In this week's reading, I was amazed with the difference in the amount of money spent on catching students up versus educating those who are "on track". Just thinking about the makeup of our building; thirty "regular" classroom teachers versus maybe a dozen assigned specifically to remediation of some sort, I found it hard to imagine the numbers would be that far apart. Almost double the amount being spent on those struggling. Granted, we need to catch those kids up so it may be money well spent.
I thought the targets for READY were right on track with skills and activities parents should be teaching their children anyway(if they take the time). I was covering for a teacher for a few minutes Sunday at church. The lesson was on how parents teach us things. I asked what they had learned how to do from their parents that they couldn't do when the were a baby. One replied, "I can use a remote now." I guess, in their home, that is a skill they need to learn.
In chapter 22, a quote that stood out was, "From birth to five, a child's brain is wiring itself to hear distinct sounds and syllables..." The chapter also points out how reading aloud exposes children to a richer vocabulary. I think we all knew that but it makes we wonder about those kids just plopped in front of the tv or a video. not only are they exposed to a "poorer" vocabulary in most cases, they also cannot pick up on all the "distinct sounds and syllables" needed to reproduce language.
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I agree Melanie. I think we have jumped so far ahead to get them reading that we forget the foundational things that are so vital to their development. I know that I will be focusing on more vocab. work with my group. I could see that they were lacking with that skill last year. You know they struggle when they can't repeat the first 3 sentences on the KRAL test. That is scary.
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