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Locked on 08/24/2005 10:01:42 PM PDT by Admin Moderator, reason:
New Thread http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1470204/posts |
Posted on 07/12/2005 8:11:36 PM PDT by HairOfTheDog
New verse:
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Upon the hearth the fire is red, |
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Still round the corner there may wait |
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Home is behind, the world ahead, |
Oh, fer the luvva...
There's an interesting question buried in there. The mere concept of "Spanish for Spanish speakers" means that they are teaching Spanish as a "first" language instead of a second language.
Think about that...
Why?
Shouldn't everybody be guided toward English as an eventual FIRST language, ESPECIALLY for elementary school kids? Why would it *ever* make sense to saddle a kid with second-rate english skills?
Answer: To create more dependency and more democrat voters.
Arrrgh. :-)
It's because of the demographics of the school.
When we first moved to this neighborhood, the ration was 50% Gringo, 40% Hispanic, 10% Other.
Today, there was not ONE Gringo/Black/Asian in the whole place. And I'm not kidding. The only language I heard the parents speaking was Spanish.
I'm all for my kids learning a 2nd language, but it shouldn't be mandatory!
Exactly.
Kids that have Spanish as their first language should be in ESOL programs so that they can be fluent in English as quickly as possible.
It's now the other way around where the English kids are in mandatory SSOL (Spanish Second Language) classes.
Doesn't make a lick of sense, does it?
Becky and Alyson are growing up listening to both languages. They both prefer English, as I do - but they understand a lot of Spanish, even though they aren't confident in speaking the language.
Precisely!
And, if she managed a C in that class, I'm really impressed. I had trouble in "Spanish for CS Majors", only got an A in that because the prof graded on our reading abilities, not our speaking abilities.
30 minutes dedicated to reading. As a forced requirement. Way to instill a love of reading there, huh? We all know that kids just love doing things they are forced to do. *rolls eyes*
And that is in addition to the regular "home learning" (ie, homework) that the teacher sends home. So, the kids spend an entire hour with homework before they can eat, bathe, watch TV, spend time with family, etc.
It's not Scottish.
I'm sure the only reason she didn't fail the class is because of the Spanish she heard/learned within the family.
Good grief.
The only thing I can suggest is that you two find books you both enjoy and read together. Make it a family activity. What sorts of books does she like? If there's a book you know she'd like but that's really too hard to read herself, why not have one of those evenings be "read to her" nights? Believe me, having books read to you is just as important as practicing reading yourself.
That's what I did last year and the year before.
We read through Grimm's Fairy Tales together.
I'll probably start Harry Potter with her this year and mark one chapter per night.
Hehehe....have her do her reading assignment during class.
Well, if she likes nice little slightly twisted fantasy stories, you could always read her "The Hobbit".
Yah... that makes it look almost like reading is a "punishment" of sorts.
That's no way to get kids to like to read. It needs to be something exciting for them, and they'll crave it anyway.
Yah...Spanish class.
She's about to turn 8, so The Hobbit may be just right.
I'm thinking it may bore her in some parts though, so I'd rather start her off on something a little funnier like Potter.
*grin*
Heh. I got turned on to "The Hobbit" in elementary school, because it was something one of my teachers *read to the class* in little pieces every day.
I wonder if he didn't read it in too-small of pieces every day to get us hooked on the story and get us to go out and read it on our own.
Werked fer me. :-)
I was eight when I got "The Hobbit" read to me. It was a car trip back from Florida, Dad needed Mom to read something so he picked that up since it didn't have anything objectionable that us kiddies shouldn't hear.
I blame that for turning me onto fantasy and SF.
I've learned that reverse psychology works wonderfully on kids. Thus, if she sees me reading and I tell her that she wouldn't be the least bit interested in doing it, she'll beg me to read. Anything.
When I tell Becky that something bothers me, she'll do it.
That's how I got her to start brushing her teeth automatically every morning. I told her that the sound of her brushing her teeth drove me nuts.
Now she does it, but doesn't quite remember what motivated her to start. :-D
Also in the silly and slightly twisted category...she'd probably like Roald Dahl's books - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, and The Witches and The BFG and Matilda...
Maybe you two are on to something there.
She does adore James & The Giant Peach and enjoys LOTR. Hmmmm....
Then I recommend telling her that you wanna take her in for a tattoo... soon.
:-)
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