12/21/2001

Reading Program Meltdown: Quit or Switch?

QUESTION:

My son began a specialized reading program at the beginning of this school year (first grade). He has never been thrilled about being taken out of his regular classroom on a daily basis to participate in this program. The teachers assure him that he isn't missing anything "fun" while he's gone. I have also explained how the program is designed to help his reading ability.

His resistance gave way to positive progress by late October. His attitude was good, and he was making steady gains. In December, a different teacher was assigned to teach reading, a change that sent my son into a downward spiral. His attitude is again very negative, and he has stopped making progress. My questions are:

• Do I pull my son out of this program due to his poor attitude?
• If I pull him out, am I reinforcing negative behavior, in effect saying that it is ok to quit trying when you don't like something?
• Should I ask the school to reassign the previous teacher to work with him, if possible?

ANSWER:

If you have the option to switch back to the teacher with whom your son was making progress, that would be my first choice, because the progress is what you are looking for. That is how your son would view such a change, too. I do not think such a move would reinforce negative behavior. It would be a way of reestablishing a positive trend.

Barring that option, there are some next steps you can try. Not necessarily in this order, consider the following: - Ask teacher one to meet with teacher two and discuss the process she used to establish progress with your son. Offer to sit in on the meeting, so that you can share your perspectives as needed.

- Talk with your son about the situation and find out what he thinks could help. Perhaps attending the tutorial with another student would help him feel less isolated from the rest of the class.

- Increase time spent at home reading together. In addition to books of all kinds, you can increase the time he spends reading by subscribing to a magazine with stories and articles of interest to him. Cooking projects involve reading. Ask him to read the list of ingredients while you assemble them; then ask him to read the directions while you carry them out. Lots of fun activities involve the written word without turning the parent into an overbearing teacher. Perhaps your son would enjoy writing to a pen pal (found easily through organizations on the Internet) or correspondence (email or snail mail) with family members or friends who live in other parts of the country or even in foreign countries.

The bottom line? Work with your son and his teachers to find a way to help him over this hurdle. Quitting is never an option when it comes to finding ways to help a child acquire essential building blocks and skills for learning. Reading is one of those essential building blocks, critical to school success throughout elementary, middle, high school and college years – critical, in fact, for lifelong learning.

LINKS:

Reading activities for children: Operation Bookworm http://www.operationbookworm.com/

Kid stories at Wondervista: http://www.wondervista.com/Wondervista/home.html

Children's Reading Room: Museum of Unnatural History http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/crr/

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Please send questions or comments to bbruno@snet.net.