In the book Rethinking Early Childhood Education, the author talks about her difficulty with her son not being happy in school due to his reading abilities. First of all some schools feel that it is okay to group children together into different reading level groups. Even if it is not said out loud the children will figure out who is in a higher reading group just by talking with eachother. It is not a good message to children to let them know who is “smarter” than the others even if it is unintentional. Many children may become so discouraged by the fact that they are in the “lower” reading group and may take on that “lesser” role not wanting to even try anymore. I have knew a child who did not receive as many reading stars as her classmates and she broke out into tears telling me that she was not smart. This broke my heart. This was a very discouraging thing to hear from a sweet, curious little girl. Secondly, learning starts out so fun and colorful and then turns into photocopied, often black and white picture books with meaningless stories. Reading should be enjoyable for children. The pictures should capture their attention and the story should spark their imagination. Giving our children curriculum that is not really teaching them but only sound professional is silly. Often, teachers and parents want to see results. They try to find the quickest way to teach children something and may often end up stressing out the children or giving them work that is inappropriate for them.
There was also the instance of the teacher teaching immigrant children. She felt that it was important to teach them their first language before teaching them another language. Children are very capable of learning they just need to be allowed to do it at their own pace. By first learning their native language they will become more confident and learning a new language will be easier.
Teachers need to remember that not all families are alike and there are families who cannot help their children with their homework and those children will probably not be able to get as much out of their work. I have known families where the parents were unable to help their children with their homework and their children really struggled.
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Hello Kahaulani,
ReplyDeleteI was shocked when I read that some schools divide children into different reading level group? Really? I think you are right that we educators should not label the young children. I understand that we sometimes divide the children into small group activities by age because the lead teacher wants to give some challenge to them. I believe if younger children have a chance to learn something from older children through the same group activities. Both younger and older children might stimulate each other.
I agree on what you said. Each family has different background. We educators always have to respect all families and support them if needed.
Hello Kawai,
ReplyDeleteI am terribly sorry for my miss typing your name. Please forgive me!! Mariko
Hi Kawai,
ReplyDeleteI agree that children may feel discouraged by the fact they're at a lower reading level than their friends or classmates. What can we do for the children if they feel frustrated or uncomfortable at their level of reading? How can we build a child's confidence in reading?
Hi Kawai,
ReplyDeleteWorking in some of my research I visited various public schools across the state of Hawaii. One school I visited decided to place children into three levels of kindergarten -- Advanced kindergarten, normal kindergarten, and junior kindergarten (referred to as the kindergarten for the lower children). Interesting as the teacher talked about the classrooms, they shared how the advanced kindergarten was mostly composed of two parent families while the lower kindergarten was composed of children from single parent households. I was blown away by how easily the teachers talked about this -- there seemed to be no awareness of the social injustice occurring with these 5-year-olds. Thinking about your question -- Is this appropriate? Is this what should be available to these children? If this is all that is available, is it fair for children to only have access to programs like this? Can teachers be advocates in this situation?
How might these questions apply to the other readings for this week?
Jeanne
Hi!
ReplyDeleteThe comments you made about every family has a different background is very true. I do believe we need to be aware of that in order to be successful teachers. We have to make activities that are appropriate for each individual's developmental level.
By any chance do you apply these to your work because your values seems to be on the right track on being a great teacher.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI was able to relate to your first paragragh. I too was also grouped in the not so bright group in Elementary. My boyfriend is a 5th grade teacher and he also has to group children based on their reading level, and it's not by choice. It's the way the school and program is run. I guess it's a way to challenge all reading levels. I remember in Elementary school, you either understood what was being taught or fell behind. I also don't really remember my teachers trying to catch me up with the class.It was kind of like, oh well.
Thats how we differ from Elem. Ed., we will try different approaches to aid each child. we take the time because, we don't have pressure from NCLB.