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RE: reluctant readers
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From: sully_at_sully-writer.com
Date: Sat, 05 Feb 2011 17:28:10 -0700
nt
I understand what you're saying Christine. 1 in 3 adults in Tenne ssee are completely or functionally illiterate. Most of the students a t the last school where I worked (a middle school in rural Appalachia in a community that was quite poor) had parents who fit that description. I tuto r adults in literacy myself. Illiteracy is a horrible disease, a vicio us cycle that is very difficult to break.
I wasn't talking about illiteracy in my post. Illiteracy is another, m uch worse problem, unto itself. Children of non-native English speakers is also another issue altogether. What I was addressing is the problem of parents who do have the ability to read but do not and the likelihood of their non-reading habits negatively impacting their own children's reading habits and their educational success overall. At the elementary sc hool where I worked, a so-called "good" suburban school, this unfortunate s ituation was quite common and it's a situation I find quite inexcusable.
Thanks for your comments and all YOU DO to promote literacy in your co mmunity.
Ed Sullivan
-------- Original Message -------- Subject:
re: reluctant readers From: Christine Taylor-Butler ai kansascitymom_at_earthlink.net Dat e: Sat, February 05, 2011 3:51 pm To: ccbc-net listserv "m ccbc-net_at_ccbc.education.wisc.edu
#wmQuoteWrapper {font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-c olor:#ffffff;color:black;} #wmQuoteWrapper p {margin:0px;}
Ed,
This comment bothered me a lot: al
SI "There's a lot of blame to g o 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 failing urban district (Kansas City) that has just closed 50% of the remaining public schools. Prior to that I grew in Cleveland where the schools were placed in receivership (actually - I " lived" in the library but I was a "rogue" student). I went to c ollege in the Boston area where I spent several years volunteering for an a dult literacy initiative. I volunteer hundreds of hours each year in schools.
You have to start with some compassion and some understandi ng for what is going on inside the home. The "blame the parent" game isn't that simple.
First - literacy rates among adults are at an all-time low. You would be surprised at how many people - includi ng those who are running companies - fake literacy. There are tricks that a re stunning and a lot of people you read about (corporate officers, politic ians, etc.) are functionally illiterate and have people who read and interp ret for them. I know - I worked for some of the above and also tutore d for an adult literacy group in Boston.
Second, as far as reading g ap in urban households - many of those parents were educated in the same fa iled school districts where their children are now enrolled. They did n't learn to read so they can't pass on the trait or interest. They were en couraged to "read" what was shoved at them and no one took the time to help them find the "one" book that might light that spark. You'd be surprised h ow many want their children to do better but lack the skill to help. Only - it's the bad, lazy and/or missing in action parents who get all the "press" and define the stereotype that is perpetuated.
Also g rowing percentage of children in urban districts come from families where E nglish is not the primary language. Here in Kansas City, for instance, the district was going to shut down a Garfield Elementary because it failed to make the dreaded AYP until a CNN reporter reported that the students spoke 18 different languages and required a dozen interpreters at parent me etings but the tests were given in English (none of which was oral). 50+% of all children now born in the US are ethnic. Most live in area s that lack comprehensive funding or innovative teaching programs.
L astly - I grew up in the "ghetto" in Cleveland and loved to read because it was the only hobby I could afford. But my friends didn't because so few bo oks spoke to our experiences or interests. Little has changed since t hen. If you're an urban child and constantly bombarded with literature that features a single race, you start to turn off unless you can "translate" t o 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 th at throwing rehashed civil rights books at them once a year in February wil l change that gap. If any thing it exacerbates it.
But I go ba ck to my original premise - which was reinforced in several other posts.&nb sp; Children LEARN differently. Some are auditory learners, some are kinesthetic, others are visual. We create thousands of books for kids because this is not a one size fits all world. And behind every succ essful person in the news who did not come from an "ideal" home there was s ome other adult who took the time to 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-assessmen t" tests they have little time left to actually teach or create differentia ted learning methods that fit the individual child's needs.
