Second, educators love to tell parents to read to their children.
But as Rachel suggested, a parent can do so much more. Reading to your child really is not enough in the area of literacy. Children should be beginning readers when they enter school. It ensures school success for them.
I see children at the Reading Center who will be held back in Kindergarten because they cannot read well enough to move on to 1st grade. Almost all of the children brought to me are bright children who should NOT be held back. All they need is an individual to help them take their first steps into reading instead of a teacher dealing with a large group. Yes, even fifteen is a large group.
If a parent chooses to be that teaching individual, the child has all the one-on-one time he or she wants with the one person he or she most wants to spend time with, and the one person who will most likely appreciate and enjoy each step of progress made.
In so much of the world now, children spend a great deal of time in daycare settings. That setting is ideal for playful beginning reading. While the director is planning snacks, free play, crafts, and outdoor activities, why not plan reading activities as well? Not reading worksheets, but reading activities, games, and play. And I'm not talking about "a letter a week." That is bare bones, minimal learning. I am talking about 15 minutes of real reading play.
I have created a reading program for children ages 3 to 6 that I use and am marketing to parents, preschools, and day cares. I am not familiar with YBCR and am only vaguely familiar with Glen and Janet Doman's work. But I appreciate their efforts to assist parents in this area. Possibly their programs would be good for 2 1/2 year olds?
I predict early learning is the wave of the future. If so, let's do it right, in short and playful segments. One child in our program recently told me, "Reading is my favorite way to play!"
Thank you for providing a forum for this discussion. "
Sincerely,
Jodi Heaton Hurst
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
FLUNKING!
DO NOT AGREE TO HOLD YOUR CHILD BACK TO REPEAT A GRADE LEVEL. I do not approve of flunking a child. Most educational researchers and reviewers agree. Flunking is just too damaging to your child for you to even consider it. It does not give your child benefits. It is all negative. There is no positive.
Many studies have shown that children who are flunked a year most often are still not doing well at the end of the second or third year. More children drop out of school later on who have been flunked at least one year than children who have not been flunked. Look up education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2431/Social-Promotion.html for a good article on this position. This article sums up flunking by stating that "Researchers and reviewers...typically conclude that...grade retention imposes too many social and motivational costs, and students appear to get more out of a year spent in the next grade than they do out of a year spent repeating a grade, even though they are likely to continue to achieve less successfully than their classmates."
In other words, flunking damages your child's confidence and motivation and social standing. Your child will still struggle in school even if held back.
And, by the way, it is your decision. The elementary school parent ALWAYS gets to make the decision. The school can only recommend.
Then what do you do if your child is not learning as you and the school wishes? You get other help for your child.
A tutor is a first consideration, but you may have to try several tutors before you find one who works well with your child. And tutors are expensive. In the area of the country where I live, the midwest, tutors can range from $15.oo an hour to $55.00 an hour. Even $15 an hour becomes expensive. A struggling child needs hours of help. Plan to send your child to a tutor for at least six months to a year.
If someone in your family works well with your child and is willing to help on a regular basis, that is a good option to consider instead of a tutor. Of course, this must be regular, organized, prolonged help. I would suggest an hour a day, split up into two shorter sessions if your child is very young.
Some schools will help tutor your child. This is not always the best option. Closely watch your child to see if progress is being made. School tutoring assistance varies in quality more than outside tutoring help.
Get outside help for your child, reassure your child that being held back a grade is NOT in consideration, but that extra work until your child has caught up and moved ahead will be the order of the day. Then be firm, stay positive and encouraging, and help your child succeed as all children should be able to succeed.
Your child may be depressed right now, but nothing builds self-confidence like growing skills and finding success. Start today!
Many studies have shown that children who are flunked a year most often are still not doing well at the end of the second or third year. More children drop out of school later on who have been flunked at least one year than children who have not been flunked. Look up education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2431/Social-Promotion.html for a good article on this position. This article sums up flunking by stating that "Researchers and reviewers...typically conclude that...grade retention imposes too many social and motivational costs, and students appear to get more out of a year spent in the next grade than they do out of a year spent repeating a grade, even though they are likely to continue to achieve less successfully than their classmates."
In other words, flunking damages your child's confidence and motivation and social standing. Your child will still struggle in school even if held back.
And, by the way, it is your decision. The elementary school parent ALWAYS gets to make the decision. The school can only recommend.
Then what do you do if your child is not learning as you and the school wishes? You get other help for your child.
