Rock and a Hard Place

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-12-2003
Rock and a Hard Place
1524
Thu, 11-20-2003 - 10:45am

There's something on this board that has been bothering me, and I hope I can articulate it.

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-02-2003
Thu, 11-27-2003 - 11:55am
Nope no rebuttal. Simply because you are clearly one who has to win, and because I don't remember all the technical details. What I took away from the seminar was that computers INTERRUPT the hard wiring process and that the results can be harmful. I choose to take that information and to err on the side of caution. You win? I don't know, let's check back in 20 years or so once they have the substantiative data.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 11-27-2003 - 11:56am
I wonder if the researchers presented the seminar? Often its not the researchers who present these seminars. Often its some writer or public speaker trying to pilfer a buck off the concrete work of researchers who present the hype seminars. Even Belsky gets misrepresented by these.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-23-2003
Thu, 11-27-2003 - 11:56am
No, lol. Your child can be making progress but just not fast enough. That kind of thinking is how kids get to high school unable to read. "We'll Johnny WAS progressing year to year so I thought he was learning what he should have". Nope. Making progress and making adequate progress are two different things. Because I know where my dd stands in her class this year, I'll be better able to assertaing whether or not she's making adequate progress next year. My dd could progress but still fall behind her peers. Knowing where she is with regard to her peers will help nip problems in the bud.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-23-2003
Thu, 11-27-2003 - 11:58am
The rate at which they learn is important to. Knowing your child's rank can help identify issues if they start slipping behind their peers. It is quite possible for a child to be learning but falling behind the rest of the class.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 11-27-2003 - 11:58am
Than you...certainly. Than the researchers - well I'd actually have to hear them present what you seem to have perceived, for myself. Then I'd have to hear their anwers to my questions in order to determine if I, or CLW, are actually wiser and more aware then them. It is possible.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 11-27-2003 - 12:01pm
So college age people should be expected to be able to make comparisons on behalf of themselves. But its too much for parents to swallow in terms of their children? Honey, the teacher aint sitting the child down with the chart. Its the parent who is being exposed. What. You can't handle the truth?
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2002
Thu, 11-27-2003 - 12:05pm
I think there is some confusion here in the idea of comparison. Personally, I find it useless to compare a child to 20 other children in his/her class. I don't think one can make any kind of reasonable or accurate statements about that child's rank and ability based on such a comparison, the sample size is simple too small. It would be far more reasonable if certain standards of what should and can be achieved at a certain age are created based on years of experience with a very large sampling of children and that is used as a basis for comparison. I am not an advocate of completely isolated and subjective discussions of where children are....some form of context is needed and I appreciate having that. I find it ridiculous, however, to assume that a sample size of 20 is a reasonable context.

Ds's school has a set of standards and criteria that children are expected to meet by certain times. Failure to meet those criteria is brought up to the parent's attention immediately and the parent is expected to work out a program with the school for addressing those problems. There is a full-time, on-site special education teacher who works with the parents to achieve this. Generally, parents have a very hard time blaming the school for a child's failure to learn and they are informed constantly that they share the responsibility for education with the school. None of the criteria and standards are based on the achievements of a single class or direct comparison between students in a class, they are based on general standards that have been developed through years of data collection and observation.

Laura

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 11-27-2003 - 12:07pm
There is NOTHING wrong with average. But average is not determined by a parental comfort level. Don't you want to know if he IS performing at an average level?
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2002
Thu, 11-27-2003 - 12:14pm
It's a pretty fine line, however, between being aware that one is the brightest in the class and announcing it to all and sundry in a bragging manner. Most 6-14 yo have a tendency to miss this line by a mile, ime, and can easily set themselves up for a very poor relationship with their peers.

Laura

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 11-27-2003 - 12:15pm
Oh, some version of it was most likely plastered in the faces of those less academically inclinded. Classroom achievements aren't secret within the classroom - but childhood perceptions of other achievements aren't always accurate either. Perhaps their parent of the less academically inclined were spared though.

<>

Like I said, you are the one with the competitive-about-your-kids problem. The teacher isn't reviewing the chart with the kids. Stop confusing parents trauma over the data with that of the children who will have no knowledge of the data.

Pages