Diane Wiley writes:
I couldn't agree with NS Gill more -- some kids just aren't ready to learn to read till later -- maybe some could read more earlier with a phonetic approach -- but some kids just take longer. The problem is what do you do with them in a school system which is almost totally based on reading? Atherton says, put them in ability groups for reading only -- Doug Mann [who hasn't answered yet] will say that ability grouping is what is stigmatizing the kids and perpetuating racism -- I agree with him. But what do we do? This is why I keep coming back to the smaller class sizes -- really small. Because then the teachers have time to work with the kids where they are and can help them to learn in the way they can learn at the time. But that costs money. So instead of buying another VCR, people would have to pay higher taxes. And it seems that a lot of our population isn't willing to do that. Diane Wiley Powderhorn Seward Montessori [Public] Parent > "N.S. Gill" wrote: > > > Many homeschoolers learn to read late without any stigmatization. Not all > > kids are ready to learn to read in first grade. Sure, most of them can be > > forced, but one of the many advantages of homeschooling is that learning can > > take place according to the kids' timetable. Nine and even ten is not too > > old to learn to read, but if a child has already been stuck in a dummy's > > class, it is probably too late for the child to avoid considering himself a > > failure. > > The solution is not necessarily homeschooling. The idea would be to > to differentiate individual classes based on ability, not entire grades > or tracks. So you might place a student in a reading class based > on their skill level, but that should not limit their development in every > other class. > > Michael Atherton > Prospect Park > > _______________________________________ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