A tutor is a first consideration, but you may have to try several tutors before you find one who works well with your child. And tutors are expensive. In the area of the country where I live, the midwest, tutors can range from $15.oo an hour to $55.00 an hour. Even $15 an hour becomes expensive. A struggling child needs hours of help. Plan to send your child to a tutor for at least six months to a year.
If someone in your family works well with your child and is willing to help on a regular basis, that is a good option to consider instead of a tutor. Of course, this must be regular, organized, prolonged help. I would suggest an hour a day, split up into two shorter sessions if your child is very young.
Some schools will help tutor your child. This is not always the best option. Closely watch your child to see if progress is being made. School tutoring assistance varies in quality more than outside tutoring help.
Get outside help for your child, reassure your child that being held back a grade is NOT in consideration, but that extra work until your child has caught up and moved ahead will be the order of the day. Then be firm, stay positive and encouraging, and help your child succeed as all children should be able to succeed.
Your child may be depressed right now, but nothing builds self-confidence like growing skills and finding success. Start today!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Flunking - Real life HORROR
It's that time of year again when I begin to get calls:
"My son's teacher says she will hold him back this year."
"My child's school recommends that he take Kindergarten again."
And even worse....
"My third grader is going to be retained to do third grade again next year!"
The term "flunking" is rarely used anymore but parents aren't stupid. It's still that most dreaded worry in every parents mind when it comes to education. And well it should be.
Holding a child back from moving on with the rest of his or her class is a true tragedy. Most children (could I even say ALL children? Yes, I think I can.) carry that weight on their shoulders for years and years.
Michael (a fifth grader) said to me, "I used to think my Kindergarten teacher was so nice. But then she made me do Kindergarten over again. It's a mean thing to do to a kid."
I doubt this nice teacher that Michael liked wanted to be mean to Michael, but Michael is right. It was downright mean.
Come On! As though there is no better way to help a struggling child? Is our education system still crawling out of a cave? Do we still have so little understanding of how children learn and how to teach them? Don't we know in the 21st century how important a child's self esteem is to that child's success?
I despair of this educational system that is SO slow to change itself; That is SO resistant to doing what is right for the child instead of the school; That is SO controlled by old, old, old fashioned ideas.
What Michael didn't seem to know is that his parents could have prevented this flunking. In the end, redoing a year of school is really in the hands of the parents. If you are considering holding your child back this year, pause a day or two. Tell the school, "I am thinking it over." Read online about what flunking really does to a child. Try to get some of the real research. And wait for my next blog where I will lay out the specifics.
BE ON YOUR CHILD'S SIDE. Do not agree to holding your child back. Oh, and one more thing. Tell everybody you know about this modern, revolutionary, wacky idea.
"My son's teacher says she will hold him back this year."
"My child's school recommends that he take Kindergarten again."
And even worse....
"My third grader is going to be retained to do third grade again next year!"
The term "flunking" is rarely used anymore but parents aren't stupid. It's still that most dreaded worry in every parents mind when it comes to education. And well it should be.
Holding a child back from moving on with the rest of his or her class is a true tragedy. Most children (could I even say ALL children? Yes, I think I can.) carry that weight on their shoulders for years and years.
Michael (a fifth grader) said to me, "I used to think my Kindergarten teacher was so nice. But then she made me do Kindergarten over again. It's a mean thing to do to a kid."
I doubt this nice teacher that Michael liked wanted to be mean to Michael, but Michael is right. It was downright mean.
Come On! As though there is no better way to help a struggling child? Is our education system still crawling out of a cave? Do we still have so little understanding of how children learn and how to teach them? Don't we know in the 21st century how important a child's self esteem is to that child's success?
I despair of this educational system that is SO slow to change itself; That is SO resistant to doing what is right for the child instead of the school; That is SO controlled by old, old, old fashioned ideas.
What Michael didn't seem to know is that his parents could have prevented this flunking. In the end, redoing a year of school is really in the hands of the parents. If you are considering holding your child back this year, pause a day or two. Tell the school, "I am thinking it over." Read online about what flunking really does to a child. Try to get some of the real research. And wait for my next blog where I will lay out the specifics.
BE ON YOUR CHILD'S SIDE. Do not agree to holding your child back. Oh, and one more thing. Tell everybody you know about this modern, revolutionary, wacky idea.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wave of the Future
I predict teaching very young children to read is the coming new wave. And why not? Many children are in day care programs. Most children go to preschool before they go on to school. Schools across the nation are implementing PreK classes, free to 4 year olds. Kindergarten teachers and 1st grade teachers struggle to find academic material for the number of children who are coming to their classes already knowing the alphabet and the phonetic sounds. Some of the children can read. Some of them can count to 30 and higher, and better yet, understand that twenty is one more than nineteen.
