this is my contract for grade page

-- Anonymous, November 11, 1998

Answers

I would like to contract for a "B" grade by reading the book "The Hidden Handicap - Helping the Marginally Learning Disabled from Infancy to Young Adulthood" by Dr. Judith Ehre Kranes. There are always children in my classroom who struggle with learning and I am constantly searching for ways to help them.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 1998

Contract for B" Grade March-May, 1999

I will read, summarize, and respond to the book, "The Hurrried Child, Growing Up Too Fast Too Soon" by David Elking.

-- Anonymous, February 22, 1999

I am using the book, Ending the Homework Hassle, by John Rosemond, 1990, Andrews and McMeel, Kansas City, Missouri, for my "B" contract grade because I already used several quotes from the book The Hurried Child for my argumentative paper.

John Rosemond writes in a very parent-friendly, teacher-friendly style. His advice, based on common sense, is practical, manageable, and successful. Besides dealing with the homework issue, his book gives advice on retention, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), learning disabilities, motivation, and remedial help. As an elementary teacher I encounter these problems yearly.

Rosemond's ABC's of homework stand for: All By Myself, Back Off, and Call it Quits at a Reasonable Hour. He believes that todays parents are TOO involved in things that should be their child's responsibility. Teachers should only assign work, including projects, that the child can do on his own. The child should do the work in his own room, parents should be uninvolved unless the child comes to them for clarification or brief help, and a time should be set when homework is put away for the night. The more dependent the child is on the parent; the more incapable and inadequate the child actually feels. This does not promote self-sufficiency. Rosemond gives examples of a motivational plan if the ABC method doesn't work, but again the child is given the responsibility, not the parent. It is the child who should be inconvenienced if the work isn't done. He stresses NO anger, NO lectures - just enforce the rules and make the problem the child's. He doesn't believe in rewards to motivate; he prefers a privilege-based system because it is more consistent with the real world.

Rosemond takes a strong stand against children watching any T-V during the preschool years. Youngsters are not developing the collection of skills that are necessary for learning to read if they are passively glued to the T-V. American children watch about 25-30 hours of T-V a week - that's five times as much as European children! Learning disabilities, in the United States not Europe, have also risen dramatically in the past fifty years. Is there a connection? Once a child can read, Rosemond recommends allowing the student to watch nature programs and documentaries and then even sparingly.

Rosemond is very aware that the K-3 curriculum in most American public schools is developmentally inappropriate for large numbers of children. What was once reserved for first grade has been pushed down into kindergarten. "We forgot to tell Mother Nature to speed up the growth and development of children for this task." A number of experts believe that we are creating some learning disabilities by pushing literacy at children too early and too hard. Formal academic instruction doesn't begin in Europe and Russia until a child is six or seven years old and their problems with learning disabilities are few. Just because a kindergarten-age child CAN be taught to read does not mean that it is the developmentally appropriate thing to do.

Parents should prepare their child for school by teaching them the 3 R's: Respect, Responsibility, Resourcefulness. Respect for adult authority must be established at home. A family should not revolve around the children. Parents show respect for children by expecting them to obey; children show respect for parents by obeying them. "A teacher cannot instill a sense of responsibility in a child; she can only capitalize on what is already there." Chores are one way of teaching a child responsibility. "A resourceful person uses his or her fullest capacity for finding, adapting, or inventing means of solving problems." To develop resourcefulness: say "no" to your child more often than you say "yes", buy your child very few toys - give him everything he needs and only a little of what he wants, limit T-V watching. It is a parent's job to teach respect, responsibility, and resourcefulness. "If, and only if, parents will do their job, can teachers do theirs. Likewise, teachers cannot do what parents have failed to do."

Every parent and teacher could benefit from reading this book as Mr. Rosemond places responsibilities in their proper places. Many of todays parents jump to their child's rescue and defense over every little issue - they do not allow their child to face the consequences of his actions. Teachers are aware of many situations where the child is catered to, has too much power in the family, and is provided with too many material wants.

I felt reaffirmed with Rosemond's perspective on retention. As a teacher I can only recommend where a child should be placed for the following year; the parents make the decision and nothing I explained or showed them seemed to have an impact this time. My heart cries for the student who will be extremely frustrated and discouraged with the expectations of the next grade when he is simply not ready to be advanced. Why would parents want to put their child is such a position? As Rosemond mentions, it is better to disappoint a child briefly than to see him struggle for the next ten years!

I have tried something similar to Rosemond's motivational plan when my own son was not completing his homework in seventh grade. We resorted to a weekly report on which each teacher signed and wrote any missing assignments. He was on this system for several months and privileges were lost if he didn't do what was expected of him. He is also aware that the plan is always available to return to if necessary.

Too much of a teacher's time these days is spent teaching the 3R's John Rosemond refers to: respect, responsibility, and resourcefulness. These need to first be taught in the home and it is evident which children have practiced them. When a child misbehaves, won't pay attention, follow directions, or work we need parents that will work with us to help the child solve the problem - not look for excuses and someone else to blame.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 1999