Another thing that bothers me so much is that children are not "parts" which run down an assembly line in the same way at the same speed, and, you know what, teaching isn't always "efficient." How many times have you seen a child make no apparent progress in, say, identifying the names of the letters for one, two, maybe three months and then, in what appears to be one week, "masters" the task quickly and efficiently and to our liking? One difference between a child and an engine is that you can see "into" an engine as it makes its way down the assembly line and so you know exactly what has been done and what is left to do. We're just plain foolish if we think we know what all is going on inside a child's head at all times.
On Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 7:00 PM, Ruth Weil <weilruth...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hear, hear! I so agree! The blind leading the sighted....love that > quote! =) > > On Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 5:40 PM, Beverlee paul <beverleep...@gmail.com > >wrote: > > > In relation to my earlier comment about, basically, "we know better, why > > aren't we doing better?" : > > > > Embedded in our frustrations about educational decisions being made by > > knuckleheads, is the most ironic misrepresentations of a word > ever--RIGOR! > > As much as I try to talk myself into a more productive, minimally > emotional > > response, I end up wanting to wrestle troops of what appear to be normal, > > intelligent people to the ground while I scream, "Seriously, are you > > KIDDING ME? REALLY? How can you look at a child who has learned the > > intricate, fickle English language, the properties of magnets, how to > > manipulate grandpa without having grandma catch on, that patterns repeat, > > what you can do with water and glasses to change pitches, how to skip and > > jump rope, how to make secondary colors while painting (and on and on), > and > > TELL ME that you demand RIGOR such as responding correctly to "What do > you > > say if you take the 'i' out of 'idiot'"? > > > > > I wonder are there other people in this group who remember the activism > > of those days. Looking back at a few articles that helped to develop our > > view of what was necessary for Early Childhood Education makes me wonder > > how we have gone so wrong. For the past 13 years, before retirement this > > year I have taught gifted students in a gifted magnet. This school also > > had a prek program, the majority of our gifted students that were on > target > > came from this or a similar prek program. The difference in these > children > > was like night and day. Exposure to a developmentally appropriate > program > > made all of the difference. With all of the budget cuts this program was > > cut last year. We really do know what is necessary to educate our > children. > > > Pat > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Mosaic mailing list > > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > > -- "Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after." Henry David Thoreau _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
