Hmmm… came here to read and post on a thread…. (more)

Join Teachers.Net

Chatboards

Recent Groups

Early Literacy

MEMBERS

2 Members

+ Join Group

Pinned Posts

ALLAll Teachers

Teachers.Net LIVE CHAT Support group - Tues eve!

Featured Jobs

Full-timeMontessori Teacher

Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada

TemporaryTeachers, rural schools

Peace River North School District

Full-timeHead Teacher: 2nd/3rd Grades – Mills College Children’s School

Mills College

Teaching Jobs on Teachers.Net

Featured Job special only $39!

https://teachers.net/jobs

Become a Teachers.Net sponsor!

Early Literacy Chatboard

Hmmm... came here to read and post on a thread.... (more)

by Stellaluna

Jun 7, 2011

that I started earlier about whether or not we are pushing kids too early.... and the thread was deleted? Wow.... what did I miss? Did that really start something controversial?

I read a couple responses yesterday and wanted to have time to think about a response/comment and was ready to do so now.... but would have liked to have read what others posted.

What happened?

Comment

(13)

report post

view previous comments

KMI We all know that one of the keys to successful literacy is supportive parents. In my experience, very few students had supportive parents. Their parents did not value education (for whatever reason they did not have a positive experience, etc) much less see the value of reading to them and making books available to them, etc. So, we as early el tea...See MoreWe all know that one of the keys to successful literacy is supportive parents. In my experience, very few students had supportive parents. Their parents did not value education (for whatever reason they did not have a positive experience, etc) much less see the value of reading to them and making books available to them, etc. So, we as early el teachers had to work extra hard to give them those experiences - which we are happy to do. It's just wrong, tho, to have too high expectations for children who aren't getting the support they need from home.

On 6/08/11, Stellaluna wrote: > In many areas we are absolutely pushing kids to early.... not all > kids... but many. Fortunately for you (and your students), it > sounds like this is not the case where you are... but it > definitely is where I am. > > Many of my kinders are like yours... are SO excited to learn... > and to show my that they are finding words and letters in the > texts that they have... but there are those who are so lost > mostly because they haven't had the experiences to "wire their > brains" to learn. I am able to immerse them in literacy and > print because I have an administrator who trusts my judgement. > But many of my colleagues in other sites are expected to drill > and kill the decontextualized pieces of language into little guys > who have no idea what is going on. > > The students who come to school from homes where they have been > read to, have access to books, are spoken to and listened to and > have have many opportunities to practice language are generally > the ones that start noticing the finer details of texts.... > recognize the familiar words in books, understand that text > represents language and, most importantly, that books tell > stories or give information. > > It is the others that I worry about... whose brains have not had > the experiences to form those necessary connections who are given > little pieces of the jigsaw puzzle without the picture on the > box, so to speak. > > > Someone in the thread that got deleted mentioned that one reason > (and I am paraphrasing from memory) that we have upped the > standards is because our students are behind. I won't argue that > (though I don't completely agree) but I will argue that upping > the standards and requiring students to learn more faster is > going to contribute to rather than solve the problem. > > One of my mantras is that "in our race to be first, we are > putting ourselves last". I read that countries that delay formal > instruction in reading bypass our literacy rate by 4th grade. I > don't recall the source so don't know if this stat is entirely > accurate, however the argument of the article was certainly in > line with brain research. It said that though formal instruction > is delayed (I believe they were citing Finland and a few > others... maybe Sweden?) students still started school at about > the same age as American students but instead were immersed in > language activities: read alouds, songs, chants, poems, play... > so that by the time the students began formal instruction their > brains were "wired" and ready and they quickly became literate. > Students were not "held back" or bored because they were immersed > in engaging and age appropriate activities. Some learned to read > before formal instruction (I can relate because I was a kid like > that... who read in kindergarten before most of my classmates yet > loved every second of school).... but more importantly few kids > did NOT learn to read... or struggled to learn. My theory is > that we are creating learning disabilites in many students who > otherwise would have been successful by causing confusions in the > brain rather than creating pathways. If we delayed formal > reading instruction but immersed our students in thoughtful and > planned literacy experiences, I think that the number of students > struggling would go down, which would help us to focus our > resources on those students who truly have learning difficulties, > and our reading scores for the rest of the students would go up. > > > On 6/07/11, Well let's begin again wrote: >> We are NOT pushing kids too early. My kindergarteners LOVE to >> read and LOVE to write and when they have free time they are >> writing books and spelling words on the dry erase board and >> reading the word wall. Their choice, not mine. Just because >> we used to teach them to read and write in the first grade is >> just not a good enough reason to keep doing that.

