practice makes perfect in the context of reading
lalow66
My 8 year old son has been starting to read. I have seen him reading signs, some things on video games etc.. Early on, before hearing about unschooling, I did try to teach him to read, he was about 5, he hated it, and after about a month I backed off. Since then I havnt totally quit worrying about it or left him alone about it but I have tried to. He has always been a little self conscious about reading because he realized at some point that his younger brother had started reading and can now read most things. We have had several conversations about how different people learn to read and other things at different times and in their own time. He still feels a little bad about his brother. He says he hates to read. and that he has no reason to learn to read since he cant play Roblox on the computer (it bluescreens whenever they try to). So I said, "well learning to read takes practice and once you learn to read you wont hate to anymore".
And then I started thinking about the trueness of that statement. Of course I can predict whether he will till hate it.. but does it really take practice. If so how much or how little.
My middle son, who reads, has since he was 5. He is almost 7 now and can read most things. He doesnt read books, never read 20 minutes a day, he reads well but never really practiced reading over and over. With my 8 year old, he went from really not having any idea what different words were, to knowing some and reading some words that I know he hasnt read before.
So does it really take practice, or is it more a developmental readiness paired with exposure to it?
And then I started thinking about the trueness of that statement. Of course I can predict whether he will till hate it.. but does it really take practice. If so how much or how little.
My middle son, who reads, has since he was 5. He is almost 7 now and can read most things. He doesnt read books, never read 20 minutes a day, he reads well but never really practiced reading over and over. With my 8 year old, he went from really not having any idea what different words were, to knowing some and reading some words that I know he hasnt read before.
So does it really take practice, or is it more a developmental readiness paired with exposure to it?
Joyce Fetteroll
On Dec 11, 2009, at 2:22 PM, lalow66 wrote:
be to read. It won't be practice reading. It will be real reading. :-)
So it's more accurate to say the more someone *does* something, the
better they'll get at it.
My daughter was caught in the in between stage of wanting to read
better but it still being hard so she didn't read enough to progress
as fast as she wanted. Then she found an adult book series she loved
and that's when she took off reading.
something to fix him.
If you were trying to perfect a souffle and declared in frustration
you didn't even like souffles to your husband, if he said words to
the effect of "Well, it will get better" it would probably sound like
he wasn't even listening to your frustration, just trying to keep you
moving toward a goal he agreed was important.
It might help to picture him talking about something you didn't have
a person stake in and only cared whether he was enjoying himself or
not, like skateboarding or doing backflips on a trampoline.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> So does it really take practice, or is it more a developmentalOnce he's developmentally able, the more he reads, the easier it will
> readiness paired with exposure to it?
be to read. It won't be practice reading. It will be real reading. :-)
So it's more accurate to say the more someone *does* something, the
better they'll get at it.
My daughter was caught in the in between stage of wanting to read
better but it still being hard so she didn't read enough to progress
as fast as she wanted. Then she found an adult book series she loved
and that's when she took off reading.
> He says he hates to read. and that he has no reason to learn toI suspect what he'd like to hear is some empathy rather than
> read since he cant play Roblox on the computer (it bluescreens
> whenever they try to). So I said, "well learning to read takes
> practice and once you learn to read you wont hate to anymore".
>
something to fix him.
If you were trying to perfect a souffle and declared in frustration
you didn't even like souffles to your husband, if he said words to
the effect of "Well, it will get better" it would probably sound like
he wasn't even listening to your frustration, just trying to keep you
moving toward a goal he agreed was important.
It might help to picture him talking about something you didn't have
a person stake in and only cared whether he was enjoying himself or
not, like skateboarding or doing backflips on a trampoline.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-So I said, "well learning to read takes practice and once you learn
to read you wont hate to anymore".
And then I started thinking about the trueness of that statement. Of
course I can predict whether he will till hate it.. but does it really
take practice. If so how much or how little.-=-
I don't think it takes practice. I think it takes figuring out, and
those other things you said. "developmental readiness paired with
exposure to it"
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
to read you wont hate to anymore".
And then I started thinking about the trueness of that statement. Of
course I can predict whether he will till hate it.. but does it really
take practice. If so how much or how little.-=-
I don't think it takes practice. I think it takes figuring out, and
those other things you said. "developmental readiness paired with
exposure to it"
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-
It might help to picture him talking about something you didn't have
a person stake in and only cared whether he was enjoying himself or
not, like skateboarding or doing backflips on a trampoline.-=-
And if there are things he can do that the sibling can't, maybe
mention those gently too.
When Holly was frustrated that she couldn't read, I would point out
(softly) things she could do that one or both of her brothers learned
at a later age, or things she could do that friends her age couldn't
do, or cool things she had done that I hadn't done at her age. Not to
set up competitions, but to focus on differences in people's
opportunities and abilities and development.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
It might help to picture him talking about something you didn't have
a person stake in and only cared whether he was enjoying himself or
not, like skateboarding or doing backflips on a trampoline.-=-
And if there are things he can do that the sibling can't, maybe
mention those gently too.
