Really cute post from a Montessori teacher in the DC area:

In my random browsings of anything Montessori-related, I came across this Montessori blog, read a few posts, and immediately loved it!  This teacher has a great perspective on things (like life), and this post here was one of my favorite:




Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Crazy with a Capital C

Today was crazy. I woke up to find my knee totally swollen and stiff. Awesome. I called in to let my principal know I would be late. I knew my assistant would be out, so i had to go in or there would be no one to hold my class. (For those of you not familiar with DCPS, generally, if a class cant be covered, the children are split up and sent to other rooms... no matter what grade) I figured if I iced my knee and pumped myself full of advil, I'd at least be able to hobble enough to manage through the day. I figured right.

I got to school around 9:45 and I could literally HEAR my class from down the hall. I walk in to find an assistant from another class in my room with my children + children from another room. Oh, and two men are looking around my room, pointing at the walls.

"What is going on?" I managed to say in my calmest voice.

It turns out the two men are planning to paint my room in a few weeks. Seriously? Granted, my room is REALLY yellow, but I've grown to like it. More importantly, do you really think they can paint my room on a Saturday and I will be able to get it back together by Monday? I made a mini-fuss, so hopefully, they'll paint it over the summer.

On to the next issue. Why are there 6 extra children in my room? Another Montessori teacher is out, so they've split up her room. I now I have 29 children under the age of 5 in my room. With no assistant. Special is cancelled. And, remember, I'm hobbling.

Thankfully, a classroom grandparent came over to help out, and the extra 6 did get to go to special, which at least gave us some space for an hour. Phew.

During the mayhem (and yes, it was mayhem), there was, at least, some comedy.

My oldest third year is second planing on me. He is very bright and capable of doing advanced work, but all he wants to do is fidget and talk. This happens with at least one child every year. If I could, I'd send him straight to Elementary to put him at the bottom of the social pole and to be fascinated by others working with advanced materials. Sigh. One day.

Back to my second planer. After I talked to him multiple times about leaving other people's work alone (he can be quite smug about his intelligence), I gave him a blank piece of paper and asked him to make me a list of his favorite foods. You would have thought I asked him to jump into a bog of crocodiles by the reaction I got. I urged him just to "try", hoping it might spark something for him.

He actually did sit down and write something unassisted. He came up to me and announced in a very matter-of-fact tone:

"This says crap"






Indeed, the first word says "crap". I suppose he though I would be upset and would tell him to put the work away. (I told you this buggar is smart!) Instead, I returned his tone.

"Yes. It does. What else do you like to eat?"

Without flinching, he returned to his seat and promptly wrote: pancakes, sandwich, pizza and juice, which you can see in the picture.

This morning was not so much fun, but that was hilarious.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Montessori Monday

*Jeremy Allaire, chairman and chief executive of Brightcove, credits a Montessori education in teaching him important lessons in leadership.  You can read the full interview here.


How to Shape the DNA of a Young Company

By ADAM BRYANT

Published: January 22, 2011

This interview with Jeremy Allaire, chairman and chief executive of Brightcove, an online video platform for Web sites, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant. The New York Times Company owns a small stake of less than five percent in Brightcove.

Earl Wilson/The New York Times

Jeremy Allaire, chairman and C.E.O. of Brightcove, an online video platform for Web sites, says the initial hires are key in building a business. In his case, he sought bright people “with whom I could have a high-bandwidth conversation.”

Corner Office

Q. What were your most important leadership lessons?

A. One of the most important influences early on was being educated in a Montessori setting. The Montessori ethos was very formative for me because it built into me a belief in self-direction, in independent thought, in peer collaboration, in responsibility.
Those even became tenets for me in terms of my management style — a kind of laissez-faire approach to allowing people to self-direct and peer-collaborate to figure things out and get things done here. That attracts a certain kind of person. There are other people who can’t thrive in that — they need things spelled out, they need their five tasks.
Another was that I took an interest in high school in extracurricular activities that were really about critical thought, analytical thought and leadership. I was on the debate team. I did model United Nations. So at a very young age I became very comfortable with speaking in a leadership capacity, conveying ideas, arguing for ideas and synthesizing information.

Congrats to this new Montessori high school!

http://www.chron.com/news/article/First-Montessori-high-school-opens-in-Lexington-2128170.php

First Montessori high school opens in Lexington

Updated 02:32 p.m., Friday, August 19, 2011

News

Page 1 of 1

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — The first Montessori high school in the state has opened for classes in Lexington, according to a published report.

