Articles of Interest
The Case for Handwriting
Why handwriting instruction may be your secret weapon to academic success.
Jennifer L. W. Fink
Be honest: How much time do you spend teaching your students handwriting?
Across the country, handwriting instruction is fading from prominence as teachers and students go electronic. Keyboarding and word processing are viewed as essential skills; handwriting is not. As a result, many schools and districts, emboldened by the new standards, which only require students to print upper- and lowercase letters, have drastically cut back on or eliminated handwriting instruction.
Tanya always forgets. What’s wrong with her?
Howard Margolis February 02, 2015
On Friday, Tanya's teacher sighed sorrowfully, "Tanya forgot all six sight words she knew on Monday. I spent 30 solid minutes teaching them to her. This always happens. What's wrong with her?"
What's wrong? Maybe nothing. Maybe she just needs the right kind of practice.
Last week, after 30 solid minutes of massed practice focusing exclusively on six words, Tanya recognized each word three times. She and her teacher were delighted: Tanya had mastered them. It was time to leave them behind and practice new ones.
But next week, delight turned to anguish. Tanya couldn't remember just one word. As she lost her smile, her eyes welled with tears.
So what to do? How can you increase Tanya's chances of remembering these and other words for a lifetime?
One way is distributed practice, also known as spacing.
Is Something as Simple as Reading With My Child Worth It?
by Terry Doherty, Executive Director of the Reading Tub
As a parent, I see how the unexpected turns of everyday life can creep in and take over my life. Sometimes, I just want to find a quiet space and disappear. But, if I look at the glass as half full, rather than half empty, I can have it all. Sitting with my daughter to read a book IS like having a quiet space. Even with 15 minutes, I am getting myself back on track AND making a crucial investment in my daughter’s success.
We can never forget that children are creatures of pleasure, just like us. If they enjoy something and have positive experiences with it, they tend to continue to do that activity. If they don’t like it, they will avoid it. In fact, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2000 national reading assessment of fourth-grade students found that reading for fun had a positive relationship to performance on the NAEP reading scores.
