tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4184539467031647989.post4967793799471716034..comments2023-10-07T02:42:10.642-07:00Comments on Coalition for Kid-Friendly Schools: "Comprehension" is a BoondoggleFedUpMomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00951858601020687242noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4184539467031647989.post-86030251601905703532011-09-24T17:26:33.597-07:002011-09-24T17:26:33.597-07:00Well, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a cl...Well, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a class issue. Everything else is. <br /><br />SCF, I can see that too much test prep, and too much emphasis on bog-level skills, would also be a problem. <br /><br />Where I live, I see the opposite -- the schools are so airy-fairy that parents are left scrambling to teach their kids phonics and basic math algorithms. A lot of the airy-fairy stuff doesn't actually help comprehension, either -- it's just a waste of time.<br /><br />Somewhere, there's a balance, where kids are ensured of learning their basic skills, but without getting stuck on the basic level, and then they can move on to more challenging, interesting material. But it's a hard to find a school that has the right balance --FedUpMomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00951858601020687242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4184539467031647989.post-63429635109987783142011-09-24T13:58:38.776-07:002011-09-24T13:58:38.776-07:00FedUpMom, I think you may be touching on a class ...FedUpMom, I think you may be touching on a class issue here. Those of us who're either at poverty-level schools or looking at poverty-level schools know there's a problem with comprehending reading. <br /> Many low-socio-economic elementary schools have raised their standardized test scores by teaching the students a lot of test prep, and limiting instruction to what the schools know will be on the state test (teaching to the test) in lieu of art, music, history, social studies. Later on, the kids find themselves in high school without background knowledge necessary to be truly great readers or really, great learners. (By the way, I realize, a dearth of background knowledge is big problem many of the poor kids come to school with from the beginning) We've got a decade of NCLB, and SAT scores consistently falling- even after correcting for more minority students taking them- <br /> <br /> In your daughter's case, it may be the talk about comprehension, is really to recognize, "Hey, we've got a bright kid here, she is just in the process of cracking the code."Suburban Chicken Farmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13171878298939073055noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4184539467031647989.post-53184374596816910872011-09-24T13:06:33.903-07:002011-09-24T13:06:33.903-07:00I understand your point, and I've seen the sam...I understand your point, and I've seen the same thing: my daughter can comprehend literature that is read to her which is WAY beyond her ability to read. <br /><br />The funny thing is that, even though the subjects aren't really analogous, the teaching methods are. In both subjects, "comprehension" has been puffed up to be much more of a problem than it really is, to the detriment of teaching actual skills.FedUpMomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00951858601020687242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4184539467031647989.post-32165691308678401732011-09-24T11:10:21.186-07:002011-09-24T11:10:21.186-07:00Reading and math are not really analogous in this ...Reading and math are not really analogous in this area. I can see the validity of what you're saying about math. How can a child be said to have comprehension of a math problem she can't solve? Just because she understands the concept of one digit subtraction doesn't mean she understands place value, for instance, which leads to problems with 2 digit subtraction. (I had this exact problem with my son and subtraction.)<br /><br />But a child can certainly understand vocabulary (and literature) she can't read. Dyslexic children usually do. It doesn't matter as far as your important point is concerned. The child still needs to learn to read!<br />RosemaryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com