The Montessori High School of Kentucky opened Thursday in the basement of St. Augustine's Episcopal Chapel next to the University of Kentucky campus, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader (http://bit.ly/pko2m0 ).

The school is small — it has 12 students and seven faculty members — but there's room to grow.

Organizers say the facility will follow the basic principles of 19th-century Italian educator Maria Montessori, who was convinced that children learned best by being able to choose educational activities in a carefully prepared atmosphere for their age groups.

One of the first orders of business was a student-led discussion of how to keep instructional spaces clean.

Curriculum director Winni van Gessel told them to come up with their own solution, saying, "It's going to be your school."

Organizers say students will be active participants in running the school and three will serve on the 15-member board of directors.

"This will be a school, not just for the kids, but with the kids," van Gessel told parents, students, faculty members and supporters who joined Mayor Jim Gray for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The school will operate in conjunction with UK, and students will have access to UK's library and computer systems.

Faculty members from UK will be available to help, including UK education dean Mary John O'Hair, who is serving on the high school's board of directors.

Chris Brannock-Wanter of Paris, an Episcopal priest and an artist, will be teaching art at the school. Her son, Joseph, is enrolled as a student.

"Montessori high school approached our diocese about using this chapel building, and that was the first I'd heard about it," she said. "I got so excited about their presentation that I started emailing them, and here I am.

"Can you imagine what it will be like coming to a school like this? The students will have access to the university, to lectures, to the library. It's going to bring so many things together."

___

Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com

Organic household cleaners

Because this topic has been on my mind since our board meeting at Eden Co-Op the other day, I thought I'd post something I found.

This article was found on www.essortment.com. I have used vinegar as a cleaner, but I never thought I could wash my dishes with lemon juice! I think I'll try it...


"Most households contain dozens of bottles of unnecessary cleaning products. People invest in separate products for individual cleaning jobs: furniture polish, bathroom floor cleaner, bathroom fixture cleaner, kitchen floor cleaner, kitchen fixtures cleaners, oven cleaner, bleach for white clothes, 2-3 laundry detergents for stain removal and dark colored laundry, glass cleaner and many more. All of these products are costly, dangerous to your home, family and the environment. A household needs only 2-3 homemade organic products with which to keep the entire house sparking clean! Why organic products? Because they are non-toxic to your pets, family members and the environment. Organic cleaning products that you make yourself cost only pennies, whereas the average cleaning product is $2.99.

Let's start with the kitchen. Rather than use a different cleaning product for the stove, kitchen sink, cabinets, floor and refrigerator, there are only 4 products that you need, and you can purchase the products in any grocery store. They are white vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice and salt.

*Kitchen Floors- In a bucket mix 1/2 cup white vinegar with 1-gallon hot water. This is safe for hardwood, linoleum, tile, and any washable surface.

*Oven Cleaner-Mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda, 1 tablespoon salt, and add 1/2 cup hot water. Make a gritty paste, apply to the oven, heat slightly, cool and then wipe away with a damp rag.

*Refrigerator Seals-The plastic seals of refrigerators can be wiped free of debris with a rag dabbed in white vinegar.

*Kitchen Cabinets-1/4 cup of lemon juice mixed with 1 quart of hot water. Lemon juice helps to remove grease from wood and metal.

*Dishwashing by Hand-In a small spray bottle, fill 3/4 with water and 1/4 with lemon juice. Lemon juice is the main ingredient in dishwashing detergent because it is an excellent grease fighter. You don't need any of the other ingredients that make up commercial dishwashing detergents--mostly fragrances.

For laundry, there are three products to use: washing soda, white vinegar and salt.

*Laundry Detergent for White Clothes- use 1/4 cup washing soda (sodium carbonate) in place of bleach. Bleach is one of the most toxic substances for the environment. Washing soda costs only a few pennies per wash load, and it is far less expensive than bleach. Along with the washing soda, add 1/4 cup of white vinegar.

*Laundry Detergent for Dark Clothes-use 1/4 cup of white vinegar and 1/4 cup of salt.

Salt helps restore faded colors, and to remove dirt and grime.

For carpets there are three choices: salt, baking soda or cornstarch.

Just as salt helps to restore the color of dark colored laundry, it also helps to bring out the color in carpeting, while at the same time, removing dirt. Sprinkle 1/4 to 1/2 cup of salt (depending on the size of your rug or carpet), let it sit for 15-30 minutes, and then vacuum. You can also alternate between salt and cornstarch. The instructions are the same. To remove odors from carpets, add 1/4 cup of baking soda to the salt (or cornstarch) and make a powder with the mixture, sprinkle on the carpet and let it sit for at least 30 minutes, and then vacuum. If you want to add a fresh scent to your carpet, you can sprinkle Cinnamon, or All Spice on the carpet, let it sit for 15 minutes and then vacuum.