Jun 8, 2011

report post

Kathi D/CA On 6/08/11, Stellaluna wrote: > In many areas we are absolutely pushing kids to early.... > > > I will argue that upping > the standards and requiring students to learn more faster is > going to contribute to rather than solve the problem.

Well put, Stellaluna. I'm waiting for the day when the 'powers that be' demand tha...See More

Jun 11, 2011

report post

jmho5 On 6/08/11, Stellaluna wrote: >> In many areas we are absolutely pushing kids to early.... > >> >> I will argue that upping >> the standards and requiring students to learn more faster is >> going to contribute to rather than solve the problem.

I totally agree. They're learning more earlier, but I don't th...See More

Jun 11, 2011

report post

VET to Stellaluna I agree. Children from homes where they were not read to and reading/education were not valued may not be ready for so much so soon.

On 6/08/11, Stellaluna wrote: > In many areas we are absolutely pushing kids to early.... not all > kids... but many. Fortunately for you (and your students), it > sounds like this is not the case wh...See MoreI agree. Children from homes where they were not read to and reading/education were not valued may not be ready for so much so soon.

On 6/08/11, Stellaluna wrote: > In many areas we are absolutely pushing kids to early.... not all > kids... but many. Fortunately for you (and your students), it > sounds like this is not the case where you are... but it > definitely is where I am. > > Many of my kinders are like yours... are SO excited to learn... > and to show my that they are finding words and letters in the > texts that they have... but there are those who are so lost > mostly because they haven't had the experiences to "wire their > brains" to learn. I am able to immerse them in literacy and > print because I have an administrator who trusts my judgement. > But many of my colleagues in other sites are expected to drill > and kill the decontextualized pieces of language into little guys > who have no idea what is going on. > > The students who come to school from homes where they have been > read to, have access to books, are spoken to and listened to and > have have many opportunities to practice language are generally > the ones that start noticing the finer details of texts.... > recognize the familiar words in books, understand that text > represents language and, most importantly, that books tell > stories or give information. > > It is the others that I worry about... whose brains have not had > the experiences to form those necessary connections who are given > little pieces of the jigsaw puzzle without the picture on the > box, so to speak. > > > Someone in the thread that got deleted mentioned that one reason > (and I am paraphrasing from memory) that we have upped the > standards is because our students are behind. I won't argue that > (though I don't completely agree) but I will argue that upping > the standards and requiring students to learn more faster is > going to contribute to rather than solve the problem. > > One of my mantras is that "in our race to be first, we are > putting ourselves last". I read that countries that delay formal > instruction in reading bypass our literacy rate by 4th grade. I > don't recall the source so don't know if this stat is entirely > accurate, however the argument of the article was certainly in > line with brain research. It said that though formal instruction > is delayed (I believe they were citing Finland and a few > others... maybe Sweden?) students still started school at about > the same age as American students but instead were immersed in > language activities: read alouds, songs, chants, poems, play... > so that by the time the students began formal instruction their > brains were "wired" and ready and they quickly became literate. > Students were not "held back" or bored because they were immersed > in engaging and age appropriate activities. Some learned to read > before formal instruction (I can relate because I was a kid like > that... who read in kindergarten before most of my classmates yet > loved every second of school).... but more importantly few kids > did NOT learn to read... or struggled to learn. My theory is > that we are creating learning disabilites in many students who > otherwise would have been successful by causing confusions in the > brain rather than creating pathways. If we delayed formal > reading instruction but immersed our students in thoughtful and > planned literacy experiences, I think that the number of students > struggling would go down, which would help us to focus our > resources on those students who truly have learning difficulties, > and our reading scores for the rest of the students would go up. > > > On 6/07/11, Well let's begin again wrote: >> We are NOT pushing kids too early. My kindergarteners LOVE to >> read and LOVE to write and when they have free time they are >> writing books and spelling words on the dry erase board and >> reading the word wall. Their choice, not mine. Just because >> we used to teach them to read and write in the first grade is >> just not a good enough reason to keep doing that.

Jun 11, 2011

report post

Agree On 6/07/11, KMI wrote: > I think it's great that we are able to make reading and writing > part of the kindergarten experience - as long as the child is > ready for it. Many, if not most, are ready sometime during the > kdgn. year. What I have a problem with is when the powers that > be, who make the decisions, (not necessarily we te...See More

Jun 30, 2011

report post