Tell backs
August 15th, 2006 | by Vinny |Son and Daughter have both been enrolled in a reading program this summer.
They are not struggling readers, but they do have trouble with notes and following directions. It was our thought, since the vendor claims to have a special way of teaching children to take notes, that they may benefit from this program. It means they continue to do homework throughout the summer.
Anyone who has children knows that they do not do homework alone. Someone must be avaialable for them, to review what they have done, to offer constructive feedback, and to make certain they remain on task. That is my job now. How has it become my job? Because Mother does not wish to do it.
You see, I made the mistake of reading the directions for the homework, and it states that the children are to read for 30 minutes, stopping every five minutes for a ‘tell back.’ At this point, they are to explain to you what they have just finished reading. I pointed this out to Mother, and she explained to me that since she had done all the planning for the program, and had taken on the lion’s share of the work, that if I thought it should be done, I could do it.
I thought it should be done. Son hates it the most, since he feels he is a strong reader. Unfortunately, he is. I mean that because he is great at understanding the grander aspects of the books he reads. He is terrible at reading and executing directions. This understanding of greater literature gives him an arrogance that allows him to gloss over the most important aspect of the assignment- the directions.
The tell backs are a start. If we can get them to focus on the smaller details, then perhaps they can begin to recognize the smaller, more noteworthy aspects of the text. If not, at least I’m getting a page-by-page description of “Kidnapped” (Son) and “The Chronicles of Narnia” (Daughter) in between blog entries.
Filed in: education