Bathrooms no longer have to be a chore to clean. The same cleaning products used in the kitchen are suitable for the bathroom; white vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice. However, you can use rubbing alcohol and you've got a great glass cleaner.

*Bathroom Glass Cleaner-1-2 tablespoons of white vinegar mixed with 1 quart of water in a spray bottle. To remove oily fingerprints and hairspray from the mirror, dab on a little rubbing alcohol and wipe with a linen rag.

*Bathroom/Bathtub Glass Sliding Doors-1/4 cup white vinegar mixed with 3/4 cup of hot water. Those hard water stains will wipe away like magic!

*Bathroom Floors-The same as kitchen floors: 1/2 cup of vinegar with 1-gallon hot water. This is safe for hardwood, linoleum, tile, and any washable surface.

To polish wood furniture, wood floors, or even wooden blinds, and to have a wonderful citrus scent, use citrus oil. You can purchase a gallon of citrus oil from any home improvement store, or the local Wal-Mart. It costs about $5.00 a gallon, but will last you at least 6 months.

Polishing Wood Furniture-Pour a small amount of citrus oil (undiluted) onto a lint-free rag, and polish to perfection.

Cleaning and Polishing Wood Floors-Dilute one cup of citrus oil in one-gallon hot water.

Use a sponge mop and mop floor. For heavy duty jobs, do not dilute.

Cleaning Wooden Min-Blinds-Dilute 14 cup of citrus oil with water in an empty spray bottle. Lay the blind out on the floor or outside on a towel. Spray the blinds lightly, and wipe gently with a sheet of fabric softener.

For crayon marks, spilled candle wax, and residue left from tape and other adhesive, dab with mineral oil and wipe gently with a rag. Mineral oil is the main ingredient of many commercial products that advertise the removal of greasy wax stains and marks.

To further ensure that you are helping the environment to remain toxic free there are a few simple things that you can do:

*Use Cloth Rags-Never use paper towels or the new "Disposable Wipes." Such products are bleached, and are therefore toxins. Recycle old clothing, sheets and towels into rags. Wash once a week and you'll never have to waste money on paper products again.

*Recycle Paper and Plastic Bags- Never buy plastic garbage bags. Use the bags that you get from the grocery store to dispose of cat litter and household garbage. Invest in cloth bags to use for groceries, and take only 1-2 plastic or paper bags from the grocery store to use as trash bags. Paper bags are the most environmentally friendly, however most cities have ordinances against using paper bags for weekly trash pick-ups. Minimize your use of plastic.

[If you live in towns that require you to use clear trash bags, like ours does, it's a little tougher to get away with just using store bags and paper bags. Though I wish we could. Growing up, my mother never bought garbage bags. Why spend money on a box of bags when we were accumulating at least 5 paper/plastic bags per week from grocery shopping? I had never thought of it as helping the environment, I only thought we were saving money.]

A little planning can go a long way. Our planet and our homes deserve to exist as toxic free as possible!"

Montessori Monday

Montessori programs encourage creativity!

"Creativity flourishes in an atmosphere of acceptance and trust. Montessorians recognize that all children, from toddler to teenager, learn and express themselves in a very individual way.

Music, art, storytelling, movement and drama activities are integrated into American Montessori programs. But there are other things particular to the Montessori environment which encourage creative development: many materials which stimulate interest and involvement; an emphasis on the sensory aspect of experience; and opportunities for both verbal and nonverbal modes of learning."

Www.amshq.org.

Check out your nearest Montessori classroom and look at all the cool materials that encourage creative growth in your child!

Or come see Eden Cooperative Nursery School, A Montessori Environment!

Summer reading!!

Here's some awesome books for your kids to get into this month!









Also, check out this link for summer reading lists by grade!  Summer Reading

Montessori Monday

Every Monday I'll be posting a story or article that is Montessori-related.  The goal is to increase knowledge about this creative and forward-thinking method of educating children.  The more I learn about the Montessori method, the more I love it, and I'm amazed that I didn't learn about it more in college, where my degree was based around education and child development. 

Montessori Education Provides Better Outcomes
Than Traditional Methods, Study Finds

September 28, 2006—A study comparing outcomes of children at a public inner-city Montessori school with children who attended traditional schools indicates that Montessori education leads to children with better social and academic skills.

The study appears in the September 29, 2006 issue of the journal Science (see article full text; available free through Montessori-Science.org).

