Just so stoked...
Laureen
Heya!
I am going to blog about this later, with pictures, but I wanted to
take the opportunity to just crow to folks who will get all the
implications.
So... Rowan will be six in July. And in the last few months, he's been
playing with writing. He wants to write lists, write names, rearrange
the way the letters go, just play with writing. So we do that. No big.
No pressure. He does a lot of letters backwards, so I kinda took that
as a sign he needed more time, and haven't been pushing it in any way.
Today, he's playing with writing, and decides to write his brother's
name, which is Kestrel. He writes the K, E, but does the S backwards.
His Papa says "hey Rowan, you've done the S backwards", and Rowan
stopped, looked intensely at it for a few seconds, turned the paper
around, and wrote the TREL backwards as well, so all the letters are
facing the same direction, but in mirror. Because with uppercase K and
E, you can do that.
Big smile, and "see! That's all right then."
Clearly, my child is channeling Da Vinci (BWAHAHAHAHAHA).
So I know that for you oldtimers, you're probably amused, but I'm new
enough to this that the ramifications of this, the fact that in
school, that backwards S would have been wrong, are still just washing
over me. And that the fact that he's been hugely proud of himself for
working out the puzzle of how to make it all work is just the coolest
thing...
I'm just babbling, I know that. But I thought you guys might enjoy it too.
--
~~L!
~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~
Writing here:
http://www.theexcellentadventure.com/
Evolving here:
http://www.consciouswoman.org/
~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~
I am going to blog about this later, with pictures, but I wanted to
take the opportunity to just crow to folks who will get all the
implications.
So... Rowan will be six in July. And in the last few months, he's been
playing with writing. He wants to write lists, write names, rearrange
the way the letters go, just play with writing. So we do that. No big.
No pressure. He does a lot of letters backwards, so I kinda took that
as a sign he needed more time, and haven't been pushing it in any way.
Today, he's playing with writing, and decides to write his brother's
name, which is Kestrel. He writes the K, E, but does the S backwards.
His Papa says "hey Rowan, you've done the S backwards", and Rowan
stopped, looked intensely at it for a few seconds, turned the paper
around, and wrote the TREL backwards as well, so all the letters are
facing the same direction, but in mirror. Because with uppercase K and
E, you can do that.
Big smile, and "see! That's all right then."
Clearly, my child is channeling Da Vinci (BWAHAHAHAHAHA).
So I know that for you oldtimers, you're probably amused, but I'm new
enough to this that the ramifications of this, the fact that in
school, that backwards S would have been wrong, are still just washing
over me. And that the fact that he's been hugely proud of himself for
working out the puzzle of how to make it all work is just the coolest
thing...
I'm just babbling, I know that. But I thought you guys might enjoy it too.
--
~~L!
~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~
Writing here:
http://www.theexcellentadventure.com/
Evolving here:
http://www.consciouswoman.org/
~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~
Barbara Perez
Hi,
I'm new at this too. And I read your blog and was happy for you and your
little boy that it sounds like he's having fun with learning in an
unpressured way and all. But, you know, it's not necessarily true that in
school that backward S would have been wrong. Stay with me: He's not even
six? He would be in Kindergarten. And any teacher worth her salt would have
taken that piece of writing and appreciated it for what it is: A good
example of writing that is developmentally right where it should be. Now,
before I ruffle any feathers here, let me say what I think the problem is.
See, for one thing, definitely if Rowan were not almost six but, say, almost
ten, or probably even at almost 8 and in the 2nd grade, then that backwards
S would be pointed out as an error and corrected. And more to the point, in
my mind, whether that was wrong or not would have nothing to do with where
that child was individually in the development of his writing skills - No,
it would be based strictly on that arbitrary scale that teachers are forced
to use that says on month 4 of first grade it's ok for a child to do this,
but not on month 6, for instance. (I'm not making this up, it *is* that
ridiculous, I know first-hand.) It's all tied to the insidious requirement
of quantifying everything, labeling everything and categorizing everything
(or trying to) into neat little slots in the name of making teaching appear
to be an exact science, which clearly it is not since it deals with human
beings! So, if Rowan were unfortunate enough to be in school instead of
happily home, it sounds like he might have been OK only right now, and only
in that respect, ONLY because at this exact time in his life and in that
very narrow area of learning, sounds like he happens to match the
expectation of what the "average" child does at that exact age (writing a
few words, experimenting with writing, including some reversals).
So please babble away :) I enjoyed it more, and for more reasons, than you
guessed!
