from my mom
Pam Sorooshian
My mom went to Italy this summer to learn about Reggio schools. Since she
came back, she was on a Reggio schools email discussion list for teachers.
These were her last two posts on that list - I thought you all might enjoy
and appreciate them.
· Subject: Re: phonemic awareness and developmental appropriateness
· From: Jeanne Kerwin <· MagamJK@...>
· Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 00:47:36 EDT
I agree that we must look at each child individually -- isn't that what
developmentally appropriate really is all about? Not all children learn in
the same way or at the same age. This idea that our governor in Caifornia
has that "all children will be reading by the second half of kindergarten"
is ridiculous and dangerous. We already are way behind other states (for
many reasons) and it is all boiling down to politics. We teachers in this
state are going crazy with the "accountability" craze. Pushing children
into an area of learning before they are interested or ready for that
particular kind of thing may raise test scores temporarily but will do
lasting damage to the child and the education system in the long run. I am
a high school teacher of child development with a lab school on the campus
which I also direct. I also teach at the local community college and state
university part time in the early childhood education departments. I enjoy
hearing all the points of view - it keeps me sane. Jeanne
· Subject: Re: phonemic awareness and developmental appropriateness
· From: Jeanne Kerwin <· MagamJK@...>
· Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 22:37:35 EDT
I honestly don't think "they" have a real definition in mind for "reading";
at least I haven't been able to find a consistent feeling about it among
the several school districts around here. Most kindergarten teachers will
answer that they think it means knowing all the "sounds of letters" and
being able to use phonics to read simple books. Since I am in a high school
and see the poor results of many years of pure phonics I guess I am
prejudiced against using this method exclusively. The good readers are the
ones who learned at an early age to love books and were read to by members
of their families; not many of my students love to read for pleasure and
most really hate writing. I find his so sad. I think there is some hope on
the horizon however now that so many people in California are taking their
children out of school and homeschooling. These families are dedicated and
hardworking for the most part and their children consistently score above
the public school students in every area. I know many of these children and
families and find them very xcited about learning and doing lots of things
together in homeschooling groups. This may be a wake-up call to the state
ed department. We'll see.
Jeanne
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
came back, she was on a Reggio schools email discussion list for teachers.
These were her last two posts on that list - I thought you all might enjoy
and appreciate them.
· Subject: Re: phonemic awareness and developmental appropriateness
· From: Jeanne Kerwin <· MagamJK@...>
· Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 00:47:36 EDT
I agree that we must look at each child individually -- isn't that what
developmentally appropriate really is all about? Not all children learn in
the same way or at the same age. This idea that our governor in Caifornia
has that "all children will be reading by the second half of kindergarten"
is ridiculous and dangerous. We already are way behind other states (for
many reasons) and it is all boiling down to politics. We teachers in this
state are going crazy with the "accountability" craze. Pushing children
into an area of learning before they are interested or ready for that
particular kind of thing may raise test scores temporarily but will do
lasting damage to the child and the education system in the long run. I am
a high school teacher of child development with a lab school on the campus
which I also direct. I also teach at the local community college and state
university part time in the early childhood education departments. I enjoy
hearing all the points of view - it keeps me sane. Jeanne
· Subject: Re: phonemic awareness and developmental appropriateness
· From: Jeanne Kerwin <· MagamJK@...>
· Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 22:37:35 EDT
I honestly don't think "they" have a real definition in mind for "reading";
at least I haven't been able to find a consistent feeling about it among
the several school districts around here. Most kindergarten teachers will
answer that they think it means knowing all the "sounds of letters" and
being able to use phonics to read simple books. Since I am in a high school
and see the poor results of many years of pure phonics I guess I am
prejudiced against using this method exclusively. The good readers are the
ones who learned at an early age to love books and were read to by members
of their families; not many of my students love to read for pleasure and
most really hate writing. I find his so sad. I think there is some hope on
the horizon however now that so many people in California are taking their
children out of school and homeschooling. These families are dedicated and
hardworking for the most part and their children consistently score above
the public school students in every area. I know many of these children and
families and find them very xcited about learning and doing lots of things
together in homeschooling groups. This may be a wake-up call to the state
ed department. We'll see.
Jeanne
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]