Educational pedagogy

[MistyMountain]

Now that I am really considering homeschooling I have been more interested in knowing more about different methods of teaching. I also have been touring charter/ alternative schools in my area and have an idea what they use since I been asking about curriculum. With the exception of one school I been pretty underwhelmed with what they are using. I am only touring schools with decent scores and what I thought were decent educational methods. I love that we have immersion options but aside from the immersion they aren't strong programs.

 

A lot of the schools start with whole words/sight words and some say that is there method of teaching reading. Some start in kindergarten and then do phonics in first. A few schools couldn't even tell me exactly what they do or what they use just that thy don't use what the school district does which is houghton mifflin. A lot of the schools don't have grades and expect the students to be the judge of how thy are doing. They have big open classrooms that seem pretty distracting. They have mixed grades but then have to come up with something for a 1st grader who isn't really reading yet and a 2nd grader who is a proficient reader. They teach the class something and break them into small groups. Some schools use the new math.

 

I'm not overly impressed with the academics with one exception but these schools get good scores on great schools. Each school uses different methods and they all say it is based on research on education indicating that is the best.

 

Where are they getting their research from that says to teach with sight words and that group instruction is best? Why do they keep changing educational padagogy but we end up with less educated kids over time. There seems to be a huge push for child lead learning and different methods but it seems like rigorous schools are falling by the wayside. All kids are different and not every kid is the same so I don't think a one size fit all approach will work for every kid.

 

What research is out there on educational methods? Which studies are poorly done and which ones are good studies on the topic.

[SailorMom]

Ever since the 70's, cooperative learning has been a huge buzzword in the educational fields.... It doesn't seem to work to well imho.

 

As for whether they use phonics or whole word.... Most here swear that if phonics are not taught a child will be unable to read at higher levels later.... Well - no one in my family (DH, myself, both sons) ever learned phonics. The three of us who are not LD read exceptionally well.

 

So - I don't think whole word should necessarily be a game changer for you if you like the school as a whole. However, I think for most schools, a combination of whole word and phonics would make far more sense than anything they are doing now.

[angela in ohio]

A lot of the schools don't have grades and expect the students to be the judge of how thy are doing. They have big open classrooms that seem pretty distracting. They have mixed grades but then have to come up with something for a 1st grader who isn't really reading yet and a 2nd grader who is a proficient reader. They teach the class something and break them into small groups. Some schools use the new math.

 

A few kids will be able to survive this; for many it is a disaster, though.

 

Teaching sight words will give them decent test scores for a few years. Eventually, though, you can't memorize all the words. I have seen this with homeschool friends even. Their dc were out in front, reading up a storm, until they hit about the 5th grade level (this is a common observance, often called the '4th grade slump.') Then they leveled off and started falling behind, because they had no word attack skills to handle multi-syllabic words.

 

We are in a school district with "great scores." You'll find that that means that they can educate the average child up to a basic minimum level. They have intensive services for under-performers (ironically, it's often intensive phonics instruction :D) and other ways to help struggling students. The basic standards are so low, though, that it means little to me.

 

Honestly, you can find research to support both sides. It's all a matter of who and what you test. I can prove that your dog is a cat if I work the study correctly. :lol:

 

You are asking the right question, though. If these methods are so great, why are they failing in the *true* long-term survey (the American population in general.) I think you have your answer. :001_smile: Welcome to higher standards, and (hopefully) welcome to classical education! :D