Thursday, June 12, 2008

Irvine and Larson

From the Irvine and Larson article: Here is a quote from a first-grade teacher-
Learning to read is so complicated. If they can come to first grade knowing letters and knowing some sounds, having been read to, they'll be ready to learn to read. I do not get many children like that in here. They do not come to kindergarten ready for kindergarten. So I'm always looking at children who aren't ready to learn yet. And that's a sad fact. But it's true. Nevertheless, you have to keep on truckin'. They come in, in the hole...that you have to dig them out of. That's not a very easy thing to do. I know that people downtown will tell you that it can be done. I'm here to tell you it can't be done.
This quote just amazes me/breaks my heart...How do you "get ready to learn"? She seems to suggest that this happens by EXPERIENCING reading at home. So if all this kids aren't 'ready to learn' because they don't have that background, doesn't it make sense to give it to them by letting them experience it in the class rather than trying to teach through worksheets and skill sets? How is reading and other practices at home getting ready to learn and not just learning? And I don't even know what to say about the fact that she thinks it can't be done....it makes me so sad to think that people have given up on kids at all ever, not to mention when they are 5 or 6 years old.

1 comment:

Heather said...

Ugh, that quote is devastating. To think that a teacher can track a child that soon. Besides, until they graduate, its never too late. That is why they are the children and we are the adults. We are responsible to the end! When I read that, my first thought was, "I think someone needs to make a career change."