I had the privilege of meeting a woman this past week who was a first grade teacher until 1978. At that point she stopped working to take care of her family and never went back.
Until........now. She has a granddaughter who needed someone to come and help in the classroom. I told her our story and how the "whole language" method of teaching reading is truly faster for some but does not work at all for a child with dyslexia.
She completely understood what I was saying. She said she was in disbelief that teachers are no longer required to teach anything that actually resembles phonics anymore.
In a sense both she and I have been in a time-capsule. Her, because she left teaching in 1978 and me because I was never in that line of work and my frame of reference is from being a kid at the same time she was a teacher (I'm in my 40's).
My mother was a teacher. First in Florida in the 1960's which in the photos looks like it was an ideal teaching situation, every child sitting in their seat listening attentively (ha).
Later, during my childhood she worked in the inner-city (it burnt her out to the point where her health was compromised which is probably no surprise to anyone who has ever worked as a teacher for a marginalized population).
Still, she always taught her children to "sound out" the words.
I doubt it ever occurred to any teacher at that time that "faster" (aka: whole language) would be better. Those teachers of that time would have most likely told you that "faster" wasn't going to do a complete job for a lot of people. (Yes, even then they knew that).
Let me digress for one moment with a theory my neighbor has: when my mom (now in her 70's) was picking her career in college there were very few choices that would lead to gainful employment for a woman. Generally the choices were: nursing, teaching and secretarial type employment. For my mom and many of my aunts it was teaching. My grandmother was a career teacher too, all of them were in elementary education and knew a lot about child development. At that time teaching was something that worked with raising a family (summers off, etc).
My neighbor who was also a career teacher (and is now in her 90's) said that feminism changed the overall quality of teachers everywhere. In her theory the minute women could choose doctor, scientist, professional and so on they left the teaching field in droves to earn more money and more prestige.
She believes that far fewer brilliant women find themselves in the education field anymore and fewer still in elementary education.
I know, just sort of let this sink in for a moment.
Her point is not to bash feminism (which I think most of us hopefully realize has opened up a lot of deserved opportunity for women everywhere) but to show how under appreciated the education field really is.
As a parent who is concerned not only about my own children but the fate of children everywhere, in the U. S. (which frankly could use a real honest-to-God boost at this point educationally speaking and otherwise) I want good teachers sitting there instructing my child and my child's peers.
At this point No Child Left Behind (NCLB) micro manages public school teachers with Master's Degree's in what amounts to practically 5 minute increments. This is not acceptable.
Good teachers who still want to teach phonics so that every child in their classroom can read are doing it on the downlow (translation: they are shutting the door and teaching what they know works despite the ridiculous governmental requirements that are placed on them).
I don't think good teachers have ever really been a common thing. We can all hopefully remember that special teacher who saw potential and brought us to a better place because of some extra attention. But I have a suspicion that those sort of teachers are fewer and fewer and that it's gotten harder and harder for them to keep their jobs.
These days teaching doesn't end at a normal child-coming-home-from-school hour. Those days are over. Also the whole summers off doesn't do it anymore. I don't believe teachers of today are more greedy I think the demands on their time are out of control.
And for the students of today I say this: the society we have created is strangling us with a caste system that we vehemently try to deny.
Private school, parochial school, homeschooling, and (some) charter schools are supposedly better choices than many public schools depending on what suburb one lives in.
How is that just? It is not.
I have known enough graduates of the Ivy League to know that it is the same as wearing designer jeans. It doesn't actually make someone smarter to have an Ivy League degree. This is our caste system at it's finest. Those schools are so prohibitively expensive to keep out nearly everyone of modest means (unless you are an obscure brainiac who playes an unusual musical instrument that they currently need - these are businesses first, always remember that).
But back to our public schools. Those lists that the school provide to military recruiters starting in the beginning of high school of the potential recruits (those children they deem unable to go to college or have choices beyond high school) those are class-based lists.
Those public school "gifted and talented" classes where a great teacher gets a great bunch of students to work with where they are not subjected to the requirements of No Child Left Behind because they are deemed "gifted". Those are class (caste) based. Impoverished children of single parent household are not getting into those type of classes. Those children are from the more privileged public school parents.
Do I sounds like an angry mommy yet? I'm not just concerned about my own child, who I will personally see to it has as much success as humanly possible under the circumstances.
I am an angry citizen.
