Phonetics
1/20/2009 06:48:00 PM 2 Comments »
My little man is in Kindergarten. He didn't go to an academic preschool; instead, he basically went to a childcare center on the college campus where I work. He only attended four half-days a week. This means that he was there from about 9am until 2pm. Our intention to have him enrolled at the center was socialization, and I needed to work mornings.
Neither of my older boys attended any preschool before kinder, and both were okay. Of course, they did attend kinder pre-"No-Child-Left-Behind" when school was different.
When I was in elementary school (many moons ago) I loved to go. I wanted to go and discover new things. I wanted to interact, learn, feel, touch, and grow...all for the sake of learning. I credit my love of learning to the education I received in elementary school. I was taught that the world is full of discoveries to be made and interesting treasures to be uncovered.
Now, all I hear about kinder is "Drill, Drill, Drill." "Test, Test, Test!" Little man can identify words. He has amazing memorization skills. When he is given new words, he learns them quickly and can identify them and spell them almost immediately. The problem-He can't identify the sounds that letters make. He is having some serious issues with phonetics. The teacher basically told me that he has to learn this before she'll pass him on to 1st grade.
I get it...he needs to learn this skill. If you could see how well he reads words that he has learned, you would understand my frustration. It really is quite impressive. I just wish that he could identify the sounds that the letters make. Now, we're drilling with flashcards. It just isn't so fun for him.
I don't want the boys to hate school. I want it to be fun. I want them to grow up being fascinated with how things work. I hope I'm not doing more harm than good.
Peace Out,
Mom
Neither of my older boys attended any preschool before kinder, and both were okay. Of course, they did attend kinder pre-"No-Child-Left-Behind" when school was different.
When I was in elementary school (many moons ago) I loved to go. I wanted to go and discover new things. I wanted to interact, learn, feel, touch, and grow...all for the sake of learning. I credit my love of learning to the education I received in elementary school. I was taught that the world is full of discoveries to be made and interesting treasures to be uncovered.
Now, all I hear about kinder is "Drill, Drill, Drill." "Test, Test, Test!" Little man can identify words. He has amazing memorization skills. When he is given new words, he learns them quickly and can identify them and spell them almost immediately. The problem-He can't identify the sounds that letters make. He is having some serious issues with phonetics. The teacher basically told me that he has to learn this before she'll pass him on to 1st grade.
I get it...he needs to learn this skill. If you could see how well he reads words that he has learned, you would understand my frustration. It really is quite impressive. I just wish that he could identify the sounds that the letters make. Now, we're drilling with flashcards. It just isn't so fun for him.
I don't want the boys to hate school. I want it to be fun. I want them to grow up being fascinated with how things work. I hope I'm not doing more harm than good.
Peace Out,
Mom
2 comment/s:
That has to be so frustrating, I don't have any advice, but good luck!
I hope he learns to like school. I hated it, from 2nd grade on!
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