MissKNG Posted October 10, 2010 Share Posted October 10, 2010 No. The poor teacher silly. Bill Yes, yes, yes! I'm a nut for asking but I think you already know I'm a nut (reflecting on the sale of Mathematical Reasoning B!!:lol:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freerange Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 Thursday night is Back-to-School night, so I'll ask the teacher about her reasoning for this practice then. Am I alone in wanting to know the answer to this? Not to mention this: That's a lost cause. (with all love a respect) Bill is already That Guy. The teacher just doesn't know it yet. I wonder how long he can keep it under wraps? Bill, did you keep it under wraps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 Bill, did you keep it under wraps? :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted October 16, 2010 Share Posted October 16, 2010 When I was a boy (back int he olden days :D) there was a popular method called Evelyn Wood Speed Reading. It was a craze, and then died. Sounds reasonable as to "why", still not sure I like it :D Bill For speed reading, I was taught to use the pointer and pinkie to track down the sides of the page. It keeps your eyes focused in the centre so you can read quickly. As to the finger tracking by your son... it know it's irksome to you, but I think you're making it more of an issue than it needs to be. It's not a hill on which to die. He is probably just trying to conform to what was asked of him at school. It is not going to affect his reading ability, and he will either outgrow it or decide it isn't worthwhile to him anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 I'm not a bit fan of it, but I don't have research to back it up and I don't think it's a hill to die on. Unlike sight words!) I vaguely remember reading something 5 or 10 years ago about it slowing you down, but I don't remember for sure. Personally, it slows me down, but I read very fast. With my remedial students, it can be helpful at first to help them focus and blend from left to right, but I don't encourage the practice to continue once they are reading well. When I was studying about reading strategies, I read a suggestion somewhere (wish I knew to whom the credit belongs!) that the reader put a marker ABOVE the line of text to be read. I used this method with both my beginning readers and it worked beautifully. 1) It helps guard against distractions and keep the place, and 2) the reader is still able to look ahead because the paper is not covering up the text. So, it fosters more mature reading habits from the get go. It is recommended several places. I have a quote on my dyslexia page from Hilde Mosse who recommends that in her 1982 book "The Complete Handbook of Children's Reading Disorders." She also explains in further detail about why this is so: The reason for this position of the card is that it can steady the eyes, which have a tendency to wander above and not below the line being read, and it can connect the end of one line with the beginning of the next, thus indicating the return sweep and making it easier on the child's eyes. By blotting out all the text that has just been read, the cover card helps the child to concentrate on just that one line he is reading. By holding the card at a slant with the left corner slightly lower than the right, and by pushing it down while he reads, the child steadies his gaze and at the same time pushes his eyes from left to right and down via a correct return sweep from one line to the next. This is by far the simplest, cheapest, and most effective treatment for Linear Dyslexia. Now, an index card below would seem more logical, and that is what I used with some students before reading her book, so I could be wrong about the finger tracking as well, I'll have to see if I can find definitive research somewhere... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted October 17, 2010 Author Share Posted October 17, 2010 Am I alone in wanting to know the answer to this? Not to mention this: Bill, did you keep it under wraps? I was so de-compressed by Back-to-School Night that I a most didn't ask...but I did. Total non-big deal. I guess it is a "standard" instruction for the kids, and not something necessary for a child reading as well as my son. She said to tell him she said he didn't need to do it. I've just been avoiding this subject, frankly, and the tracking seems to be fading. Not much "drama" to report. Sorry Bill (who hates being this boring :D ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freerange Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 Not much "drama" to report. Sorry Bill (who hates being this boring :D ) Sometimes boring is good. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2jjka Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 I haven't had time to read through the whole thread, but I can tell you that when I took "literacy in early childhood classes" in college - we were told to teach children to track words with their fingers because it teaches one-to-one correspondence. One written word equals one spoken word, or one 'thought'. In time the kids were told that they needed to internalize those thoughts, but the basic premise was to teach them that the written symbols on the page = words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted October 17, 2010 Share Posted October 17, 2010 I'm a big fan of the 'super-hero-line-guide' (aka, your pointer finger). Dd6 even has a little cape for her finger that she made in kindy. Nothing wrong with finger-tracking, imho. My older 3 kids all grew out of the habit over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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