Posts Tagged Reading
Special Education Services in New York City Schools
Special Education Services (SES) in New York City Schools aim to help struggling students get the help they need in English language arts, mathematics, and reading free of charge in accordance with the No Child Left Behind Act. However, one of the major problems behind this vitally important tool in a child’s learning is that it isn’t offered to every child. New York City Schools are only offering this free tutoring to those students eligible for free lunch and attend a school that failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards for three or more consecutive years.
It would seem as if New York City Schools only believe that the underprivileged should be allowed the tools necessary to help their children refine their skills in a subject that they have trouble with. In fact, with the troubles in the economy these days there are more and more families who live in the New York City Schools area who are not eligible for free lunches but still couldn’t afford private tutoring for their children if they struggle in particular subjects. Yes, there is only a certain amount of funding available for SES programs in the district, so it would make sense that they would be selective in bringing only the children with the highest need into the program. Why narrow that down even further to selecting those with the highest need ONLY out of those who are eligible for free lunches, though? There is always the chance that a child who comes from a middle class family, who also can’t afford private tutoring, has a larger need for SES than a child from an underprivileged family. New York City Schools seem to be ignoring this possibility.
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Homeschooling and Record Keeping
Record Keeping is a topic which is frequently bought up at homeschooling meetings and forums, and its importance in the homeschooling curriculum can not be overlooked. Record Keeping for homeschooling is not only legally required in various States, but also provides important goals in your child’s learning experience. An interest-initiated homeschooling approach means that the topic of studies is far ranging and diverse. It can become very confusing to write accurate homeschooling reports, due to the interest-initiated approach to learning being so difficult to classify and pigeon-hole.
Record keeping in homeschooling is vital not only for the sake of regulations, but is also an exciting way to record and document the learning process of the child. When most of the learning is done through play and there is no clear indication of topics that have to be covered, it becomes necessary for the parent to keep some sort of a log which records the child’s progress.
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Understanding Learning: How Recent Research Supports Natural Affinities
Fielding questions from parents about the best way to “teach” young children, I often revert to research that supports integrated and emergent education models. However, parents influenced by marketing trends and imprudent education mandates are often skeptical by what they view as hackneyed analysis. How thrilling to come across leading edge research, such as David A. Sousa’s, “How the Brain Learns”, which presents evidence of brain development in the first five years of life and the potential this has in the area of early childhood education and beyond.
An exciting revelation of brain research is that educators get to rethink the long-standing “tabula rasa” theory. This refers to the thesis that individuals are born with no innate or built-in mental content, and that their entire resource of knowledge is built up gradually. Researchers now know that children are ready and motivated to learn, not by being fed knowledge, but by discovering the world around them. It’s up to the teachers, parents and caregivers in their lives to provide the inspiration and facilitation. And instead of a mandated curriculum, it’s creativity and individuation that will best ensure a student’s lifelong success.
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