Montessori education is characterized by multi-age classrooms, a special set of educational materials, student-chosen work in long time blocks, a collaborative environment with student mentors, absence of grades and tests, and individual and small group instruction in academic and social skills. More than 5,000 schools in the United States, including 300 public schools, use the Montessori method.

The Montessori school studied is located in Milwaukee and serves urban minority children. Students at the school were selected for enrollment through a random lottery process. Those students who “won” the lottery and enrolled at the Montessori school made up the study group. A control group was made up of children who had “lost” the lottery and were therefore enrolled in other schools using traditional methods. In both cases the parents had entered their children in the school lottery with the hope of gaining enrollment in the Montessori school.

“This strategy addressed the concern that parents who seek to enroll their children in a Montessori school are different from parents who do not,” wrote study authors Angeline Lillard, a University of Virginia professor of psychology, and Nicole Else-Quest, a former graduate student in psychology at the University of Wisconsin. This was an important factor because parents generally are the dominant influence on child outcomes.

Children were evaluated at the end of the two most widely implemented levels of Montessori education: primary (3- to 6-year-olds) and elementary (6- to 12-year-olds). They came from families of very similar income levels (averaging from $20,000 to $50,000 per year for both groups).

The children who attended the Montessori school, and the children who did not, were tested for their cognitive and academic skills, and for their social and behavioral skills.

“We found significant advantages for the Montessori students in these tests for both age groups,” Lillard said. “Particularly remarkable are the positive social effects of Montessori education. Typically the home environment overwhelms all other influences in that area.”

Among the 5-year-olds, Montessori students proved to be significantly better prepared for elementary school in reading and math skills than the non-Montessori children. They also tested better on “executive function,” the ability to adapt to changing and more complex problems, an indicator of future school and life success.

Montessori children also displayed better abilities on the social and behavioral tests, demonstrating a greater sense of justice and fairness. And on the playground they were much more likely to engage in emotionally positive play with peers, and less likely to engage in rough play.

Among the 12-year-olds from both groups, the Montessori children, in cognitive and academic measures, produced essays that were rated as “significantly more creative and as using significantly more sophisticated sentence structures.” The Montessori and non-Montessori students scored similarly on spelling, punctuation and grammar, and there was not much difference in academic skills related to reading and math. This parity occurred despite the Montessori children not being regularly tested and graded.

In social and behavioral measures, 12-year-old Montessori students were more likely to choose “positive assertive responses” for dealing with unpleasant social situations, such as having someone cut into a line. They also indicated a “greater sense of community” at their school and felt that students there respected, helped and cared about each other.

The authors concluded that, “…when strictly implemented, Montessori education fosters social and academic skills that are equal or superior to those fostered by a pool of other types of schools.”

Lillard plans to continue the research by tracking the students from both groups over a longer period of time to determine long-term effects of Montessori versus traditional education. She also would like to replicate the study at other Montessori and traditional schools using a prospective design, and to examine whether specific Montessori practices are linked to specific outcomes.

Lillard is the author of Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius. More information is available at: http://www.montessori-science.org/.

Etsy Lovers!

Check out our Etsy shop here!  One of my students is designing and creating purses and jewelery and we are putting them up for sale!  Proceeds will go towards a charity of her choice, which will be announced at a later time (when she decides)!  She's super creative, and all of her work is completely her own!

An authoritative style of parenting is more beneficial than authoritarian... what's the difference?

This was one of my undergrad professors at Alfred University.  Dr. Lichtman is incredibly intelligent, and remains to this day one of my favorite teachers.  As it says in the article, Dr. Lichtman was also one of the founders of the Alfred Montessori Preschool.
I got this article from Alfred University's site.

Lichtman authors new guide to parenting 8/01/11

Alfred University Psychology Professor Louis Lichtman, with more than 40 years of teaching and research behind him, says children are most successful when they are "self-directed" rather than parent-controlled.

His advice, presented in his new book, A Practical Guide for Raising a Self-Directed and Caring Child, runs counter to the current popular authoritarian parenting style advocated in Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.

"Many of the problems facing our country today stem from the way we raise our children," said Lichtman. Surveys show that parents are failing to teach their children appropriate values. In the past year alone, about 30% of teenagers stole, 60% cheated, and 80% lied about something important.
Also, about 50% admit to bullying other children.

His own experiences with what he calls "unhappy and poorly adjusted college students" prompted him to offer the parenting course and, eventually, to write the guide. Since its introduction in 1987, over 1,200 students have taken his parenting seminar.