I'm new at this too. And I read your blog and was happy for you and your
little boy that it sounds like he's having fun with learning in an
unpressured way and all. But, you know, it's not necessarily true that in
school that backward S would have been wrong. Stay with me: He's not even
six? He would be in Kindergarten. And any teacher worth her salt would have
taken that piece of writing and appreciated it for what it is: A good
example of writing that is developmentally right where it should be. Now,
before I ruffle any feathers here, let me say what I think the problem is.
See, for one thing, definitely if Rowan were not almost six but, say, almost
ten, or probably even at almost 8 and in the 2nd grade, then that backwards
S would be pointed out as an error and corrected. And more to the point, in
my mind, whether that was wrong or not would have nothing to do with where
that child was individually in the development of his writing skills - No,
it would be based strictly on that arbitrary scale that teachers are forced
to use that says on month 4 of first grade it's ok for a child to do this,
but not on month 6, for instance. (I'm not making this up, it *is* that
ridiculous, I know first-hand.) It's all tied to the insidious requirement
of quantifying everything, labeling everything and categorizing everything
(or trying to) into neat little slots in the name of making teaching appear
to be an exact science, which clearly it is not since it deals with human
beings! So, if Rowan were unfortunate enough to be in school instead of
happily home, it sounds like he might have been OK only right now, and only
in that respect, ONLY because at this exact time in his life and in that
very narrow area of learning, sounds like he happens to match the
expectation of what the "average" child does at that exact age (writing a
few words, experimenting with writing, including some reversals).
So please babble away :) I enjoyed it more, and for more reasons, than you
guessed!
On Fri, May 16, 2008 at 7:05 PM, Laureen <splashing@...> wrote:
> Heya!
>
> I am going to blog about this later, with pictures, but I wanted to
> take the opportunity to just crow to folks who will get all the
> implications.
>
> So... Rowan will be six in July. And in the last few months, he's been
> playing with writing. He wants to write lists, write names, rearrange
> the way the letters go, just play with writing. So we do that. No big.
> No pressure. He does a lot of letters backwards, so I kinda took that
> as a sign he needed more time, and haven't been pushing it in any way.
>
> Today, he's playing with writing, and decides to write his brother's
> name, which is Kestrel. He writes the K, E, but does the S backwards.
> His Papa says "hey Rowan, you've done the S backwards", and Rowan
> stopped, looked intensely at it for a few seconds, turned the paper
> around, and wrote the TREL backwards as well, so all the letters are
> facing the same direction, but in mirror. Because with uppercase K and
> E, you can do that.
>
> Big smile, and "see! That's all right then."
>
> Clearly, my child is channeling Da Vinci (BWAHAHAHAHAHA).
>
> So I know that for you oldtimers, you're probably amused, but I'm new
> enough to this that the ramifications of this, the fact that in
> school, that backwards S would have been wrong, are still just washing
> over me. And that the fact that he's been hugely proud of himself for
> working out the puzzle of how to make it all work is just the coolest
> thing...
>
> I'm just babbling, I know that. But I thought you guys might enjoy it too.
>
> --
> ~~L!
>
> ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~
> Writing here:
> http://www.theexcellentadventure.com/
>
> Evolving here:
> http://www.consciouswoman.org/
> ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~ ~ * ~
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 5/16/2008 10:05:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
splashing@... writes:
<<<turned the paper
around, and wrote the TREL backwards as well, so all the letters are
facing the same direction, but in mirror. >>>
I love playing with writing like this! I discovered I could do that in my
lower teens. Wyl, 9, will come to me sometimes and ask me to write so that we
can read it in the mirror, which leads to him asking me to write upside down-he
gets the biggest thrill out of watching the process. He's seen the puzzles
and things in books where you "decode" the message by taking the page to a
mirror and reading it, but watching it happen seems magical to him. I like to
write in different "styles" (fonts?), make the letters look like what they
represent "cold, hill, balloon, etc.", play with block letters and shading... How
fun! :~)
Peace,
De
**************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family
favorites at AOL Food.
(http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
splashing@... writes:
<<<turned the paper
around, and wrote the TREL backwards as well, so all the letters are
facing the same direction, but in mirror. >>>
I love playing with writing like this! I discovered I could do that in my
lower teens. Wyl, 9, will come to me sometimes and ask me to write so that we
can read it in the mirror, which leads to him asking me to write upside down-he
gets the biggest thrill out of watching the process. He's seen the puzzles
and things in books where you "decode" the message by taking the page to a
mirror and reading it, but watching it happen seems magical to him. I like to
write in different "styles" (fonts?), make the letters look like what they
represent "cold, hill, balloon, etc.", play with block letters and shading... How
fun! :~)
Peace,
De
**************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family
favorites at AOL Food.
(http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Joyce Fetteroll
On May 16, 2008, at 10:05 PM, Laureen wrote:
that was going around the country -- guess it must be 10 years ago.
It's a very clear memory so doesn't seem so long ago!