I hear the cries of those children with learning disabilities who are blaming themselves for what they think of as "not being smart enough". I see it in their posture. I know their stories even if they don't know that I do.
But I also know this.
Those children teachers want to medicate (whether it's actually necessary or not). Those children who some teacher or guidance counselor decides aren't college-bound (for economic or whatever reason). Those children - the children of the poor, or the neglected children, or the learning difference child- I know those children.
I know more of those stories than anyone would ever guess should they just look at me on the outside.
And I have an agenda and perhaps even a vendetta.
I have a personal mission to let those stories be heard.
Even if no one is reading now one day they will be.
So I say this to you, Universe, I'm not going to shut up. I'm not going away. I will write and talk whether anyone hears me or not because eventually they will.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
The Free tutoring offer
Some history: At the beginning of January 2012 we got the diagnosis of dyslexia for our daugther. I immediately began searching for a tutor (thinking that we were going to stay in the small Catholic school we attended at the time).
She could barely read. She was getting one hour of tutoring from a supposedly Orton Gillingham trained tutor (who was really doing reading recovery which doesnt work for dyslexic kids). It was not helping. I read with her every single night so I would have known.
It was first grade but in her classroom of 25 kids there was a sink or swim attitude from her teacher who had, in our first conference of the year called her inattentive, unable to complete her work etc etc (all very personally critical of our daugther).
This prompted the testing since of course I didnt believe this teacher who I really saw as trying place as much blame as possible on my daughter with no regard to teaching methodology. (Plus remember my family had been through this when I was growing up with my brother- lots of staying in at recess and punishments).
I worked for the whole month of February as hard as possible trying to find a tutor once I knew it was dyslexia.
One of the places which is free is run by the Masonic Temple and in my town is called the Children's Dyslexia Center. I submitted all the necessary paperwork as quickly as possible.
It's June. They now have a free tutor for my daughter starting this fall.
This is good of course but my point here is that none of this is fast enough.
An ENTIRE YEAR would have passed had I been in the position to have to wait for this assistance for my child.
That is an ENTIRE YEAR of:
being berated by her teacher,
not being able to keep up with her lessons,
working 4 times harder in class than a non-dyslexic student,
being called ____ (you name it) by peers who would have no inkling about learning differences,
having her self esteem challenged by a read-as-fast-as-you-can overly competitive society.
None of this is okay.
Will we take the free tutoring? I dont know.
So far I have paid for many other options and my child is reading (thanks to the Orton Gillingham based instruction at her private school) at a grade appropriate level now. Still, none of this should be about how much our family can pay!
I say my prayers every single day that God bless those children who I know are blaming themselves for their learning difference. Most of them dont even know they have a learning difference.
I can get really worked up about this very quickly.
On the good side for me I just had our daugther privately assessed again by a private tutor who didnt even think her dysgraphia was too bad (and this tutor has seen a lot over the years).
So I'm feeling pretty good about our current situation although I am pressing hard for another year at the overly expensive private school. Saying my prayers she can be there another year. We shall see.
She could barely read. She was getting one hour of tutoring from a supposedly Orton Gillingham trained tutor (who was really doing reading recovery which doesnt work for dyslexic kids). It was not helping. I read with her every single night so I would have known.
It was first grade but in her classroom of 25 kids there was a sink or swim attitude from her teacher who had, in our first conference of the year called her inattentive, unable to complete her work etc etc (all very personally critical of our daugther).
This prompted the testing since of course I didnt believe this teacher who I really saw as trying place as much blame as possible on my daughter with no regard to teaching methodology. (Plus remember my family had been through this when I was growing up with my brother- lots of staying in at recess and punishments).
I worked for the whole month of February as hard as possible trying to find a tutor once I knew it was dyslexia.
One of the places which is free is run by the Masonic Temple and in my town is called the Children's Dyslexia Center. I submitted all the necessary paperwork as quickly as possible.
It's June. They now have a free tutor for my daughter starting this fall.
This is good of course but my point here is that none of this is fast enough.
An ENTIRE YEAR would have passed had I been in the position to have to wait for this assistance for my child.
That is an ENTIRE YEAR of:
being berated by her teacher,
not being able to keep up with her lessons,
working 4 times harder in class than a non-dyslexic student,
being called ____ (you name it) by peers who would have no inkling about learning differences,
having her self esteem challenged by a read-as-fast-as-you-can overly competitive society.