With the media attention on the "Tiger Mother" style, Lichtman says he is concerned "parents will adopt a strict authoritarian style," even though the preponderance of research findings indicate "an authoritative style "- where parents offer guidance, not orders - works best for raising well-adjusted children to adulthood.

"Parenting is a complex and challenging task for which most people receive no formal training," said Lichtman. He compiled what he has learned as a psychologist, teacher, and parent into the guide, which received an Editor’s Choice award from iUniverse.

Lichtman earned a BS degree in psychology from Brooklyn College and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Maine. In addition to a long teaching career, he has been a chair of the department for 13 years, and has served for 10 years as an associate dean or acting dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

He was one of the founders of the Alfred Montessori Preschool. He and his wife have two grown daughters.

 

*************************************************************************

 

In his book, Understanding Parenting, Michael L. Jaffe offers some definitions of authoritative and authoritarian styles of parenting.
Authoritative parents are warm towards their children, but firm. Parents who use this style use reason and persuasion to gain the compliance of their children (it should be noted that these parents are not permissive, and when reason fails, they are willing to use power to gain compliance). They explain rules to their children, and encourage their children to be independent thinkers.

Authoritarian parents value obedience over anything else. They limit their child's freedom by imposing many rules, which they strictly enforce. These parents mainly use power to gain compliance ("Because I said so"). Parents who use this style do not encourage their children to be independent thinkers.

 

 

 

We published a book!

One of my kids and I wrote and published a short children's book!  This is so exciting!  You can check it out here:
Click here!

...This link seems to be broken.  I'll figure it out after we come back from hiking! 

Jack

Today was our first session at Eden Co-Op!  It went so well!  Right when Jack came into the school, he just stared in awe at all the shelves of materials.  I let him spend the first 10 minutes exploring the classroom before having him sit on the rug where I had prepared a workspace.  I had him trace a few sand letters, telling me the names of each letter, what sound they made, and then I had him use the big sound board to help him name something that started with each letter.  Ah, to have an unlimited amount of resources ready and waiting to be used... it was wonderful.  After quickly going through Lesson 18 in the Teach Your Child to Read book, we worked on sounds and sorted miniature items according to whether they had the sounds "oo" "ee" "ie" "ai" and "oa."  We then did some rhyming exercises, and right after this Jack decided he wanted to go back to exploring the room.  I had him do one more activity (spelling words with Melissa & Doug See & Spell...he is too advanced for this normally, but it was a good confidence booster, which he needs sometimes), and then he read two pages out of Go, Dog! Go.  He had some difficulty sounding out the words, which was frustrating for the both of us because I know he knows those words, and he just seemed as though he was itching to get up and explore.  I then read him a chapter out of Captain Underpants and then let him loose.  He worked diligently on some math materials until his mom came to pick him up... He didn't want to leave though, which made me smile.

Oh, another thing I wanted to note: after showing Jack's mom the classroom and describing the materials and the Montessori Method, she indicated that this was a school that would have been a good preschool for Jack, and he should have gone somewhere like this.  Another smile. :)

June sessions beginning Tuesday, June 7!

June sessions will begin Tuesday, June 7 at the Eden Cooperative Nursery School, a Montessori Environment.

Here's the address:

8765 South Main Street
Eden, NY 14057

Sessions will be mainly held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but if you need a different day just contact me and we'll work out a schedule to meet your needs!

Updates~

I have been tutoring these last several weeks, but have not found to the time to keep up with posting all that the kids are doing, and how they are progressing... but they are all doing so well! 

One update I am excited to announce is that Let's Read! Tutoring Services is joining with Eden Cooperative Nursery School for the summer!  Tutoring services will be held at the school's beautiful location in the Village of Eden, and I'll include the address down below.  With the school being a Montessori Environment, we will have access to the hundreds of wonderful materials the school has for instruction!  You can sign your child up for reading instruction or Kindergarten readiness skills (and don't be afraid of signing up even if your child still has another year of preschool ~ these sessions are meant to build upon the child's already acquired skills in all areas, including reading and math).

Here's the address of Eden Cooperative Nursery School, A Montessori Environment:

8765 South Main Street
Eden, NY 14057

To sign up, you can contact me at:

letsreadabc@gmail.com

Jack

Today Jack was phenomenal!  For the past few weeks he has been receiving remedial reading help at school, and I can really see the difference!  I told mom that working 1 hour with me once a week just wasn't cutting it, and we were so happy that his school stepped up to give him the extra support he needs during the day! 

