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[ccbc] re: reluctant readers
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From: Christine Taylor-Butler <kansascitymom_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Sat, 05 Feb 2011 15:51:56 -0500 (EST)
Ed,
This comment bothered me a lot: yl e="font-family: Times New Roman; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"
"There's a lot of blame to go around for alliterate young people and I'd put parents first and foremost. Alliterates typically grow up in homes without reading role models. Parents who do not value reading will not have children who value it."
I live in the middle of a failin g urban district (Kansas City) that has just closed 50% of the remaining pu blic schools. Prior to that I grew in Cleveland where the schools wer e placed in receivership (actually - I "lived" in the library but I was a " rogue" student). I went to college in the Boston area where I s pent several years volunteering for an adult literacy initiative. I v olunteer hundreds of hours each year in schools.
You have to start w ith some compassion and some understanding for what is going on inside the home. The "blame the parent" game isn't that simple.
Fi rst - literacy rates among adults are at an all-time low. You would b e surprised at how many people - including those who are running companies - fake literacy. There are tricks that are stunning and a lot of people you read about (corporate officers, politicians, etc.) are functionally illite rate and have people who read and interpret for them. I know - I work ed for some of the above and also tutored for an adult literacy group in Bo ston.
Second, as far as reading gap in urban households - many of th ose parents were educated in the same failed school districts where t heir children are now enrolled. They didn't learn to read so they can't pas s on the trait or interest. They were encouraged to "read" what was shoved at them and no one took the time to help them find the "one" book that migh t light that spark. You'd be surprised how many want their children to do b etter but lack the skill to help. Only - it's the bad, lazy and/or mi ssing in action parents who get all the "press" and define the stereotype t hat is perpetuated.
Also growing percentage of children in ur ban districts come from families where English is not the primary language. Here in Kansas City, for instance, the district was going to shut down a G arfield Elementary because it failed to make the dreaded AYP until a CNN reporter reported that the students spoke 18 different languages and re quired a dozen interpreters at parent meetings but the tests were given in English (none of which was oral). 50+% of all children now born in th e US are ethnic. Most live in areas that lack comprehensive funding o r innovative teaching programs.
Lastly - I grew up in the "ghetto" i n Cleveland and loved to read because it was the only hobby I could afford. But my friends didn't because so few books spoke to our experiences or int erests. Little has changed since then. If you're an urban child and c onstantly bombarded with literature that features a single race, you start to turn off unless you can "translate" to see yourself in the role. And if there is no one at home who can (or will) help you with homework or reading , you're lost. Somehow we think that throwing rehashed civil rights b ooks at them once a year in February will change that gap. If any thi ng it exacerbates it.
But I go back to my original premise - which w as reinforced in several other posts. Children LEARN differently.&nbs p; Some are auditory learners, some are kinesthetic, others are visual.&nbs p; We create thousands of books for kids because this is not a one size fit s all world. And behind every successful person in the news who did n ot come from an "ideal" home there was some other adult who took the time t o find the right "switch" and turn it on.
Then we lump in AYP which dictates a one-size-fits-all measurement system, and forces the teachers to spend so much time doing "pre-assessment" tests they have little time left to actually teach or create differentiated learning methods that fit the i ndividual child's needs.
I don't think reluctant readers are born.&n bsp; I think they are created. And an entire village - not just the p arent - is responsible for that outcome.....Christine (rogue parent and kid lit author)
Received on Sat 05 Feb 2011 03:51:56 PM CST
Date: Sat, 05 Feb 2011 15:51:56 -0500 (EST)
Ed,
This comment bothered me a lot: yl e="font-family: Times New Roman; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt;"
"There's a lot of blame to go around for alliterate young people and I'd put parents first and foremost. Alliterates typically grow up in homes without reading role models. Parents who do not value reading will not have children who value it."
I live in the middle of a failin g urban district (Kansas City) that has just closed 50% of the remaining pu blic schools. Prior to that I grew in Cleveland where the schools wer e placed in receivership (actually - I "lived" in the library but I was a " rogue" student). I went to college in the Boston area where I s pent several years volunteering for an adult literacy initiative. I v olunteer hundreds of hours each year in schools.
You have to start w ith some compassion and some understanding for what is going on inside the home. The "blame the parent" game isn't that simple.
Fi rst - literacy rates among adults are at an all-time low. You would b e surprised at how many people - including those who are running companies - fake literacy. There are tricks that are stunning and a lot of people you read about (corporate officers, politicians, etc.) are functionally illite rate and have people who read and interpret for them. I know - I work ed for some of the above and also tutored for an adult literacy group in Bo ston.
Second, as far as reading gap in urban households - many of th ose parents were educated in the same failed school districts where t heir children are now enrolled. They didn't learn to read so they can't pas s on the trait or interest. They were encouraged to "read" what was shoved at them and no one took the time to help them find the "one" book that migh t light that spark. You'd be surprised how many want their children to do b etter but lack the skill to help. Only - it's the bad, lazy and/or mi ssing in action parents who get all the "press" and define the stereotype t hat is perpetuated.
Also growing percentage of children in ur ban districts come from families where English is not the primary language. Here in Kansas City, for instance, the district was going to shut down a G arfield Elementary because it failed to make the dreaded AYP until a CNN reporter reported that the students spoke 18 different languages and re quired a dozen interpreters at parent meetings but the tests were given in English (none of which was oral). 50+% of all children now born in th e US are ethnic. Most live in areas that lack comprehensive funding o r innovative teaching programs.
Lastly - I grew up in the "ghetto" i n Cleveland and loved to read because it was the only hobby I could afford. But my friends didn't because so few books spoke to our experiences or int erests. Little has changed since then. If you're an urban child and c onstantly bombarded with literature that features a single race, you start to turn off unless you can "translate" to see yourself in the role. And if there is no one at home who can (or will) help you with homework or reading , you're lost. Somehow we think that throwing rehashed civil rights b ooks at them once a year in February will change that gap. If any thi ng it exacerbates it.
But I go back to my original premise - which w as reinforced in several other posts. Children LEARN differently.&nbs p; Some are auditory learners, some are kinesthetic, others are visual.&nbs p; We create thousands of books for kids because this is not a one size fit s all world. And behind every successful person in the news who did n ot come from an "ideal" home there was some other adult who took the time t o find the right "switch" and turn it on.
Then we lump in AYP which dictates a one-size-fits-all measurement system, and forces the teachers to spend so much time doing "pre-assessment" tests they have little time left to actually teach or create differentiated learning methods that fit the i ndividual child's needs.
I don't think reluctant readers are born.&n bsp; I think they are created. And an entire village - not just the p arent - is responsible for that outcome.....Christine (rogue parent and kid lit author)
Received on Sat 05 Feb 2011 03:51:56 PM CST
