<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><DIV>I received four years of teacher's training in the 60s. I spent two years in a County College and another two years at a state college in Wisconsin. I had a degree and license to teach and no knowledge how to teach a child to read beyond teaching sight words. Every class I taught had a few children who could not read in third grade. I did not know how to help them learn. I am sure they are now part of the adult population who are poor readers. I was a poor reading teacher as were all of my contemporaries. There were teachers who could teach all the children in their classes to read, but they were trained differently than me. I suggest that primary grade teachers get trained by teachers who do know how to make phonics work; that do know what to do with the "whole language" lessons (disregard them) in first and second grades;
and can produce third graders who can read and are not already discouraged. Intervention needs to be done at the college level with the training of teachers.</DIV>
<DIV>It would make all the difference and eventually put all of us (teachers of adult literacy) out of work. I had to find such teachers on my own. The web site at <A href="http://www.nrrf.org">www.nrrf.org</A> covers this subject very well. The NIFL would accomplish something just letting people know about this.</DIV>
<DIV>Sharon Hillestad</DIV>
<DIV>State Director of the National Right to Read Foundation</DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR>--- On <B>Tue, 11/18/08, Lucille Cuttler <I><l.cuttler@comcast.net></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid">From: Lucille Cuttler <l.cuttler@comcast.net><BR>Subject: [LearningDisabilities 2565] Re: Thinking about the NIFL<BR>To: "The Learning Disabilities Discussion List" <learningdisabilities@nifl.gov><BR>Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 11:00 AM<BR><BR>
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<DIV><SPAN class=593015815-18112008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>Thank you for so gently describing the truth. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=593015815-18112008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=593015815-18112008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>I picked up the word "remedial" -- </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=593015815-18112008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=593015815-18112008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>May I suggest that Wilson - or Spalding or any of the O-G based programs -- would be presented grades K-2 - and then we would have a population of youngsters who can read without struggling. This is the policy of some private schools who do not WAIT until the youngster is struggling in grade 4. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=593015815-18112008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=593015815-18112008><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff>Lucille Cuttler </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> learningdisabilities-bounces@nifl.gov [mailto:learningdisabilities-bounces@nifl.gov]<B>On Behalf Of </B>Shoshanah Dean Hilmer<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, November 18, 2008 6:42 AM<BR><B>To:</B> learningdisabilities@nifl.gov<BR><B>Subject:</B> [LearningDisabilities 2562] Re: Thinking about the NIFL<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>Through research it appears that things start slipping for many children at the 3rd or 4th grade level. If a child doesn't have a solid foundation, schoolwork becomes overwhelming. Children also have to deal with a lot of external stresses such teasing from classmates and turmoil within the family. Unless we address the social and emotional issues, I am not sure we will see much improvement. I run a women's literacy department and we have a babysitting program. I often see the transformation
right before my eyes. A child comes in, struggling with her schoolwork, but is proud to demonstrate the skills she has learned. Then, at about 8 or 9 years old, she starts to become discouraged as children tease her and she discovers that, no matter how hard she tries, she is not getting good grades. She wonders why she should even try when all she does is fail. She has after school tutoring, but it's not enough. As "icing on the cake" she now needs to process her older brother getting shot for the second time, mom getting beat up by her latest boyfriend, and moving from one apartment to another. The details are different, but the story is the same. Some children are not getting the help they need at this stage. <BR> <BR>There are good early intervention programs like Head Start. I'd like to see NIFL pick up where good early intervention programs leave off. What's the
solution? I'm not exactly sure. I don't like the whole remedial classroom idea. However, I know that individualize attention and quality programs like Wilson are vital. I know that no child should ever be given a high school diploma and "passed through" when they can't read. <BR> <BR>I would also like to see that NIFL doesn't lose their focus on adult literacy. There aren't many organizations to advocate for adults. At the moment, there seems to be no quick solution. Therefore, we must still address the needs of the adults who don't receive what they need early on and now have to try to make a living.<BR> <BR>Shannie<BR><BR><BR>
<DIV>
<P align=left><FONT color=#660066><A href="http://www.womenscenterofjax.org/" target=_blank rel=nofollow></A> </DIV></FONT></DIV><BR><BR><BR><BR>
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