I don't think reluctant readers are born. I think they are created. And an entire village - not just the parent - is responsible for that outcome. ....Christine (rogue parent and kidlit author)
-F AMILY: verdana; COLOR: black; MARGIN-LEFT: 8px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" id=rep ly
Date: Sat, 05 Feb 2011 17:28:10 -0700
nt
I understand what you're saying Christine. 1 in 3 adults in Tenne ssee are completely or functionally illiterate. Most of the students a t the last school where I worked (a middle school in rural Appalachia in a community that was quite poor) had parents who fit that description. I tuto r adults in literacy myself. Illiteracy is a horrible disease, a vicio us cycle that is very difficult to break.
I wasn't talking about illiteracy in my post. Illiteracy is another, m uch worse problem, unto itself. Children of non-native English speakers is also another issue altogether. What I was addressing is the problem of parents who do have the ability to read but do not and the likelihood of their non-reading habits negatively impacting their own children's reading habits and their educational success overall. At the elementary sc hool where I worked, a so-called "good" suburban school, this unfortunate s ituation was quite common and it's a situation I find quite inexcusable.
Thanks for your comments and all YOU DO to promote literacy in your co mmunity.
Ed Sullivan
-------- Original Message -------- Subject:
re: reluctant readers From: Christine Taylor-Butler ai kansascitymom_at_earthlink.net Dat e: Sat, February 05, 2011 3:51 pm To: ccbc-net listserv "m ccbc-net_at_ccbc.education.wisc.edu
#wmQuoteWrapper {font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;background-c olor:#ffffff;color:black;} #wmQuoteWrapper p {margin:0px;}
Ed,
This comment bothered me a lot: al
SI "There's a lot of blame to g o 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 failing urban district (Kansas City) that has just closed 50% of the remaining public schools. Prior to that I grew in Cleveland where the schools were placed in receivership (actually - I " lived" in the library but I was a "rogue" student). I went to c ollege in the Boston area where I spent several years volunteering for an a dult literacy initiative. I volunteer hundreds of hours each year in schools.
You have to start with some compassion and some understandi ng for what is going on inside the home. The "blame the parent" game isn't that simple.
First - literacy rates among adults are at an all-time low. You would be surprised at how many people - includi ng those who are running companies - fake literacy. There are tricks that a re stunning and a lot of people you read about (corporate officers, politic ians, etc.) are functionally illiterate and have people who read and interp ret for them. I know - I worked for some of the above and also tutore d for an adult literacy group in Boston.
Second, as far as reading g ap in urban households - many of those parents were educated in the same fa iled school districts where their children are now enrolled. They did n't learn to read so they can't pass on the trait or interest. They were en couraged to "read" what was shoved at them and no one took the time to help them find the "one" book that might light that spark. You'd be surprised h ow many want their children to do better but lack the skill to help. Only - it's the bad, lazy and/or missing in action parents who get all the "press" and define the stereotype that is perpetuated.
Also g rowing percentage of children in urban districts come from families where E nglish is not the primary language. Here in Kansas City, for instance, the district was going to shut down a Garfield Elementary because it failed to make the dreaded AYP until a CNN reporter reported that the students spoke 18 different languages and required a dozen interpreters at parent me etings but the tests were given in English (none of which was oral). 50+% of all children now born in the US are ethnic. Most live in area s that lack comprehensive funding or innovative teaching programs.
L astly - I grew up in the "ghetto" in Cleveland and loved to read because it was the only hobby I could afford. But my friends didn't because so few bo oks spoke to our experiences or interests. Little has changed since t hen. If you're an urban child and constantly bombarded with literature that features a single race, you start to turn off unless you can "translate" t o 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 th at throwing rehashed civil rights books at them once a year in February wil l change that gap. If any thing it exacerbates it.
But I go ba ck to my original premise - which was reinforced in several other posts.&nb sp; Children LEARN differently. Some are auditory learners, some are kinesthetic, others are visual. We create thousands of books for kids because this is not a one size fits all world. And behind every succ essful person in the news who did not come from an "ideal" home there was s ome other adult who took the time to 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-assessmen t" tests they have little time left to actually teach or create differentia ted learning methods that fit the individual child's needs.
I don't think reluctant readers are born. I think they are created. And an entire village - not just the parent - is responsible for that outcome. ....Christine (rogue parent and kidlit author)
-F AMILY: verdana; COLOR: black; MARGIN-LEFT: 8px; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" id=rep ly
---Received on Sat 05 Feb 2011 05:28:10 PM CST
