< Return to Talk
05.27.08, 07:22 AM NY Schools
39 replies
Is helicopter mom insane? I just got the chance to read some of her drivel. And this is a quote from her introduction: "Downtown parents do not drill their kids on letter sounds. Uptown parents do." This is her reason why her son was the only kid in K (I assume at Lower Lab) who could not read. Discuss. [ Reply | Watch | Flag ]
NY Schools 05.27.08, 07:22 AM Flag
 

Dear UrbanBaby community,

Thank you so much for being a valued member of the UrbanBaby community. We wanted to inform you that we are shutting down the site on July 6th. We are grateful for your participation and support that has helped make UrbanBaby such an important resource to parents for many years.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can email us at urbanbaby-support@cbsinteractive.com.

Thanks so much,

UrbanBaby Support

»
I tend to agree generally that uptown parents are more aggressive with their kids academically. They are all into that crap. Downtown parents have a more laid back progressive approach to learning. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:27 AM Flag
»
[ Removed by moderator ] [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:31 AM Flag
»
[ Removed by moderator ] [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:33 AM Flag
»
Yes, it is close to work. We preferred this arrangement in order to avoid having somebody else (and paying somebody) for pickup and drop-off. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:36 AM Flag
»
but what about playdates? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 08:19 AM Flag
»
has never been a problem. Besides the fact that the kids spend already most of the day 5 times a week together (and thus have not much desire to have playdates) we do have playdates once in a while and usually meet half way at places like American Girl Place or FAO Schwarz or we go downtown or they come uptown. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 08:30 AM Flag
»
She was angry I think. She blamed other parents for her child delays. She seems to think that if all kids come in not reading to K and none of the parents tutor or drill, then the school will be forced to use better methods to teach all kids. It's obnoxious for her to asssume there's that difference between uptown and downtown. It's obnoxious to say that all the other kids were taught outside of school. I don't believe that at all. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:33 AM Flag
»
If they know how to read when they enter K, someone is teaching them. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:37 AM Flag
»
I don't believe all of them came in reading. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:39 AM Flag
»
NP: Only a couple of kids in that class entered K knowing how to read. Most learned by end of K or first half of 1st. Hers was still not reading by middle of 1st grade. Most did fine with the balanced literacy stuff, but some kids (hers included) obviously can benefit from more explicit phonics. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:41 AM Flag
»
Dude, no. My preschooler reads and she was not taught by anybody. It all developed on its own. All we did was read to her religiously and taught her the alphabet. Who doesn't do that? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:42 AM Flag
»
Does your dc go to preK? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 10:25 AM Flag
»
private preschool with a Reggio Emilia approach. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 10:45 AM Flag
»
Not necessarily. My dd picked it up and we did nothing but read to her a lot, and bought the 'bob' books at B&N. She read chapter books upon entering K and now three years later is still well above grade level in reading. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:44 AM Flag
»
I posted below and my son is the same. And his sister was the complete opposite. Kids are different, plain as that. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:46 AM Flag
»
Exactly, some pick it up easily and some have to work on it. I do agree that pushing too early can backfire if child is not ready. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:57 AM Flag
»
My child learned on his own entirely. Play based preschool with no reading instruction. He was exposed to lots of reading (of course) but just in me reading to him with no emphasis on the alphabet or sounding out. He picked it up by himself and many, many early readers are the same way. In fact he memorized tons of words before he ever learned the principles of decoding. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:45 AM Flag
»
Ditto. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:47 AM Flag
»
np. Tritto. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 12:56 PM Flag
»
Yes, she is insane. She is pushing her kids to be somebody they are not and blame the school system for it. It is painful to read her blog. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:35 AM Flag
»
Well you have to help your child learn to read. You can't sit back when a child is struggling and there is a lot of help out there. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:37 AM Flag
»
Yes, but it seems that NEST and LL are not the right schools for her kids. Just read her stuff. Complain here, complain there. How much demanding NEST is, how LL is failing her younger child, etc. etc. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:41 AM Flag
»
I agree. I know parents at those schools who don't complain and blame like that. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:45 AM Flag
»
[ Removed by moderator ] [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:38 AM Flag
»
I completely disagree. You can drill all you want if your kid is NOT READY and their brain wiring is not ready, thy will not read. It's obvious her kid was a late bloomer. My older DD started reading at 6.5, my youngest son at 3.5. I did *nothing* different. My son was ready, and my daughter had zero interest in letters at age 3. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:41 AM Flag
»
That's so true. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 07:46 AM Flag
»
Regardless of whether or not kids were taught to read prior to K, the point remains that her child's school was not equipped to teach him to read, did not identify the problem correctly, and mislabeled him as having an LD. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 09:14 AM Flag
»
Maybe, just maybe, Lower Lab was just the wrong school for that boy? It is a selective school. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 09:39 AM Flag
»
He made the cutoff, right? Presumably it didn't require him to read before being admitted. Wouldn't it be the job of the school to figure out how to teach him to read (as in, a more phonics-based approach)? It's not really rocket science for the school to figure it out. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 09:48 AM Flag
»
np - No cutoff at that time. And maybe the dc wasn't ready to read. I know very very smart dcs who didn't read until 2nd grade. Not the school's fault. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 09:57 AM Flag
»
Those guys got into NEST and LL before the DOE got rid of onsites, etc. I know for a fact that NEST used to counsel kids out if they can't keep up. Guess why the mom is stressing out about every little fact? [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 09:58 AM Flag
»
Well the onsite weeded out many dc who would have problems. And some of the schools gave IQ test on the on site - because the OLSAT is not an IQ test. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 10:27 AM Flag
»
Helicopter Mom's kid would have been reading and writing if she would only give him a little time. But since his academic success seems to be much more important than anything else. Yes, he would have been in the back of the pack while he was going to catch up with all the other kids but so what? You kid cannot always be the best of the best all the time. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 10:38 AM Flag
»
NP: I know this child, he seemed just a little slow to mature. Nice, bright kid but had a hard time focusing and listening to the teacher and getting along with others. Probably would've learned to read by end of 1st even without any intervention or specific phonics instruction, though I'm sure his mom would disagree. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 10:01 AM Flag
»
Do you know what really annoys me? That someone takes helicopter mom's word as gospel and gets anxious about their kid, their school. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 09:58 AM Flag
»
I posted that she was a nut job about 9 mos ago and nobody agreed with me. They all sided with her...but I guess now that she has 9 more months of blogging available to readers others are starting to see it too. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 10:20 AM Flag
»
If it is true, as she posted, the teacher told her child to cover the word and guess from the picture what the word was, I would say the school failed her child. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 11:25 AM Flag
»
That was one piece, but it does help some kids. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 11:59 AM Flag
»
That is part of the strategy used, and it worked very well for the vast majority of kids. They are encouraged to look at multiple clues, including pictures and context. Most in that class are fantastic, avid readers who now read well above grade level and read for pleasure. That teacher is a terrific teacher. [ Reply | More
]
General Topics 05.27.08, 01:21 PM Flag
Refresh » New Post »
Select Category
close [X]

close [X]

Select a Category (only 1)

category
Stages
Regions