Yeah for books!
One of the first things that my mother ever taught me was that books are our friends. (Usually preceded by a scolding such as: we do NOT color in books! or we do NOT crumple book pages!) Needless to say, my love of books and the written word was developed at an early age—which is […] […]
Summer Camps for the Brain
Your child’s arms will have fun this summer: fishing, flying kites, holding a baseball bat, and tossing beach balls. So will his legs: running through grass, walking on sand, kicking a soccer ball, or swimming in the pool. But what about his brain? How will your child’s brain stay active this summer? And why is […] […]
Keeping your child from dropping out
An article in the April/May issue of Canadian Family discusses the fact that about 10 percent of young Canadians between 20 and 24 years of age don’t have a high school diploma, despite the best efforts of goverments and school boards to keep teens in class. Here are some of the important points made in […] […]
The Curriculum
Webster defines ’curriculum’ as ’a regular course of study; an accepted schedule; a routine.’ This definition implies that schools must teach their students according to these principles. If we apply this definition to the teaching practices of the average elementary school, we would find that every class indeed has a ’course of study, an accepted […] […]
Whole Language versus Phonics Part 2
Viewed from a holistic perspective Whole Language versus Phonics Part 1 When we throw away phonics as the first and primary method of decoding and switch to whole word (whole language) method, we are telling our kids something that isn’t true. We are saying that there is no code — that there is no order […] […]
Whole Language versus Phonics
Viewed from a holistic perspective Whole Language versus Phonics Part 2 Whole Language versus Phonics is a subject engendering much discussion these days. Parents are demanding a return to the teaching of reading by phonics while school board trustees and administrators are claiming their whole language reading programs are effective. Teachers are often confused and […] […]
Phonics = Reading
Just the other day I heard a teacher exclaim, “No one seems to know how to teach reading these days!” Parents are demanding a return to the teaching of reading by phonics, while school board trustees and administrators claim their whole language reading programs are effective. Teachers are often confused and kids are stuck in […] […]
Discover Your Family
We all want to be involved in our kid’s lives. We just don’t know how. By involved I mean by being able to talk with our kids and not just providing a taxi service. Unfortunately, habit and insecurity often prevent us from establishing those bonds. Here are a few suggestions for you and your family […] […]
Attention Deficit Disorder or Simply Poor Concentration Skills? Part 2
You may be interested to know that the decisions to limit vocabulary and to end phonics were a result of ideas that originated in the 1890s. In the 1890s, one group of educators disagreed with an earlier group of educators. They wrote books and lectured and more than 100 years later we have books with […] […]
Attention Deficit Disorder or Simply Poor Concentration Skills? Part 1
I recently reviewed the results of a series of tests and something kept bothering me. Why did so many seemingly normal kids appear to have an attention deficit? Are we just getting better at identifying this problem or is something else going on? In addition to measuring and testing kids for attention deficit, we need […] […]