One main issue that had negative implications on his ability to sound out words was his difficulty with naming all of his letters.  About three weeks ago I tackled this issue by implementing a new task - DIBELS Letter Naming Fluency - into our routine.  The first week, he read 26 letters in one minute from a sheet that has the letters (uppercase and lowercase) in random order.  He skipped a line, confused the lowercase 'g' with 'a' and made various other mistakes.  This score (26 letters) placed him in the 'at risk' category.  After practicing letter recognition and sounds for the last few weeks, I am so happy to announce that Jack was able to recognize 38 letters correctly in one minute today!!!  This places him in the 'some risk' category, however, to be considered as having 'low risk' for reading problems, Jack needs to be able to recognize 40 letters within one minute by the time he finishes kindergarten.  We're just two letters away!!

Sean and Brian

For the past couple of weeks I've been focusing on fluency with Brian.  He is so good at remembering sounds, blending sounds, and sounding out all the words he comes across, but he says each sound first and then says the word.  So, here's what he sounds like:  Read aloud, "The fox jumped over the log."  Now read it again and this time say each sound of each word before you say the word.  It takes sooooo long, and you barely remember reading the other words by the time you finish!  Brian has a tough time comprehending what he is reading simply because he has a lot of difficulty with reading the words fluently. [I have a description on fluency and comprehension my website, http://www.letsread.weebly.com/].  Sean had a similar issue when he was younger, and I wrote out simple phrases on flashcards and practiced those like we did sightwords.  I will be starting this same task with Brian this week.

I resumed timed reading practice with Sean last week.  I have reading passages that are at his reading level, and he reads aloud for one minute.  On a copy of this passage, I mark what words he gets wrong, and then at the end I add up all the words he correctly read.  We do this two more times with the same passage and then I take the middle score and we mark it on a chart.  He really enjoys this task, and loves it when the tables are turned and he gets to use my stopwatch to time me while I read.  We used to do this a long time ago when I first started working with him, but our sessions were not very consistent in the beginning, and I found that we were losing ground and not reaching his set goal within a decent time frame (or at all).  He seemed frustrated at times and so I put that task away and we did other things.  But recently his parents and I have worked out a pretty consistent schedule, and so I started this task again since I think it is awesome practice for gaining fluency.  [This task is basically the DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency task, however I do not use the DIBELS passages]. 

Tyler

Tyler is an 8 year old boy in the 3rd grade.  He is autistic and nonverbal.  I first met Tyler when he was in kindergarten, about 2 years ago, when his mom was looking for someone to help him with letters, words, and writing.  I was still a student when I met Tyler and his mom,and extremely nervous since I had never, until this point, worked one on one with a child diagnosed with autism. I knew about autism, and had written papers on autism, and even consulted with a teacher on how to adapt her classroom to better accomodate one of her students who was diagnoed with autism.  But I am certainly no expert, and this was (and continues to be) a learning experience. 

Because Tyler is nonverbal, it is difficult to guage how much he knows.  Two years ago I started out with matching words to pictures and discovered that he could read some words simply becuse he could match them without my saying anything.  Such as matching the word 'red' with the actual color. (I'm sure his teachers knew this, but it was new to his mother and I).  Since then, we've gone from matching words to pictures, to matching sentences to pictures, and onto spelling words and forming sentences.  Tyler is an incredibly bright boy, and he was able skip the second grade this year and move right into third grade.

For the past few weeks, Tyler has been working on forming short sentences using small cards with words on them (like 'We' 'go' 'to' 'the' 'I' 'make' 'a' 'run') as well as some pictures of things such as a store or a sandwich.  We also work on spelling these words, as well as others.  Many of the tasks are in matching or chart format, since that seems to be the most effective way to instruct Tyler (and to know how much he knows).  For spelling, Tyler is given a piece of cardstock paper with two attached boxes for two letter words, or one with three attached boxes for three letter words.  Tyler is then given several squares of paper with one letter on them each (I make these squares to fit perfectly into the boxes; if they don't, Tyler spends extra time trying to make them fit...this can induce stress for him, which makes him less inclined to want to work with me).  Tyler struggles with spelling, since it involves blending the different sounds in words.  When given letters to choose from, and given a sound, Tyler is able to correctly choose the right letter associated with the given sound.  However, when told to spell a word, he becomes frustrated ad stalls until the word is repeated and broken down into the separate sounds.  Having the letters available to choose from helps him a little, and last week he was able to spell 'to' 'we' 'go' 'is' and 'fun' without any prompting and assistance from me.

Tyler's teacher and speech pathologist have also indicated that Tyler needs to work on forming his own sentences (such as telling about something he did recently), as well as being able to answer "who" and "what" questions.  For the next few weeks we will be focusing on these two things, as well as spelling three and four letter words.

