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    ultramarina #187939 04/11/14 05:50 AM
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    When I read the article I was bothered (at first). How many of us have heard a teacher tell us "they're not really reading," when we, as parents, know that out they are, really.

    In defense of the author (and I'm only talking about my DS), there are strong "decoders." My DS7 has strong technical skills, but his stamina and comprehension lag about 1-2 years behind those skills (and still a few years ahead of first grade). The decoding (again, my opinion) is part of DS's giftedness. We don't worry about it- but for purely selfish reasons, I'm not handing him the Hobbit (I want him to love it!) until we can have a meaningfully discussion about the themes.

    It was actually the author's condescending tone toward decoders that got me--a kid who can read (even at "only" a technical level) a book like "Harry Potter" at six, and accurately pronounce words meant for fifth grade and up, has some gifts (probably in memory and phonetic skills) that should be tapped.

    ultramarina #188009 04/11/14 10:19 AM
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    Quote
    My DS7 has strong technical skills, but his stamina and comprehension lag about 1-2 years behind those skills (and still a few years ahead of first grade)

    I certainly agree that these kids are out there. But as you say, if they are strong in decoding but not as strong in comprehension, they will naturally be lower in stamina. They may still be rather gifted in reading, as you point out. But it's like the author has scorn for these children, and finds them almost offputting. frown

    ultramarina #188010 04/11/14 10:23 AM
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    Exactly-- and the fact that the author seems to presume that such feats are the outer LIMIT of what children are capable of at five or six years old... just... well, it makes me sad.

    Children like mine (and many parents here) learn rather quickly from such educators that their authentic skills (literacy in this instance, but also in other domains) must not be "real" and that they should hide them or risk "intervention" to "fix" them as learners. I truly wonder if this kind of attitude isn't what sows the seeds of imposter syndrome.

    I wish that educators could set aside what they know for a change, and examine what is actually in front of them in any particular child. Broad over-generalizations aren't really helping anyone. How ridiculous would it be to state a logical statement which is diametrically opposed to this author's clear thesis, after all?

    Oh, illiterate adults can't really exist. They're just not giving themselves enough credit for comprehension. They've all been taught to read, after all... therefore they all possess basic decoding skills that have been developed through years of exposure to print in their daily lives. Of course they can read.

    Sounds pretty ridiculous in the face of adults who genuinely cannot decode, (due to disability or other circumstance) right? But I don' see that statement as being fundamentally different than this author's. It's based on parallel assumptions about development, some of which are clearly flawed.



    Last edited by HowlerKarma; 04/11/14 10:28 AM. Reason: because

    Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.
    cammom #188021 04/11/14 11:08 AM
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    Originally Posted by cammom
    When I read the article I was bothered (at first). How many of us have heard a teacher tell us "they're not really reading," when we, as parents, know that out they are, really.

    In defense of the author (and I'm only talking about my DS), there are strong "decoders." My DS7 has strong technical skills, but his stamina and comprehension lag about 1-2 years behind those skills (and still a few years ahead of first grade). The decoding (again, my opinion) is part of DS's giftedness. We don't worry about it- but for purely selfish reasons, I'm not handing him the Hobbit (I want him to love it!) until we can have a meaningfully discussion about the themes.

    You are making a good point, and we have discussed elsewhere on this forum how some of us have kids with this particular combination of strengths and weaknesses, where they read early but have lagging comprehension skills, simply because that's the way they are wired.

    However the author does not make this point at all, and I doubt that it has ever even occurred to her. Instead, her premise is that early readers are always hothoused, which causes them to crash and burn eventually.

    ultramarina #188027 04/11/14 11:43 AM
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    Wow. I was a total Sarah.

    I think Zivic is competently biased against kids who are early readers in a way that is very harmful to the kids she teaches. I don't know why I was an early reader, but I sure did love to do it. I also felt, until high school, like no teacher ever really liked me. Maybe this is why. Maybe they were all Rachel Zivics.

    I read whatever I wanted. I, too, read with second graders. I got sent to the library for three years during reading class. What I didn't get was reading instruction. EVER. No teacher ever taught me anything about reading.

    So did I learn those strategies she mentioned? Not until college. Don't blame that on the kid. If the school offered me reading instruction at my level in K-3, maybe I would have been able to build my foundations systematically too.

    In my mind, this is just another call for true differentiation. Every kid deserves the attention of a teacher. For what it's worth, in my case it turned out okay. I've always loved to read and I became a writer. But I did that in spite of my instruction, not because of it. Perhaps the "painful resentment" comes from not getting the same instruction everybody else does and then watching them pass you by. What's abnormal about that?

    ultramarina #249063 07/31/21 06:13 PM
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    For those who may be interested to read the OP article, the link has changed.

    Article -
    The Harry Potter Effect: Slow and Steady Still Wins the Race
    by Rachel Zivic
    Spring 2012
    NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools)

    New link to the article on the NAIS website -
    https://www.nais.org/magazine/indep...potter-effect-slow-and-steady-still-win/

    The article at the original link is backed up on the WayBack Machine, internet archive.

    Link to archived article -
    https://web.archive.org/web/2016040...slow-and-steady-still-wins-the-race.aspx

    Also (cut and paste) -
    https://web.archive.org/web/2016*/http://nais.org/magazines-newsletters/ITmagazine/pages/the-harry-potter-effect-slow-and-steady-still-wins-the-race.aspx

    At the time the article was written, the author's role was described as learning specialist and literacy coordinator. At the newer link on the NAIS website, the author's title is given as director of curriculum and instructional support at the same academy. The academy website shows she is presently head of school.

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