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07.09.08, 10:24 AM NY Schools
30 replies
Why is everyone on this board so concerned about early reading? What's the big deal? The other day a friend was over and my 4yo DS asked her to read a story to him and she started drilling him on phonics. I wanted to tell her to just leave him alone. [ Reply | Watch | Flag ]
NY Schools 07.09.08, 10:24 AM Flag
 

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type A competitive parenting, that's why. they think it's some indicator of intelligence. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:25 AM Flag
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It is a way for public school parents to feel their children are getting a superior education to those in private school, where there is not strong emphasis on reading before first grade. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:25 AM Flag
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OP: actually we are sending DS to public K in the fall; the other parent has two DCs in private. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:27 AM Flag
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From my experience as a private school parent I have had a number of comments over the years about how public school children all learn to read in K, as if that is the main indication of quality education. People think reading is also a sign of intelligence. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:29 AM Flag
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K parent here. They don't "read" so much as they memorize sight words. It is not phonics based so very limited. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:35 AM Flag
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maybe true for some, but not for most. reading instruction in most public schools is mostly phonics based. every child i know in public school left K being able to decode -- some better than others, of course. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.10.08, 10:13 AM Flag
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That's not necessarily true. My son read fluently at age 4. It's an indicator of intelligence, yes, but certainly not a predictor of overall future success. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.10.08, 10:22 AM Flag
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I am a public school parent who has commented that public school kids learn to read in K, but NOT as an indication of quality education, but because it is a fact. I don't happen to agree with that, and I'd prefer if the schools didn't stress it. My experience is that many private school parents feel so smug about the "superior" education their kids get. Private school kids do have a different education, but it's not necessarily better. I prefer my kid be exposed to families with normal incomes, not just rich kids. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:39 AM Flag
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My dc's private school has a more economically diverse population that the families of P.S.6. No question about that. And it is far more ethnically diverse. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:42 AM Flag
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OR below: Well, we are in Brooklyn and that's just not the case. I don't know anything about PS 6, but I doubt your private school is really that economically diverse. Families making $150,000/yr may qualify for financial aid, but that doesn't make them economically diverse. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:45 AM Flag
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You don't know what you are talking about. You are absolutely wrong. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:47 AM Flag
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What private? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:54 AM Flag
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^^^and not a bitter public school mom, either. DH and I wrestle with whether we should switch dc from a public school to private. I suspect the academics might be more to our liking, but just can't stomach the idea of the families there. I love our very middle-class public school and dc loves friends there. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:43 AM Flag
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You do sound bitter, though. How do you know the families at a school your dc is not even going to? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:45 AM Flag
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I'm sure they are perfectly nice in general, but there's way too much money overall. And the admissions criteria for most of them is that parents are "like us", educated, intellectuals, from a certain background. Which we do match up to, but I don't want that to be everyone at the school. I want some kids whose parents are plumbers or didn't go to the right college. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:51 AM Flag
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And again, you don't know what you are talking about. You are stereotyping and generalizing just as much as if I said everyone at your dc's public school in Brooklyn are working class and uneducated. You are simply wrong. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:53 AM Flag
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You are correct, but the only private school parents I know are all from the same background. how many parents at Saint Ann's went to so-so colleges and have so-so jobs instead of interesting careers? Are you saying admission isn't much more about the parents than the 4-yr olds? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:56 AM Flag
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^^^we never went the private school route, but the people I know who applied and got turned down are parents who come off as more blue collar than intellectual. They didn't go to the right colleges and I think it hurt them in the application process, despite the niceness of the kids. All the kids who did get in have parents who went to the same colleges as dh and I. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:53 AM Flag
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Why do you assume the posters talking about early reading dc are public school parents? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:29 AM Flag
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Exactly, the post today on early reading was directed at "TT" privates. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:30 AM Flag
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I missed it. What was the jist? [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:31 AM Flag
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Look at "most popular topics" its the second one. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:32 AM Flag
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I don't. This is just my observation from personal experience. The parents who stress reading are usually doing so in the context of comparing public school to private. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:31 AM Flag
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my dc's go to private and there is zero emphasis on reading. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:44 AM Flag
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Everyone? Maybe you should sharpen up your reading skills. For every one mother that is concerned about her child not being able to read at 4 or 5 years of age there are at least 10 who will let her know to relax and stop pressuring her child. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:42 AM Flag
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i'm not concnerned about it, but it is a nice thing when it happens. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 10:44 AM Flag
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OP here, it's funny how this became a debate about private vs public. I was actually commenting more about the emphasis to read before K, like the post regarding who is coming into tt K reading or my friend trying to teach my 4 yo to read. I guess I wasn't clear. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 11:44 AM Flag
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I started that mini-debate because I was reacting to the person who assumed, based on her "experience as a private school parent" that many public school parents think their kids are getting a quality education because their public school teaches reading in K. It was a condescending remark. I happen to dislike the DOE curriculum that stresses reading in K, as do many other parents in our school. But I dislike even more that kind of condescending attitude of many (not all) parents in private schools. It's a "we are superior" attitude that I just don't want my kid exposed to for a while. And I think it is far more prevalent among NYC private school families because the spots are so difficult to get. Hey, kids at Harvard have exactly the same attitude, I know, but at least they all (or most) got in because they proved themselves academically excellent. In private schools, at age 4, it's much more about the family overall and how they "fit" with the school, as long as the child is reasonably intelligent. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.09.08, 05:57 PM Flag
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my kid went to harvard. she learned to read in 1st grade. other kids had learned to read at 3. we never pushed nos. or letters and didn't have a t.v. we read to her a lot. there is no one way. there is a lot of life both before and after college- harvard isn't the answer to life. [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.10.08, 10:34 AM Flag
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np: going on the record as not being concerned about it at all. And I'm a public school mom (not in NYC though). [ Reply | More
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General Topics 07.10.08, 10:44 AM Flag
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