Just now catching up…
May 11th, 2005…with one of my favorite editorial writers in America. Vin Suprynowicz is the Assistant editorial-page editor for The Las Vegas Review-Journal and has been for many years now. He’s also a nationally syndicated libertarian columnist and author of Send In The Waco Killers: Essays on the Freedom Movement, 1993-1998 and The Ballad of Carl Drega (both non fiction). His newest work is a novel entitled The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Resistance.
In catching up with his past columns tonight, I came across one published February 6, 2005 that’s titled, Teaching preschoolers to read ‘not encouraged’ Here are a couple of excerpts where he’s quoting a disgruntled government teacher:
But, “Arithmetic was not the only institution that has gone by the wayside. Teaching in general had been all but banned,” Mr. Lewis, former director of studies at Washington’s World Charter School, finally figured out. “A genre of lesson planning and required ‘pedagogies’ had sprung up that allowed a maximum of about 10 minutes of actual teaching per class period. The remaining class time had to be devoted to a combination of ‘touchy-feely’ techniques, politically correct propaganda, and ‘activities.’”
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“I not so long ago looked into some federal funds for preschool reading programs under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act,” Mr. Lewis continues. “I was initially optimistic, as I had recent success getting 3- and 4-year-olds reading fluently. … On inspection of the grant materials, I found I did not qualify for the simple reason that the government ‘absolutely’ did not encourage the teaching of actual reading to preschoolers. Recognition of the letters of the alphabet was the maximum acceptable instruction.”
I hope this is enough to get you to click the link and read the entire column. In his subtle, inimitable way, Vin proceeds to tie the whole thing into gun control. After you’ve finished that column, click the first link and bookmark it so you can read the rest of what he’s written, and will write. It’s well worth the time.
(Also, additional information about Vin is available from his web site.)
Reading that column I was reminded of my 4 year old coming to me today with a stack of Bob books in her hand and saying, “Daddy? Want me to read one of these to you?” (I was working and she was interrupting, but you’ll never get me to discourage reading. There’s always time for reading together.) She proceeded to pick out the tenth of twelve books. (They’re numbered and get progressively harder.) I encouraged her to pick one of the lower numbered books because I haven’t had time to work with her on them much. After a bit of negotiation, we settled on number 5 and she read the whole thing with only very minimal help. That’s not the beginner set in the Bob series, either. We skipped that one. We started with the second set and we’re going to have to get the next level soon because my 6 year old has mastered the ones we have and the 4 year old is close. (It pains me to think where they would be now if they had a mother that cared and hadn’t kept them from me for the better part of the last 3 years.)
I was informed by my children today, that the four year old of the woman I wrote about in Dumb broads and home education, cannot count to 10. They were astonished. My daughters were both counting to 10 both forwards and backwards by the time they were two years old. My four year old can count to 40 or 50 now and I haven’t had much time to actively work with her yet. The older one can count to 100 now. After a year of preschool and a few months of kindergarten (both against my wishes) she told me she could count to 100. She couldn’t get past 49 because she had been taught by memorization. I spent about 20 mins. with her showing her how the numbers relate with patterns and she can now count to 100 (and beyond) every time. Her younger sister listening in on that lesson is the reason she can count to 50 now and is doing basic arithmetic in her head. At four.
But what do I know? It’s not like I have a degree from Columbia Teachers’ College or anything. Heck, I don’t have any degree in anything. I haven’t spent a single second of my life in a college classroom (while class was going on). I’m just a dumb, uneducated redneck.
I’m sure the government knows best.
DC,
We have been homeschooling for 13 years now; three kids, two of them with special needs. They have all consistently outperformed the public school peers on standardized testing.
But what do we know?
What do you know?
Not a thing. How could you be so uncaring as to keep those children in your home when the government has provided perfectly good opportunities for them to be “socialized?”
It’s just appalling that you would deny them their God-given right to be government socialized.
Don’t even get me started on the necessary beatings that you’re sparing them. And the bullying and ridicule.
