Transcript
Speaker: Knowing the name of the curriculum is far less important than just like saying like how does learning work in this classroom? Like I'm so excited to learn what a day looks like in this classroom. I'm so excited to meet the teacher. so just go in with that excitement that you want for your child to have. a Play Onwards! This is Play Onwards from Big City Readers.
Speaker: This is Beth.
Speaker: Okay, welcome back to the Play On Words podcast from Big City Readers. This is a good episode because we're kicking off a series um talking about curriculum questions. So it's the beginning of the school year. You're probably getting information about curriculum, hopefully. um You might start to see some things come home or you might have um a lot of schools do like a back to school curriculum night for parents where you get to come and learn about the question or about the curriculum.
Speaker: And a lot of parents like, I don't even it's so overwhelming. I don't even know. So joining me is a Big City Readers mom and and staff member, Susan, ah burn's favorite podcast guest. ah Hi, Susan. Thanks for helping.
Speaker: great I'm excited for this because I have a third grader ah starting third grade next week. So I'm not new to the back to school, but I still have some questions for you, even with all my experience.
Speaker: I know. And I like that i you said I have a question and I was like, what is it? you like, i'm going to wait till we're up. So it'll be good. So I have some questions from DMs. And um yeah, I figure we could just like kind of dive in to that. Does your school have a back to school curriculum night for parents?
Speaker: We have two separate things. We have like a back to school night, which is where we get to go in the classroom, talk to the the teachers, kind of go over general um expectations for the school year. they They don't really go into curriculum that night. But later in the fall, we have an event where you can choose a track like math, reading, science, and you can see how they do like reading from K through 8.
Speaker: Well, it's so hard because, like, I feel like I'm like, I'm like, oh, I wish they would do that. It's so informative. But parents also don't know what they're supposed to be, like, hearing. You know, there it's overwhelming, especially for, like, three kids, three different grades, all the subjects. It's just...
Speaker: A lot. So we're kind of well we'll kind of focus on like what's important, and we'll obviously focus on like mostly reading, which is the most important, in my opinion, and I think most people's opinions. Because if you can't read, you really can't do anything. You can't do any of the rest of the subjects if you can't read. So... um I'm just, I'll be answering these questions from the baby's room that is completely undone. um But I just told Andy when I came in, I was like, I'm working from the baby's room, but I kind of like mumbled from the baby's room. And so it sounded like I'm working on the baby's room. So it'll just like by osmosis will be put together.
Speaker: um Okay, so I'm going to start with, should I start with a question, the specific one I got yesterday, or should I start with like general back to school night? What do you think? Just tell us what we should expect from a back to school night.
Speaker: Well, I guess that depends on the school and the teacher and everything. But back to school night, I will say, is not the time to in interrogate the teacher or ask for like a full assessment on your child. Or I would say it's probably not the time to be like, my child's very gifted. How are you going challenge them? I would say go in ready to receive information and ask questions based on that information. So not necessarily like,
Speaker: Well, are you memorizing? Are you going to have them memorize sight words? um But let the teacher talk and write your questions down as they're talking, because likely you're going to get the information throughout their spiel.
Speaker: um And then go at it with curiosity. So let's say you are a super big City Readers parent. And you're like, I knew from the beginning, I'm never going to have my kids memorize words. I know about orthographic mapping. I know about 3Qing and how we don't want that. I'm not in one of the states that's banned it. So I'm like stressed about it, you know, whatever.
Speaker: You know all of this stuff. And then they give you a sight word list and you want to go right up to the teacher. But this is, you can take a breath and decide to wait a minute and and just go in with curiosity. So saying like, okay, like not playing dumb, but just like literally you do not have all of the information.
Speaker: So say, am new to this, and I know that the school has said um that this is that you're using a science of reading approach.
Speaker: And from my understanding, memorizing words is not in the science of reading backed approach. Can you explain this more to us? I think that is like less like interrogating or attacky.
Speaker: um But even even taking a step back from that is starting with like, just this is your opportunity to figure out how does learning work in this classroom? Especially for kindergarten through second grade parents, you you don't really need to know the name of every curriculum that's used. And because a lot of times teachers supplement, they they do a lot of different things. So there might be different training going on. They might change things in the middle of the year.
