tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15513876.post3850808564367967340..comments2024-02-12T09:07:37.691-06:00Comments on I am doing the best I can: No Magic BulletDawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12920042208198309201noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15513876.post-30709674180779985152010-10-28T13:38:29.397-05:002010-10-28T13:38:29.397-05:00I was one of those kids who spontaneously read at ...I was one of those kids who spontaneously read at two. My mom didn't believe me so she took me to the library, found some books I'd never seen before and made me read them to her. That started my journey through the MacGuffey readers. I was so glad she found a real Montessori program for me that did the "learn at your own pace" thing, or I would have been bored stiff. Then I hit regular school. Blech. Most everyone caught up to a level playing field down the road, though. This hyper-competitive teaching is way too much stress for a kid, IMHO.yarnwhorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02656281268081127680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15513876.post-67840410105318447302010-10-28T10:31:35.987-05:002010-10-28T10:31:35.987-05:00Mary, I do believe that there are some children - ...Mary, I do believe that there are some children - your son being one of them who catch on to the "patterns" encoded in letters/words MUCH faster than other kids. His brain needed to create order from chaos and so he did - because he wanted to...I should have clarified that it is usually people who tell me their 3 year old can "read" because they successfully recite words on flash cards etc....it isn't so much reading as reciting. I've seen alot of kids in phonics based programs too do similar things, ie Painful sounding out of each letter over and over until they figure out they are saying a word. It isn't really "reading" but a mechanical process.<br /><br />And Rayne, sigh. I am so sorry. It sounds like you went from a preschool who knew what they were doing into a public school who well, My guess is that the K position is being held by a 3rd grade teacher who views this as punishment...It may be that she has had no actual training AS a kindergarten teacher, but rather it was assumed the same skill sets apply. And you may be seeing the foundation stuff layed in preK - Kids who have a firm understanding of patterns in all things pick up on the patterns in words and numbers Much more quickly. I think of it as a Pay it forward kind of event.... A kid is plugging along and all of a sudden everything just clicks - all of the play, clapping out patterns, and working with tangrams and doing grouping of objects - well it just explodes in their brains and they GET IT.<br /><br />I wish I could hug you and go to the conference with you. Feel free to email me your questions, I'd be happy to help you with your list.Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12920042208198309201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15513876.post-38999700471648956052010-10-27T21:42:42.070-05:002010-10-27T21:42:42.070-05:00My son is in kindergarten and our first parent tea...My son is in kindergarten and our first parent teacher conference is coming up next week. I wish we could talk on the phone because I have been horrified by kindergarten so far. We have had him in a play based child care center and now his class does as many as TWELVE worksheets a day. My son is SO ready to read and he has figured out multiplication on his own. I won't overstate it and say he's bored or he's being squashed... yet. But he has definitely noticed the difference between child care and kindergarten. His preK year they used Handwriting without tears and we really thought it was good.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06655779061173009120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15513876.post-72457364720917476102010-10-27T19:24:21.778-05:002010-10-27T19:24:21.778-05:00As I said in the last post, the J-man DID learn to...As I said in the last post, the J-man DID learn to read before he was 3, but it wasn't because we tried to teach him. He just learned. It was a way for him to help order his environment. (Hey, some autistic kids line up trains. Mine reads the instructions.) He doesn't look at the pictures on the pages - if you say, "Where's the butterfly?" he will find the word "butterfly" and point to it, completely missing that there are 27 butterflies pictured in the illustration.<br /><br />On the multiplication tables: I memorized them in 3rd grade, and made 100s on all the tests and such. I was in 6th grade when I realized that multiplication is just a fast way to do addition!Mary_Flashlighthttp://www.bothhandsandaflashlight.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15513876.post-26761931890578660772010-10-27T14:40:38.811-05:002010-10-27T14:40:38.811-05:00You are more than welcome Kelli - I sometimes worr...You are more than welcome Kelli - I sometimes worry I get too ramble-y - Part of it is that there is a ton of information racing through my brain - all shouting "ME!!! DON'T FORGET TO MENTION ME!!!" so I get led down side paths. <br /><br />My best friend has her son in K right now, and she had a worksheet sent home with a note saying that her son needed to work on a skill which was no where Near age appropriate. It was more of a late 1st grade, early second grade skill.<br /><br />Of course, I blew my stack. I know this kid. He is a bright, curious kid. There are no issues with his literacy- he is well on track. However, because this teacher was using worksheets and falling victim to the "Lets get them ready for a test they shouldn't even be taking" mentality, my Friend was seeing what we call "Push Down" curriculum. Meaning Kindergarteners are now being expected to do the work of 2nd graders, with the wrong headed notion that if we cram this into their brains now they will do better later on.<br /><br />However, the result is that kids never properly learn how to read - all they learn is how to memorize and repeat answers. It is what I often challenge people who tell me that they "taught" their 3 year old to read with some system. <br /><br />There is memorization, and there is understanding. These things are not necessarily the same thing. Memorizing the multiplication table does nothing if you don't understand that multiplication is grouping sets of numbers.Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12920042208198309201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15513876.post-55568214597092143082010-10-27T13:50:18.608-05:002010-10-27T13:50:18.608-05:00I love these posts, Dawn. Thank you for writing t...I love these posts, Dawn. Thank you for writing them! My kid is on the cusp of Kindergarten next fall, so these posts really resonate with me. I appreciate you taking the time to write them.Cagey (Kelli Oliver George)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13691589813815058981noreply@blogger.com