As I read, 'I Just Want to Read Frog and Toad' from Rethinking Early Childhood Education from p. 99-102. I thought about children in elementary schools from grades K-5. Do children get to experience reading at their own level or do they follow the class level on reading? When I was in elementary school along with a few other children we were placed in a program called project where some educators will take us away from our class for a few minutes or half hour and help us improve our reading and literacy skills. When ever I was taken away from the other classmates I would always wonder why. The author talked about a five year old boy named Eamonn who wanted to read story books in his class which, were appropriate for his age and not baby books. However, his mother wanted him to read real books and not photo copied books which, the teacher has assigned him to read. As he read a story called "White Knight" he wasn't very proud on how he read the story and he wanted to develop his own story on the "White Knight". I believe that it's important for children to have fun and learn new skills that are developing their mind and knowledge. While I read, 'Strawberry Fields Forever?' On p. 171-173 the author talks about her past on teaching children of migrant farmworkers. Back then, families worked in strawberry fields while children were going to school. She talked about preparing children to speak and develop their vocabulary in Spanish before they go on to kindergarten. According to the author, she was more concerned with what was developmentally appropriate for children such as, the world around them and incorporating their interests into curriculum (Rethinking Early Childhood Education p. 172). I agree with what she said because it's important for children to learn about different topics that are interesting to them and where they come from.
In Chapter 3 New Possiblities for Early Childhood Education the author talked about five different women's life experiences and stories. I thought that Sharnette's story was emotional to read about because she was growing up in a home being raised by her mother. However, she mentioned being in foster care because her mother was on drugs. She also grew up being in poverty and in an abusive home. What can we do to provide and help children growing up in abusive homes, being in poverty, and struggling to survive?
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Hi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteYou question focuses on expanding children's learning. How might expansion of learning be applicable to all the readings? I think of expansion in regard to your question based on the New Possibilities reading - What can we do to provide and help children growing up in abusive homes, being in poverty, and struggling to survive? Do you think expansion in this situation is different than expansion for the child reading the White Knight or the children of the migrant workers?
I keep thinking all of the people depicted are different -- should the expansion of learning be the same? How might this be applicable in any classroom? Does this speak to differentiation?
Jeanne
Hi Dawn!
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question “Do children get to experience reading at their own level or do they follow the class level on reading?” The school where I’m at let the children read at their own level during their own time. But, during class time, if a student is not at his/or her class level of reading. They would go to a special program during that time period, to work 1 on 1 to another teacher, this program will help the student bring their reading level to their grade level reading. Also, this helps the lead teacher teach the reading lesson to the remaining students in her class.
Now, the difficult part about this “special program” is the transition, when a student is leaving the classroom, I can see in their eyes a little bit of embarrassment in them. How can we as teachers make these students realize that this will benefit them in the long run?
Aloha Dawn,
ReplyDeleteIt was quite an interesting situation in the "Rethinking" text. Eamonn's mother was brave for trying to stand up for her son even though no changes were made for a long period of time. My question is, how can we as educators encourage parents to advocate for their children, especially in the area of literacy? I know that we can do our part, but we also need parents to do their part.
In the "Strawberry Fields Forever?" reading, I was encouraged by Cirila. I liked the way she developed age appropriate activities and curriculum for the children. My question is, can we come up with creative ways to teach children their culture and language? I find that using parents as resources can be a definite plus when it comes to culture and language.
Chapter 3 of "New Possibilities" was a little hard for me to read. I really felt for these women and what they went through. I can only imagine the pain and suffering they had to endure for so many years. I feel good about them being able to use their past to insure their future would be different.
As for living in poverty and abuse, I cannot even begin to imagine what that's like, especially for a young child. My question is, how can we insure the children in our care feel safe and secure? Can they learn to trust us, even though we are not their main caregivers? I'm sure they have a lot of insecurities coming from their bad living situations. However, I know we can try our best to make sure their needs are met while they're in our care.