None of this is okay.
Will we take the free tutoring? I dont know.
So far I have paid for many other options and my child is reading (thanks to the Orton Gillingham based instruction at her private school) at a grade appropriate level now. Still, none of this should be about how much our family can pay!
I say my prayers every single day that God bless those children who I know are blaming themselves for their learning difference. Most of them dont even know they have a learning difference.
I can get really worked up about this very quickly.
On the good side for me I just had our daugther privately assessed again by a private tutor who didnt even think her dysgraphia was too bad (and this tutor has seen a lot over the years).
So I'm feeling pretty good about our current situation although I am pressing hard for another year at the overly expensive private school. Saying my prayers she can be there another year. We shall see.
Dyslexie font notes
Here are a few of the things that the new dyslexie font does to help dyslexic people read easier.
1. Increase openings of the letters
2. Make the start and finish of a word bold
3. Use larger punctuation
4. Slant some of the letters (tipping)
5. let gravity emphasize the difference
6. lenghten or descend letters
since so many letters look similiar any way of making them different is helpful to a person with dyslexia.
The problem is that, well, you of course have to pay for this. It's not like it's a font that has been freely given to the public for the use of people with dyslexia.
It's sort of like charging a toll for the wheelchair ramp.
That is the sort of thing that disgusts me about our society. People see a need and their minds go to"cha ching". Is'nt there any such thing as altrusism anymore? Good grief.
1. Increase openings of the letters
2. Make the start and finish of a word bold
3. Use larger punctuation
4. Slant some of the letters (tipping)
5. let gravity emphasize the difference
6. lenghten or descend letters
since so many letters look similiar any way of making them different is helpful to a person with dyslexia.
The problem is that, well, you of course have to pay for this. It's not like it's a font that has been freely given to the public for the use of people with dyslexia.
It's sort of like charging a toll for the wheelchair ramp.
That is the sort of thing that disgusts me about our society. People see a need and their minds go to"cha ching". Is'nt there any such thing as altrusism anymore? Good grief.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Reading/Art
Summer has begun and, well, there is a lot of homework. Math (which is my daughter's strong area), reading (lots) and in the mix things like telling time etc.
They say the kids "lose" a lot of what they learned during the year over the summer if they don't practice. It seems to me like an awful lot falls onto the parents and students in this line of thinking and I don't quite trust it.
Not to be too critical but it seems to me like kids need this break in the summer. Certainly we will read but I plan to (secretly) not be too hard on her. Summer is time to breathe. We all need that and it seems like these days kids need it more than ever.
This morning when I woke up the thought that I need to go and get a bunch of washable markers and some drawing paper entered my head. We don't have enough art supplies around here. We have crayons and coloring books but I think they need some color saturation (that markers are best at) and some paper (to make their own pictures- not something an artist has already drawn for them).
I read the book Drawing On The Right Side of The Brain (revised version) a couple of years ago and the author pointed out that she believed early reading got in the way of art. Language became how things were described rather than an illustration of them.
Also I read Daniel Pink's book (cant remember the name right now) where he pointed out that he believed artistic ability will become more sought after in the future - many can write, not many can make art type of thinking.
So here I am, on the one hand being given a lot of busy work for my daughter to do over the summer but on the other hand thinking we need a light touch here.
They say the kids "lose" a lot of what they learned during the year over the summer if they don't practice. It seems to me like an awful lot falls onto the parents and students in this line of thinking and I don't quite trust it.
Not to be too critical but it seems to me like kids need this break in the summer. Certainly we will read but I plan to (secretly) not be too hard on her. Summer is time to breathe. We all need that and it seems like these days kids need it more than ever.
This morning when I woke up the thought that I need to go and get a bunch of washable markers and some drawing paper entered my head. We don't have enough art supplies around here. We have crayons and coloring books but I think they need some color saturation (that markers are best at) and some paper (to make their own pictures- not something an artist has already drawn for them).
I read the book Drawing On The Right Side of The Brain (revised version) a couple of years ago and the author pointed out that she believed early reading got in the way of art. Language became how things were described rather than an illustration of them.
Also I read Daniel Pink's book (cant remember the name right now) where he pointed out that he believed artistic ability will become more sought after in the future - many can write, not many can make art type of thinking.
So here I am, on the one hand being given a lot of busy work for my daughter to do over the summer but on the other hand thinking we need a light touch here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)