Sean and Brian

These little guys are brothers, ages 8 and 6.  Sean is in second grade and Brian is in Kindergarten.  I started tutoring Sean about two years ago, because he was having difficulty with fluency and reading comprehension.  He was held back in first grade.  Brian was also kept back and is repeating Kindergarten.  Brian seemed to be progressing really well when I started tutoring him at the beginning of this school year, and I really thought he didn't need me.  However, the last two months he seems to have plateaued, and is having the same difficulties his brother had when he was younger (fluency and comprehension).

I usually start with Brian, while Sean finishes his homework.  Brian's homework consists of him reading passages out of his Orton-Gillingham workbook (his district uses the Orton-Gillingham method), so we work on those, focusing on the sounds of that day.  Today we worked on blending 'bl,' (like the word 'black'), using 'y' as a long 'i' (like in 'shy' and 'my'), and attaching past tense 'ed' to words (like in 'packed' and 'patched').  He has a lot of difficulty with fluency (as I said before), and so we were working on reading some of the phrases that had words he has already mastered (like "she is in") in a more fluent and natural tone.  We also went through some of his words of the week (into, book, can't, my) and I included some of his past words (top, she), as well as the words he'll need for next week (think, great, say, cut).  I also included a word ('each') that was in some of the passages, and with which he was having a lot of difficulty ("ea- says eeeee").  He did pretty well with all of the words; he does such a great job sounding out, and his memory is great when it comes to not-so-obvious sounds, like pairing 'ch' for a new sound.  The last thing we worked on was Lesson 4 of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  I think these lessons are so helpful for Brian since it really emphasizes fluidly sounding out words, as opposed to the choppy way he has become so accustomed to.  (I know the Orton-Gillingham method teaches using your fingers for each sound in a word, as though you are counting the sounds, and I think that's really helpful for a child to say each sound in a word but Brian still pronounces words he already knows by saying each sound with a pause in between before saying the full word fluently).

While I was still working with Brian, Sean finished his homework, and I encouraged him to check it.  He often rushes through it so fast he misses some important directions and needs to make a number of corrections.  Usually he claims he has not made any mistakes, and has a lot of difficulty finding them when prompted.  But today when I gave him back his paper, he found his first mistake almost immediately.  (Woohoo!  Progress!)  I still had to work with him on some other mistakes, and he needed help reading through some of the questions and even some of the answer choices (how can a child complete his math work when he can't read the words 'trapezoid' and 'congruent?').  I also had brought him The Adventures of Captain Underpants, Book 1, by Dav Pilkey, which I picked up at the used bookstore (Used Books & More) for $1.00!  Sean had been talking about his friends reading the books and liking them, but he could never seem to find it at his school library.  While I was still working with Brian, Sean read through the first 5 chapters (they aren't very long, but still...he's reading a book!).  After we had gone over his homework, I had Sean do Lesson 9 of the 100 Easy Lessons book.  He is beyond many of these beginning lessons, and goes through them quickly, but since he has had such a history of having difficulty with fluency, I think these lessons reteach the basics and help fill in some of the missing pieces of the foundation that was built when he first started learning how to read.  Regardless if this is true or not, he thinks the 'say it fast' games are pretty fun, and it gives him a huge boost of confidence to be good at something that has to do with reading.

Jack

Tuesdays are Jack's days.  Jack is in Kindergarten and I've been tutoring him for about a year now.  He has made so much progress it's mind boggling.  When I first met him, we were going over shapes and letter recognition, something other children his age had already mastered a year before.  Now, approaching the end of the school year and getting ready for first grade, Jack can sing the alphabet without forgetting any letters (yay!), he can name the sounds of most of the letters automatically (he still has to think about some, and often gets 'b' and 'd' confused...but what 5 year old boy doesn't?), and can recognize and sound out over 15 words (BIG YAY!).  Jack is confusing to his teachers, since he progresses more slowly than many of his peers, but his evaluations have indicated that he is in the average range cognitvely, and that he does not appear to have a learning disability.  My training as a school psychologist kicks in at this point and I can foresee Jack falling farther and farther behind his peers as he progresses in school and everyone starts to read fluently except for him, and by second or third grade he will probably have much lower academic scores than the other students in his class, which will then prompt another evaluation (already they are doing a second evaluation at the end of this year), and he will most likely be diagnosed with a learning disability in order to receive services he should be receiving now (in order to prevent his falling behind).  All of this will most likely happen UNLESS he can be taught to overcome, and/or accommodate for, some of his weaknesses now...which is where I come in as his reading tutor.