I think there was a mirror angled so you could only see what you were
writing in the mirror and the trick was to try to write your name so
that it looked right in the mirror. Kat could do that with no
problems! :-)
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> Clearly, my child is channeling Da Vinci (BWAHAHAHAHAHA).My daughter did something similar *at* the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit
that was going around the country -- guess it must be 10 years ago.
It's a very clear memory so doesn't seem so long ago!
I think there was a mirror angled so you could only see what you were
writing in the mirror and the trick was to try to write your name so
that it looked right in the mirror. Kat could do that with no
problems! :-)
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Pamela Sorooshian
On May 16, 2008, at 8:15 PM, Barbara Perez wrote:
said.
But the schools no longer let them take that knowledge into account.
In my local school district (Southern California), kids are put into
"Reading Recovery" at the beginning of 1st grade if they cannot yet
read. They get one-on-one tutoring in reading for 12 weeks. They start
with the "lowest" readers and every 12 weeks a new group gets put into
Reading Recovery until about half the first graders have been through
it.
ALL kids, including kindergarten, must take written standardized tests.
The teachers may know that children under 6 are very often not
developmentally ready for reading and writing, but it doesn't matter
what the teachers know - they don't have the authority to decide what
they kids are ready for or not ready for - the kids must be tested and
the schools are rated based on those test results and even school
funding is now dependent on test results.
Public school education policies are not based on what good teachers
know, they are based on politics.
-pam
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> But, you know, it's not necessarily true that inMany good teachers (especially experienced ones) would "know" what you
> school that backward S would have been wrong. Stay with me: He's not
> even
> six? He would be in Kindergarten. And any teacher worth her salt
> would have
> taken that piece of writing and appreciated it for what it is: A good
> example of writing that is developmentally right where it should be.
said.
But the schools no longer let them take that knowledge into account.
In my local school district (Southern California), kids are put into
"Reading Recovery" at the beginning of 1st grade if they cannot yet
read. They get one-on-one tutoring in reading for 12 weeks. They start
with the "lowest" readers and every 12 weeks a new group gets put into
Reading Recovery until about half the first graders have been through
it.
ALL kids, including kindergarten, must take written standardized tests.
The teachers may know that children under 6 are very often not
developmentally ready for reading and writing, but it doesn't matter
what the teachers know - they don't have the authority to decide what
they kids are ready for or not ready for - the kids must be tested and
the schools are rated based on those test results and even school
funding is now dependent on test results.
Public school education policies are not based on what good teachers
know, they are based on politics.
-pam
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Barbara Perez
Pam,
I agree completely. I was there (although not in SoCal, but same story).
What I wrote before only reflects what a teacher should do/would do in the
'privacy' of her own classroom - what I did! But you're right that they have
no power to define the parameters according to what they know, they are
defined for them by non-educators.
This is why stepping out of the system was the moral option for me.
Barbara
On Sat, May 17, 2008 at 4:15 PM, Pamela Sorooshian <pamsoroosh@...>
wrote:
I agree completely. I was there (although not in SoCal, but same story).
What I wrote before only reflects what a teacher should do/would do in the
'privacy' of her own classroom - what I did! But you're right that they have
no power to define the parameters according to what they know, they are
defined for them by non-educators.
This is why stepping out of the system was the moral option for me.
Barbara
On Sat, May 17, 2008 at 4:15 PM, Pamela Sorooshian <pamsoroosh@...>
wrote:
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> On May 16, 2008, at 8:15 PM, Barbara Perez wrote:
>
> > But, you know, it's not necessarily true that in
> > school that backward S would have been wrong. Stay with me: He's not
> > even
> > six? He would be in Kindergarten. And any teacher worth her salt
> > would have
> > taken that piece of writing and appreciated it for what it is: A good
> > example of writing that is developmentally right where it should be.
>
> Many good teachers (especially experienced ones) would "know" what you
> said.
> But the schools no longer let them take that knowledge into account.
>
> In my local school district (Southern California), kids are put into
> "Reading Recovery" at the beginning of 1st grade if they cannot yet
> read. They get one-on-one tutoring in reading for 12 weeks. They start
> with the "lowest" readers and every 12 weeks a new group gets put into
> Reading Recovery until about half the first graders have been through
> it.
>
> ALL kids, including kindergarten, must take written standardized tests.
>
> The teachers may know that children under 6 are very often not
> developmentally ready for reading and writing, but it doesn't matter
> what the teachers know - they don't have the authority to decide what
> they kids are ready for or not ready for - the kids must be tested and
> the schools are rated based on those test results and even school
> funding is now dependent on test results.
>
> Public school education policies are not based on what good teachers
> know, they are based on politics.
>
> -pam
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>