tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8701157.post6108066672403712725..comments2024-01-10T19:50:30.163+00:00Comments on children are people: Reluctant to read and write?emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105753491792762911noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8701157.post-40213248246642482462008-09-03T22:50:00.000+00:002008-09-03T22:50:00.000+00:00I had a great grandfather who smoked and lived pas...I had a great grandfather who smoked and lived past a hundred years old, therefore it doesn't cause harm. Right?<BR/><BR/>I'm not convinced about windows of opportunity either, but some using grandfathers as anedoctes is not the best way to show it. <BR/><BR/>The issue is you don't learn it the same way.<BR/><BR/>When I said preschool, I've meant education that prepares for school. ELC toys might be adequate enough.<BR/><BR/>I really don't understand what you mean by readiness.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8701157.post-88216499229063107712008-09-03T18:28:00.000+00:002008-09-03T18:28:00.000+00:00I think that for a child who has been in school si...I think that for a child who has been in school since 4.5 (as in the place I posted the comment originally) one can be pretty sure that fair opportunities to learn to read and write have been offered.<BR/><BR/>I'm starting here from the assumption that the adults involved are offering multiple opportunities to learn and being as imaginative as they know how about how those opportunities are being offered, since there they are worrying about the fact that the child isn't really reading and writing with confidence and enjoyment aged 7 and asking for advice about how to get child reading and writing with confidence and enjoyment.<BR/><BR/>Why are some people ready and some not? One might just as well ask why some babies walk at 10 months and others at 18 months. Or why some children are climbing like monkeys aged 2 and others prefer to stay earth-bound. Different interests at different times. Readiness is important. But just because someone isn't ready for a particular skill at a particular moment isn't ^necessarily^ a signal that there is something developmentally problematic going on. By all means, make sure child isn't blind, which would be causing a problem with their reading - again, I'd be assuming such avenues had been checked (ok, I'm being facetious with the blind comment, but you get the point). I would certainly not advocate saying "oh he/she is just not ready yet" if he/she was showing every sign of being interested but had some actual physical disorder which was getting in the way of whatever the skill was. A child with no legs can't walk. Get artificial legs for them, don't just say "He's not ready yet".<BR/><BR/>There may be certain skills which are easier to learn at a particular time, but I'm not generally convinced of that old "window of opportunity" stuff, being the granddaughter of a man who started to learn Italian as a retirement project and within 5 years was regularly being asked by Italians which part of Italy he was from. *shrug* That's just one example. I think people use the "window of opportunity" as a way of putting pressure on children all to learn the same thing at the same time, as a way of justifying the industry of education as much as it having physiological validity. <BR/><BR/>"Children with a sucessful preschool education do get better grades at school." Do you mean, children who go to a good pre-school do better than those who spend their pre-school years at home? Reference please. I find this hard to believe.emmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105753491792762911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8701157.post-40598593179581868922008-09-03T09:39:00.000+00:002008-09-03T09:39:00.000+00:00If you argue "the child might just not be interest...If you argue "the child might just not be interested yet" then it's the good argument, unless fair opportunities to learn haven't been offered by the adults responsible.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately your arguments of individual readyness are not very good. Why are some individuals ready and other are not? Unless you question prevailing child development theories you won't be very persuasive.<BR/><BR/>Child modern development theories already cater for readyness. The child is ready when their brain is ready and when the pre-requisite skills, which are very well defined, have been learned. Either the child's brain is blamed or the adults responsible for offering the learning opportunities are.<BR/><BR/>Children with a sucessful preschool education do get better grades at school.<BR/><BR/>A child looses their readyness to learn a language at the level of a native as they get older. For instance, if a child doesn't have a French parent, her French is forever affected. There is no such thing as being ready to learn French. The early the opportunity is offered, the better.<BR/><BR/>Can this apply to other skills?<BR/><BR/>Sandra Dodd doesn't value excellence in learning, as it shows on her Comic MS pages.<BR/><BR/>(More later)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com