For the past few weeks I've been letting Jack play some games on pbskids.org for the first few minutes of his hour.  I started doing this because he often would arrive at my house crying, and I would have to pick him up and carry him into the living room (kicking and screaming) while his mom snuck out the door.  He likes the computer games, finds them more fun than the work I have for him (I'm still working on that...) and it calms him down.  He now also appears to like coming to see me, and often has a smile for me when he arrives (how refreshing!). 

This week, however, I took out the computer time since I had a new task to try with him.  He seemed a little disappointed, so I don't think I'll completely take computer time away for good just yet, but he settled down on the rug and was ready to get to work.  I should mention that Jack has difficulty writing his letters still (Occupational Therapy was one of the things he was being evaluated for last year, but the school district decided he did not need that service).  The new task I had for him consisted of using these nicely made thick, but flat, plastic... hmmm...cards?  I'm actually not sure what to call them.  But they have lower case sandpaper letters on them.  The Director (and teacher), Lindsi, at the Montessori preschool where I am an aide (for a wonderful little girl who is blind) suggested I try these with Jack.  By tracing his fingers along the oversize tactile letters, we not only worked on beginning sounds (I had pictures of animals accompany the letters), but he was practicing moving his fingers and hand in the shape of the letter (fine motor skills!).  The first letter we did, 'c,' he tried to twist his wrist so that as his fingers followed the curve they went from pointing up to pointing down.  Not only did this look uncomfortable for him, it was not what I wanted him to do.  I had to show him how to keep his wrist straight and fingers pointing in one direction as he followed the letter.  He became better at it as we did more letters.  In all, the letters we worked on were: c, s, t, f, d, and b.  With each letter he had to tell me the name of the letter, what sound it made, and then point out whatever pictures started with that sound (cat, dog, tiger, fish, etc.).  He confused the 'd' and 'b' regularly throughout this exercise, and even had some trouble finding the pictures beginning with the sound we were working on at the moment (he also did not recognize the tiger and called it a lion), but I think it was a very useful and helpful task for him.  He also insisted on rhyming some of the words we used (like dog and frog) since he was so excited for winning a rhyming game today in school (he beat all the kids in his class!).  It was really great to hear him ask to rhyme!


After this we moved onto doing flashcards with the sightwords: the, to, go, like, you, and, I, is, am, me, and it.  This time last month he was able to do maybe half of these words, and had to really think and struggle with them in order to get them.  Today he was able to whip right through, struggling only with 'and,' 'it,' and 'me.'  He did so well that at the end of the session I even added a new word, 'man,' and we sounded it out together and mixed it in with the other words.  He read through all of them with no problems!
After sight words, we read the first several pages of Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman, and I had Jack read out loud some of his sightwords, and we also sounded out other words like 'big,' and 'dog.' He did really well with this task and actually did not want to end it, but I wanted to move on before we ran out of time.  So we marked the page where we left off, and he made sure we would pick right back up next week. :)



The last task I had for him was Lessons 8 and 9 out of the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons book, by Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox, and Elaine Bruner.  I started doing these lessons several weeks ago after watching Lindsi (from the preschool) use the book with some of her students.  I'm really liking the simplicity of the lessons, and how they are very repetitive and focused on the sounds of letters and how those sounds mesh together in words.  These lessons, which only take a few minutes each, are perfect for Jack since it really targets the skills in which he needs the most help.

After finishing with another round of sightwords (and adding 'man') I read a couple of chapters of Captain Underpants (he loves these books) before his mom came to pick him up.  Overall, he did really well today, and I was so happy to give his mother a good report.  I feel bad for her sometimes because she often comes to my house to drop him off with news of bad reports from school.  I think one of his greatest improvements over the past year has been his behavior.  As long as he is happy, he is able to interact with me and successfully complete the tasks I have for him.  On bad-mood days, if he shuts down it's all over before it even began.  As he becomes more and more successful on the tasks he is being given, I'm seeing his level of confidence (and his mood) stay up.

Sarting the tutoring blog

This is my second attempt at blogging, and maybe I'll actually stick with this one.  I have been tutoring reading  for over three years now, and I really absolutely love it.  It's extremely rewarding to watch kids progress and get better at something, and even begin to like it!  This blog is going to document my tutoring sessions each week.  I find it very helpful to read through other people's thoughts and ideas when it comes to tutoring, and being able to get new ideas to try with my kids is always great!  So I decided to put up all the things I do to teach kids to love reading as much as I do, and maybe someone will find my ideas useful!