And the real clincher: to children learning and play is the same thing. Well, that is, if parents and teachers allow learning to be play. Why not let much of the playing in daycares and preschools be the play of reading?
We are teaching 4 year old children to read in our reading preschool. They spend about 15 minutes out of three hours playing with reading. The result is they are reading and loving it and are oh, so proud of themselves.
Our legislators are very anxious to raise test scores. I'll bet they will love the results when more and more preschool children begin reading.
Yes, I can tell you that a reading revolution is about to happen. Everyone shout with me......YEA! GO, all you brilliant children! GO!
Jodi Heaton Hurst
And the real clincher: to children learning and play is the same thing. Well, that is, if parents and teachers allow learning to be play. Why not let much of the playing in daycares and preschools be the play of reading?
We are teaching 4 year old children to read in our reading preschool. They spend about 15 minutes out of three hours playing with reading. The result is they are reading and loving it and are oh, so proud of themselves.
Our legislators are very anxious to raise test scores. I'll bet they will love the results when more and more preschool children begin reading.
Yes, I can tell you that a reading revolution is about to happen. Everyone shout with me......YEA! GO, all you brilliant children! GO!
Jodi Heaton Hurst
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Brilliant? Or just Successful?
I was always a good student in school. So was my husband. Our four very-different-from-each- other children were also. And now, amazingly, my six grandchildren who are school age and in public schools are very good students.
Are we just a smart family? No. We are a family of readers. We have figured out that the secret to school success is to be an excellent reader. We teach our children to read when they are young because we want to ensure that each one of them will love to read and will be good readers. In doing so, we are ensuring school success for them.
A child can be highly distractible, can be unorganized, can be hyperactive, can be slow to get written work completed and handed in, can have learning disabilities. can be disruptive, can have health problems, can talk too much, (and on and on and on), but will still be a success in school if that child is a good reader.
Wow! That sounds just too good to be true, doesn't it? But believe me, it is true. The children in our family have their fair share of the above traits. But all are good readers and all are doing well in school.
I have three more (almost four!) grandchildren who are too young for school. I can promise you they will be good students. They are all learning to read at various stages and ages. All will be reading before they start school. All will be good students. It is a gift we give our children in our family.
I wish to give that gift to your child too.
Jodi Heaton Hurst
Are we just a smart family? No. We are a family of readers. We have figured out that the secret to school success is to be an excellent reader. We teach our children to read when they are young because we want to ensure that each one of them will love to read and will be good readers. In doing so, we are ensuring school success for them.
A child can be highly distractible, can be unorganized, can be hyperactive, can be slow to get written work completed and handed in, can have learning disabilities. can be disruptive, can have health problems, can talk too much, (and on and on and on), but will still be a success in school if that child is a good reader.
Wow! That sounds just too good to be true, doesn't it? But believe me, it is true. The children in our family have their fair share of the above traits. But all are good readers and all are doing well in school.
I have three more (almost four!) grandchildren who are too young for school. I can promise you they will be good students. They are all learning to read at various stages and ages. All will be reading before they start school. All will be good students. It is a gift we give our children in our family.
I wish to give that gift to your child too.
Jodi Heaton Hurst
NEW Reading Program
This last year has been one of exhilaration and passion and one of long hours and little sleep. It has been a time of putting all my years of teaching together and creating a specialized reading program that teaches ALL children to read!
I now find myself in a bind. I have a website, a great website, put together for me by my son. I have a reading program, a great reading program that really, really works. I have this terrific reading program in a preschool and tutoring center where it is proving itself every day. But now how do I get the word out to other people?
After all, I am an educator. I have been all my life. My children might argue that I have been more of a teacher than a mother to them! I have never been a marketer or salesperson. Yet since I believe so firmly in my reading program, and since my lifelong goal has been to help children survive the school system (their inevitable fate), I must teach myself how to market.
Any ideas?
Jodi Heaton Hurst
I now find myself in a bind. I have a website, a great website, put together for me by my son. I have a reading program, a great reading program that really, really works. I have this terrific reading program in a preschool and tutoring center where it is proving itself every day. But now how do I get the word out to other people?
After all, I am an educator. I have been all my life. My children might argue that I have been more of a teacher than a mother to them! I have never been a marketer or salesperson. Yet since I believe so firmly in my reading program, and since my lifelong goal has been to help children survive the school system (their inevitable fate), I must teach myself how to market.
Any ideas?
Jodi Heaton Hurst
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