I hope your program works! I have to admit, that I didn't even think about that the children who don't have parents who work with them on their schoolwork might actually be willing to give up recess to be with a caring adult. Goes back to, and puts a positive spin on, the old saying that any attention, even bad attention, is better than no attention. I am a full time volunteer at our school and when I think about all the hugs I get from the kids at our school, all the beautiful pictures they draw for me, the problems they talk to me about, I am reminded that these children often don't have someone at home who does what I do... mainly take an interest in them and their world. I truly hope your program works, and hope that others are inspired by it. I apologize for what may have seemed like nasty responses. Seems like I forgot what children are willing to give up to be noticed, nurtured and loved.
Elizabeth [img]redface.gif[/img]

Well, we asked all of the teachers about that and they have all set aside 30 minutes each day when someone can come into the class to tutor. It's actually working out pretty well now. Take into account that this is a pretty small school with only 3 4th grade classes and 2 5th grade classes. They haven't been getting alot of recess time to begin with so it's not like we are punishing them; some of them end up losing what little recess time they have anyways because they haven't met their reading goal, or for some other reason. This is the same 30 minutes that the teachers use for either AR time or catch up time anyway. We just put the program into practice this past week, and SO FAR, it's working pretty well. The kids seem to like the fact that they get to sit down with somebody's mom and get extra help. Maybe it helps take the place of those parents who don't bother to help with homework. Sometimes they just need to hear things explained a different way than the way the teacher does. Whatever the reason, I'm just glad that it seems to be working out okay. Hopefully we can help those who need it the most. I guess we'll know come test time!!

OKAY, going with the idea that parents who do care will come and tutor children (arghhhh... I always have to play the devil's advocate...lol), wouldn't this mean that while they are being tutored on one 'old' skill, they would be missing out on the 'new' skill? To me, it just seems that it is a win/lose situation at best. Tutor them during class time is loss of class time. Do it during recess is considered punishment by the students. After school requires permission from parents/guardians and makes for a long school day for younger students who don't understand that this is a political thing and truly has nothing to do with them, for if it did, the system would already have accepted the fact that it is simply too much to do in too short a time with far too many restrictions.
Again, I certainly support tutoring. I have tutored children in reading for many years now. I just don't see how tutoring will work in this specific situation without it turning into a punishment for the children themselves.

Alot of the students are not ready for the testing because they have such a wide range of stuff to learn. For instance, my oldest son who is a 4th grade honor roll student has had tests on fractions, decimals, and geometry, all in the space of a couple of weeks. No sooner than he started understanding one skill, it was time to move on to something else! I spend alot of time in his classroom and even though some of the students don't understand a concept, the teacher does not have the time to stop and keep going over it. She has to go on to the next concept because she has to teach the entire book before test date (The state did provide textbooks that are supposed to teach what will be on the test, however, after looking at it and the way it explains fractions, I started getting confused too, and I know what I'm doing) ! I think this is a real shame because although she is being paid to teach she cannot spend the amount of time teaching a concept (like converting decimals to fractions to percents and back again, or geometry and congruent figures, converting Farenheit to Celcius, or any other such stuff that I NEVER saw in the 4th grade) as she thinks is appropriate to make sure that ALL students understand! We have wonderful teachers at our school who have been working their behinds off since the beginning of the school year to help these kids learn what they need to know for the tests, some kids need more help than others! Don't get me wrong, our overall test scores are up and we are doing really well, but there are always those students who fall behind and these are the ones that we are trying to help most of all! [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]

As for the parents, well, you know as well as I do that not all parents do everything they can to participate with their child's learning. If they did, we would have an ABUNDANCE of volunteers!!! Unfortunately, some parents think that it is only the responsibility of the teachers to teach their children....some parents don't bother to check homework at night, pay attention to Accelerated Reading points, grades, etc, etc. They use the same excuses that they use for not attending PTO meetings..they claim they don't have time.

[ 03-13-2002: Message edited by: ankema ]</p>

Oddly enough our teachers start practicing test skills with our students the first month of school and parents were--I stress were-- upset by that!! Once the school board started explaining in the school newsletter why and how this benifits our students in the long run many parents have calmed down. Our teachers use part of their English and Reading time to go over skills and sample questions on the tests. I wish I could give you stats on how well this works but our school has seen improvments over time.

DP- we recently had a cop's wife arrested for beating their son and the boy had been in a coma for two (2) days in the family home....I was at the barber shop and we all felt SHE needed a good beating and left. Not very mommy like of me but it's really scary. The boy is certainly in my heart and prayers, he's not expected to live. :confused:

Note to DP:

I'm sorry to hear that. Amazing that you need a license to drive a car but anyone can raise a child (or not raise a child as the case may be).

Elizabeth