Monday, July 27, 2009
Question #5 (Chapters 9-12)
Chapter nine talked about trying to get parents to read to their children 20 minutes a day from birth. I have also heard some of you (Kindergarten teachers) talk about how we need to educate our parents before they actually bring their children to Kindergarten screening. I think that parents are shocked when they hear what their child is expected to do before they even enter school. They thought that was "our job"! What are your ideas on how to educate parents earlier? As a district, what could we do? As a Kindergarten team, what could you do?
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I have given a lot of thought to how we could do this, but haven't come up with any great ideas. Getting parents to be involved before their child comes to school has been an ongoing problem around here. In first grade most of us had parents signing off on their child reading, maybe we should change it occasionally to parents read to child 20 minutes. By the way I appreciate the kindergarten teachers letting me share in this book study. It seemed relevant to Title and I needed CEU's for my renewal.
ReplyDeleteDebbie, I don't have a magic answer either. I think even if researched based information was given to new parents at the hospital, along with all the other goodies they receive, only a handful of parents may respond on top of those parents who innately realize the importance of reading to children. I wonder how much is because of just what we are looking into with this book. Can the parents even read the information given to them? It is frustrating to think that parents/guardians could make such a difference just by reading to their children. Last year, as I was trying to get my groups together, Helen mentioned that several of her "lower" kids could benefit most just by being read to. It broke my heart. Obviously, this isn't what we did when we were together, but on occasion I did read aloud. There are programs out there to get books into the hands of parents/children but can we "make them drink". (The old lead a horse to water adage...I'm not just rambling) One program in Union County is affiliated with United Way. http://www.unitedwayofunioncounty.org/imaginationlibrary.htm They will send a book per month until the child reaches five or leaves the county. We have story hours and other programs offered but I am also at a loss as to how o get those students/parents to participate who aren't already of that mindset.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Debbie and Melanie statements. When I sent home reading bags etc. the last few years I would have a number of children who would say they didn't get to read the books because they didn't have time or no one would sit down and read with them (and this was not always the lower achieving kids). When I sent home my newsletter each week I would suggest "things to do at home" that were usually very simple things to do such as -- ask your child about a certain story we read, tell you if 2 words rhyme, etc. (things you could do while driving or cooking supper) I would sometimes ask students if they ever did these things and I'm not sure how many did.
ReplyDeleteI know having grandkids I'm constantly encouraging my kids to read, read, read to their little ones and telling them how important it is. I know I'm just rambling on but it is so frustrating when kids come to school and you have those that are ready and those that are not. There doesn't seem to be a lot of kids in the middle. The gap just keeps widening and that is where I think direct instruction would be critical-- for the kids who have not had the experiences of phonemic awareness, being read to, etc.
Melanie, I am a big fan of the books given to newborns in the hospital. I tried to get that idea out there when I was on the library board in Richwood. I think the Public Library has the means to reach out more and get books into the little ones hands. I really think that if there was a rule about reading a book before they could play T-Ball or do soccer or any sport...we would have parents lining up to get their child reading! I don't think there is an easy answer to making it a priority, but we can continue to promote it in our classrooms and in our school. I think we should have a SSR time every day/week and make it a priority that the whole school be reading together. We could have a NUE Book Club and kids could know that it is a common book that we are all reading as a grade level or school. It could encourage reading dialog amoung the classes and projects or writing activities by grade level. That's just an idea.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of the comments before me. You can give the statistics to the parents giving the school success rates if read to freqently before entering school and unless the parent views education as extremely important for future success, no statistic will get the parent to read. The parents need to see the benefit of education in a person's life for the future not just live in the present. Part of me believes in the Ruby Payne's thinking of the poverty mindset and the needs thereof, but I just can't understand why a free library card can't be used frequently. Page 108 made an interesting statement: "97% of parents supported the 90% reading goal, 98% believed that reading 20 minutes a day to their child from birth was important, and 74.5% reported regularly doing so." Parents believe but actions speak louder than words. In this day all parents are busy but they need to make their kids a priorty. I've had parents sign off on a reading log to read 20 min./day only for them to sign the entire week on Monday!!! Hmmmm, I guess the parents have to take part ownership when their child is one that needs the extra reading help. I wonder if having business owners, board members, influential members of the community all agree to pass some type of "Read to a Kid" campaign to support and encourage reading. Maybe the looping video (or powerpoint) of a classroom in action suggested this Spring might be just the urge the parents need to see that Kindergarten isn't a play room but truly academics.
ReplyDeleteSorry my posting was so lengthy and strong. This is a subject I am truly passionate about.
ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteEveryone had such wonderful ideas here. I wonder if we could compose some kind of campaign and include the businesses. I really think that is something we could do, and maybe it would help. SSR building wide is also a great idea. At the end of this book study, we will need to come up with a list of things that we really want to accomplish as a result of this book study. This topic might be a good place to start.