Oh lord...
First things first... I can hear my suitemate's bed squeaking next door. Go Marrissa! It's your birthday! (No, really it is... her 21st... LOL)
I think I need to speak with the head of the Carver Center afterschool program. For thsoe of you who read this and don't know... that's where I work. I tutor children ages 6-12, I help them with homework and play with them, etc... Today was a pretty frustrating day.
I was helping this one first grader, Angela, with her homework. The assignment was a Presidents' Day themed grammar exercise. She was given a worksheet with the instructions saying she had to determine if the sentences about Abe Lincoln and George Washington were a question or a statement. Then she had to put the proper punctuation mark at the end (I assume they learned question marks and periods in school). Well... Not only did Angela NOT understand (after four times of me trying to explain it to her) the difference between a question and a statement, but the worksheet was NOT meant for first graders! It couldn't have been. Six year olds canNOT be learning words such as "Which," "Celebrate," and "Honest" in class.
What bothered me the most about this was Angela's lack of grasping the material. We finally agreed upon and held onto the fact that a question was something that wanted to know something, while a statement was something that already knew something. So I could say "Does this sentence want to know something or does it already know it?" She would answer correctly, but then put the wrong punctuation mark at the end of the sentence (even after explaining where they went several times).
While trying to get Angela to sound out the big words she didn't know (I refuse to read my kids' homework for them, especially when reading is the objective of their assignment. I make them read it to me and I help them when they need it), she would get stuck. Understandable. So I would have her sound out all the letters one at a time. Then we would get increasingly faster, trying to reach the speed at which the word should be spoken. Each time she would pronounce the letters correctly: h-o-n-e-s-t ... but then, when asked to say the word she just said, would forget half the letters: "Hess". She couldn't keep her attention on the word. She kept watching the boys on the other side of the room playing, done with their work. And because she wanted to be with them so badly, she would guess at the words. If she saw it began with a W she would go through all the words she knew that began with the letter. "Angela, please don't guess. I want you to read the word. You can't do that when your eyes aren't on the paper." And she simply couldn't do it. But then I also noticed her having difficulty reading simple words like "on" or "was."
I need to talk to Susan to see if Angela has an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) from her school. I think she may have a learning disability. ADD or some such. And if that's the case, and she DOESN'T have an IEP in place, she needs to get one. This poor girl is falling through the cracks in the system! She cannot read at her own grade level! And they very well may just progress her into second grade!
It makes me angry how teachers are so willing to just pass their students off, so it makes them look good - they aren't doing anything wrong. But this poor little girl can't read! In fact, most of my 6 and 7 year olds can't read at their level!
Grrr.... it makes me angry. Thank the gods for people like Tori and Julie who are going into early childhood education. I can trust them with my kids' learning what they need to.
I think I need to speak with the head of the Carver Center afterschool program. For thsoe of you who read this and don't know... that's where I work. I tutor children ages 6-12, I help them with homework and play with them, etc... Today was a pretty frustrating day.
I was helping this one first grader, Angela, with her homework. The assignment was a Presidents' Day themed grammar exercise. She was given a worksheet with the instructions saying she had to determine if the sentences about Abe Lincoln and George Washington were a question or a statement. Then she had to put the proper punctuation mark at the end (I assume they learned question marks and periods in school). Well... Not only did Angela NOT understand (after four times of me trying to explain it to her) the difference between a question and a statement, but the worksheet was NOT meant for first graders! It couldn't have been. Six year olds canNOT be learning words such as "Which," "Celebrate," and "Honest" in class.
What bothered me the most about this was Angela's lack of grasping the material. We finally agreed upon and held onto the fact that a question was something that wanted to know something, while a statement was something that already knew something. So I could say "Does this sentence want to know something or does it already know it?" She would answer correctly, but then put the wrong punctuation mark at the end of the sentence (even after explaining where they went several times).
While trying to get Angela to sound out the big words she didn't know (I refuse to read my kids' homework for them, especially when reading is the objective of their assignment. I make them read it to me and I help them when they need it), she would get stuck. Understandable. So I would have her sound out all the letters one at a time. Then we would get increasingly faster, trying to reach the speed at which the word should be spoken. Each time she would pronounce the letters correctly: h-o-n-e-s-t ... but then, when asked to say the word she just said, would forget half the letters: "Hess". She couldn't keep her attention on the word. She kept watching the boys on the other side of the room playing, done with their work. And because she wanted to be with them so badly, she would guess at the words. If she saw it began with a W she would go through all the words she knew that began with the letter. "Angela, please don't guess. I want you to read the word. You can't do that when your eyes aren't on the paper." And she simply couldn't do it. But then I also noticed her having difficulty reading simple words like "on" or "was."
I need to talk to Susan to see if Angela has an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) from her school. I think she may have a learning disability. ADD or some such. And if that's the case, and she DOESN'T have an IEP in place, she needs to get one. This poor girl is falling through the cracks in the system! She cannot read at her own grade level! And they very well may just progress her into second grade!
It makes me angry how teachers are so willing to just pass their students off, so it makes them look good - they aren't doing anything wrong. But this poor little girl can't read! In fact, most of my 6 and 7 year olds can't read at their level!
Grrr.... it makes me angry. Thank the gods for people like Tori and Julie who are going into early childhood education. I can trust them with my kids' learning what they need to.