You’re absolutely heartless to keep those kids at home and not let them experience “real life.”
God bless all home schoolers.
Wow… there are 2 year olds that I watch in Sunday School that are starting to count.
Good job with your girls, DC. They will be outreading me in no time :)
Thanks, PK. But I didn’t intend that to be bragging. I’ve put very little directed effort into it (so far).
Kids want to learn. All you have to do is interact with them and always answer their questions, no matter how ridiculous. Life is full of learning opportunities for them and they seize every single one. My 6 year old can explain to you in great detail how an alternator works on a car. I never set out to teach her that, but I answer her questions when she asks and that came up one day. She absorbs it because she asked and she wants to know.
I wonder if any of the first grade teachers at the local school could explain how an alternator works?
DC: you understand all this non-pedagogy is not an accident. Have you read The Undergroung history of American Education? You can read it on-line at http://www.johntaylorgatto.com.
Yes, JohnR. I recommended that book recently in the comments thread on another post. That book was not an eye-opener for me in the sense that I was shocked, but it changed my entire perspective because I realized for the first time that I wasn’t crazy for the hunches I had. It also put the pieces together for me and gave me the ammo I needed to back up my positions.
I was thrilled when I found out a couple of years ago that JTG had put the whole book online for free.
I was blessed by a friend with a signed prerelease copy of the book as a gift a few years ago. {/end gloat}
Nothing past the alphabet in kindergarten??? And when I was a tutor for a fifth grade class (hired as a MATH tutor…*rolls eyes how much more of a government employee could I be?), the teacher was so worn out/suprised, because almost every student, practically every boy, had a “learning disability” by the time they were ten. Even better, the couple kids who weren’t “disabled” weren’t challenged at all, lest they struggled with actual learning.
Shame. My brother (six now) started school when he was five and I’d been working with him a while on reading and letter recognition… he didn’t dig it until he started to school and he somehow found it more enjoyable when he was learning with a large group of children. Unfortunately he kind of topped out there so far. It doesn’t seem like they’re helping him to learn consonant blends, really. They just need him to perform at acceptable levels in tests, which amuses me because he gets ‘at level’ grades yet does things that they can’t possibly be testing on… ~shrugs
~squawk!
My four year old can count to 40 or 50 now and I haven’t had much time to actively work with her yet.
Neener, neener, neener.
Mine can’t count 1000 (except that she loses patience with it. She gets the concept though).
She went from being able to count to 20 up to 100 with an hours worth of work.
I wrote down 1-10 on a page. Then I wrote 10-100. Once she understood that 20 is just a 2 with a 0 at the end, it wasn’t long before she understood the sequence up to 100. The following week, after giving her a chance to let it settle in, I explained that 200 is just 20 with an extra 0.
She’s good at pattern recognition, but she’s not as advanced in adding as you said your four year old is.
My four year old can’t even sing the alaphabet song. But he is very interested in money and presidents - the ones on the money. So he can identify all of the buildings on money, and who all of the presidents are on all our currency, coin and dollar and what wars they fought. He’s also mastering addition without even knowing it, and without having learned his numbers first. That’s what I love about home education. There is no one way to do it. It is just the constant practice of self education.
No rush. When my son’s ready to read, he will. Untill then I keep filling him with knowledge and letting his interests direct me.
I love everything about your new site look but the center justified posts.
Could you chnage that just for me? Hahahahah.
My four year old can’t even sing the alaphabet song. But he is very interested in money and presidents - the ones on the money. So he can identify all of the buildings on money, and who all of the presidents are on all our currency, coin and dollar and what wars they fought. He’s also mastering addition without even knowing it, and without having learned his numbers first. That’s what I love about home education. There is no one way to do it. It is just the constant practice of self education.
No rush. When my son’s ready to read, he will. Untill then I keep filling him with knowledge and letting his interests direct me.
I’m really blowing it. Sorry about the double post.
All my posts were deleted. Whahhhh! I’m just not feelin’ the love anymore.