When Holly was frustrated that she couldn't read, I would point out
(softly) things she could do that one or both of her brothers learned
at a later age, or things she could do that friends her age couldn't
do, or cool things she had done that I hadn't done at her age. Not to
set up competitions, but to focus on differences in people's
opportunities and abilities and development.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
BRIAN POLIKOWSKY
He says he hates to read. and that he has no reason to learn to
Do you mean the computer crashes when he tries to get in to a game?
Have you tried to fix it or contacted Roblox for help? They are pretty nice there and maybe be able to help.
Can you help your son figure that out?
Alex Polikowsky
http://polykow.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingmn/
________________________________
From: Joyce Fetteroll <jfetteroll@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Fri, December 11, 2009 2:04:36 PM
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] practice makes perfect in the context of reading
> read since he cant play Roblox on the computer (it bluescreens-=-=-=-=-=-
> whenever they try to). So I said, "well learning to read takes
> practice and once you learn to read you wont hate to anymore".
>
Do you mean the computer crashes when he tries to get in to a game?
Have you tried to fix it or contacted Roblox for help? They are pretty nice there and maybe be able to help.
Can you help your son figure that out?
Alex Polikowsky
http://polykow.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingmn/
________________________________
From: Joyce Fetteroll <jfetteroll@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Fri, December 11, 2009 2:04:36 PM
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] practice makes perfect in the context of reading
On Dec 11, 2009, at 2:22 PM, lalow66 wrote:
> So does it really take practice, or is it more a developmental
> readiness paired with exposure to it?
Once he's developmentally able, the more he reads, the easier it will
be to read. It won't be practice reading. It will be real reading. :-)
So it's more accurate to say the more someone *does* something, the
better they'll get at it.
My daughter was caught in the in between stage of wanting to read
better but it still being hard so she didn't read enough to progress
as fast as she wanted. Then she found an adult book series she loved
and that's when she took off reading.
> He says he hates to read. and that he has no reason to learn to
> read since he cant play Roblox on the computer (it bluescreens
> whenever they try to). So I said, "well learning to read takes
> practice and once you learn to read you wont hate to anymore".
>
I suspect what he'd like to hear is some empathy rather than
something to fix him.
If you were trying to perfect a souffle and declared in frustration
you didn't even like souffles to your husband, if he said words to
the effect of "Well, it will get better" it would probably sound like
he wasn't even listening to your frustration, just trying to keep you
moving toward a goal he agreed was important.
It might help to picture him talking about something you didn't have
a person stake in and only cared whether he was enjoying himself or
not, like skateboarding or doing backflips on a trampoline.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
lalow66
>The problems we are having with our computer has been a great source of frustration for the kids (especially my oldest) and we have been trying to work it out. It has been going on for several months and the kids have had alot of difficulty with it but right now we cant get a new one. However, at Christmas we are taking the computer to my sister who thinks she can get it running well enough to play the kids games. Also, my mom has a computer she nolonger uses and although I doubt it has enough memory to run the games, i think it will be fine for me to do the few things I do online so I can give our computer over to the kids. So hopefully they wont be missing ROBLOX to much longer.
> He says he hates to read. and that he has no reason to learn to
> > read since he cant play Roblox on the computer (it bluescreens
> > whenever they try to). So I said, "well learning to read takes
> > practice and once you learn to read you wont hate to anymore".
> >
> -=-=-=-=-=-
>
> Do you mean the computer crashes when he tries to get in to a game?
> Have you tried to  fix it or contacted Roblox for help? They are pretty nice there and maybe be able to help.
> Â Can you help your son figure that out?
>
BRIAN POLIKOWSKY
Do you guys work from your computer? IS that why the kids cannot play on your computer?
When I only had one computer I tried to do all my stuff when my son was sleeping or otherwise busy so he could use it to play. He was very nice if I needed it when he was using it as he understood sometimes I had to get to it to do somthing farm related.
Alex Polikowsky
http://polykow.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingmn/
.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
When I only had one computer I tried to do all my stuff when my son was sleeping or otherwise busy so he could use it to play. He was very nice if I needed it when he was using it as he understood sometimes I had to get to it to do somthing farm related.
Alex Polikowsky
http://polykow.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingmn/
.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
lalow66
--- In [email protected], BRIAN POLIKOWSKY <polykowholsteins@...> wrote:
The kids can play on the computer, it just cant support ROBLOX and other games which require alot of memory. I think there is also something wrong with our video card. I do need the computer sometimes but my use of it doesnt take away from their use and it isnt the reason the games dont work.
>You misunderstand.
> Do you guys work from your computer? IS that why the kids cannot play on your computer?
> When I only had one computer I tried to do all my stuff when my son was sleeping or otherwise busy so he could use it to play. He was very nice if I needed it when he was using it as he understood sometimes I had to get to it to do somthing farm related.
>
>
The kids can play on the computer, it just cant support ROBLOX and other games which require alot of memory. I think there is also something wrong with our video card. I do need the computer sometimes but my use of it doesnt take away from their use and it isnt the reason the games dont work.
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