Re: study of red****rting (late entrance to kndergarten)

Hi --

Your suggestion that, if a child isn't ready to learn to read, write or
do arithmetic then that child shouldn't be in .. was it K or 1st grade?
-- doesn't strike me as sensible.

In K-3rd grades, a significant amount of time is spent on learning to
read.  And this is the age where difficulties with the process should be
located and addressed.  Simple issues such as poor vision or lack of
breakfast, bigger issues such as dyslexia or mental processing issues,
are likely to come out, and can be addressed, in these grades.  And with
the issues addressed, most children can learn to read and write.
Delaying school entry just means delaying diagnosis of these issues,
often making them harder to overcome.

The balance of the curriculum normally does NOT depend upon a child's
ability to read in these early years.  Teaching of content is taught via
a variety of means, including class discussions, spoken explanations,
hands-on activities, etc.

Children are expected to be able to "read to learn" starting midway
through 3rd grade.  This does make life difficult for those kids who
can't yet read fluently, and this may be why many schools and systems
start some degree of tracking in 3rd grade.  (That's about age 8 or 9,
for those who live with different educational systems.)  But serious,
fully-fledged tracking doesn't start until about 6th grade (age 11-ish),
when most schools distinguish between regular and honors cl*****, start
letting some kids take the more advanced math cl*****, and so forth.

My observations,
--Beth Kevles
  bethkevles@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html
-- a page for the
milk-allergic
  Disclaimer:  Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
  advice.  Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE:  No email is read at my MIT address.  Use the GMAIL one if you would
like me to reply.