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by Joanne Mikola May 29, 2002 I am writing this asking if I am hurting or my children are actually being hurt from to much "homework". Furst of let me say my children (2boys ages 10, and 11) are behind in school. On the End of grade tests my 11 yr old did very poorly on reading, which he did bring his grade up alot from the first of the year. Also my 10 yr old is alittle behind in his reading. My boyfriend makes them read books and do book reports, with correct grammer and spelling, for every word misspelled they have to have that as thier spelling word for the week. These word are writting 25 times daily and definitions written from the dictionary also. They spend hours doing this even though it is summer vacation. I object to this very much, I believe it is hurting them and making them not want to do school work or want to learn. We fight over this constantly, he says I am being a bad mother and hurting them by not making them do this more. Can you let me know who is actually hurting them, and what can be done to improve reading and spelling skills. Thanks so much
for any
help you can give. May 28, 2002 Greetings from Lesson Tutor; From the
snapshot summary
that you have sent of 'how I spend my summer vacation,' I
would say
that both you and your boyfriend are struggling with the same issues.
You both want your boys to improve their reading skills
and
levels, but
you disagree
as to how best to reach each, individual child. Your boyfriend is into
structure, repetition and imposed discipline; you seem to have a more
laissez-faire
approach - hopefully because you would like to foster a life-long
enjoyment
of reading.
You need to
answer these
questions objectively:
I have a
couple of ideas
that might help if you have the time to dedicate to
When the time/chapter is over, have a verbal discussion of what happened, what is still to come or has gone unanswered, and what the boys think might happen in the next chapter(s). Once we started this routine, even my husband joined us and took his turn - and more than once pleaded that we not add another session after lunch just to find out more! We were all hooked. The goal is a relaxed atmosphere - one in which the boys are not afraid to ask questions or for clarification. Another benefit is the attention the boys will receive from you and your time together. One of the
'benefits'
of the school system is that the 'disciplinarian' role is
On our website we have a few novel studies ready to print and use that sound similar to your boyfriend's approach. One is 'Around the World in 80 Days' and another 'Journey to the Center of the Earth', both classics by Jules Verne (known as the father of science fiction) Every chapter has a list of words already picked out: ones that the Grade 5 - 6 student probably has never encountered or used before; a quote of the word in context; a space for the student to 'guess' the meaning; and a space to copy the dictionary meaning. Should either of these books appeal to your sons, and you follow this study guide, then you/they can 'blame the teacher' rather than your boyfriend! His role could still be active, which is a good thing, by reading their answers and choosing words from a chapter for a 'quiz' on a set time/date. Perhaps a reward system could be set up to go along with it? Competition
between the
boys may or may not be best. You are a much better judge than I. For my
boys, set on a common assignment, they work best together rather than
on
their own. They actually talk to each other
In short,
every one of
you needs to be an active participant in the boys'
I hope this
helps get
you through the summer in harmony with everyone. We are anxiously
waiting
for the next Harry Potter book - but I think that won't be
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