Speaker: And they might not even fully follow it. So knowing the name of the curriculum is far less important than just like saying like, how does learning work in this classroom? Like, I'm so excited to learn what a day looks like in this classroom. I'm so excited to meet the teacher. so just go in with that excitement that you want for your child to have. um But so so basically it's like an overview.
Speaker: um And remember, it might be like kind of stressful on the teacher and because they're like, okay, are these parents? you there's There's such a range of feelings parents might have, right? It might be like, I want to know every single detail of of all of the reading curriculum from day one to day 19 outlined. And some people are like, why what is phonics? You know, so there's a big range. And so they might not have it perfectly explained to your liking because they're trying to reach a bigger range of um parents. Yeah. But know that you can ask more questions and just go at it with like go into this night if you have one with a sense of curiosity.
Speaker: One thing that I have found is that, and let me know if you agree with this, asking the teacher at the back-to-school night how they would like to communicate with parents. Because I've definitely, I've had teachers who want to do email, like they're great at doing email. They'll say, well, you know, we check our email at in the morning and at 1 p.m. and we'll get back to you in X amount of time. And I've had other teachers who do not do email well at all. They would rather you stop them like at drop-off and talk to them. yeah And that is really a helpful thing to learn, I think, at back to school night. That's a good point. Yeah. Asking how how can we expect to to communicate with you um and use that way to communicate before there's a problem. Like just like I mean, even you go such a long way to that's the first day of school and just sending like.
Speaker: Hey, Elliot came home so happy today. She said she had so much fun in the math lesson. Have a great day. Like, not just using the communication to be like, I heard somebody was mean and you did nothing about it. Or I heard you say it or, remember you know, all the things. But, um but yeah, that's definitely a great question ask. We just had a um a parent dean of students meeting and and they asked that. They're like, how...
Speaker: How often do you want to hear from us? Like, you you can tell us if we're communicating too much with you. we were like, you won't really hear from us. We're not, we're not like, we're not those people. like Obviously, okay, I should not say that because I always tell people, don't be afraid. a lot of people are like, I don't want to be that mom that's asking questions.
Speaker: And i i was like, we aren't going to be like the parents that are like, we heard that this happened. Is that true? where We usually will go to like investigate with the child, look at the work, look at, you know, all of the sources first.
Speaker: But yeah, asking, asking how you can expect to have communication and how to best send communication is a great, great question to start with. Okay, so I already said my favorite general question to start with is what does a typical day look like?
Speaker: I like to ask this to kids when they get out of school and to teachers at these kind of opportunities that you get. What does a typical day look like? This simple question can give you so much information.
Speaker: What you're going to listen for is How much time kids spend sitting versus moving? How much time ah is whole group versus small group instruction? How much time is spent independent work, play, outdoor time, recess, um in each of the math, reading, writing, ah science, social studies blocks?
Speaker: How much time do they have choice? Are their brain breaks? Especially in kindergarten, what I would be listening for is whether the expectations actually sound developmentally appropriate. And you might be saying, how am i supposed to know what's developmentally appropriate? Well, you know your child.
Speaker: And if you're not hearing a lot of breaks or a lot of small group or, you know, you'll know what to hear. And then you can ask for more clarity on that. like You could say, doesn't sound like you mentioned a lot of free time playing. How does that factor in? I know it can be scary to ask the question because you don't want to be like, even i when going to like my prenatal appointments, I'm like,
Speaker: I don't want them to be mad at me. If I like, I, you know, I i keep thinking like, if I'm like, well, I don't want to be induced. They're like oh, everybody says they don't want to be induced. You know, like act the doctors act like offended. So I'm like, I'm open to what you say. I trust you as the expert.
Speaker: Can you tell me more about the induction rate? Like how likely is it that I would need to be induced? So just like kind of going at it like that instead of like, well, that sounds terrible. How long have you been a teacher? I wish your license would get revoked. It's especially tough to ask a question like that because in that situation, you're typically in the room with all these other parents.
Speaker: Yeah. So you're like, I don't want to stand up in front of everyone else and present myself as the one who's like, you know, asking all the questions. Yeah, but i think that I think that people appreciate that person. When we were touring schools last year, on my third question, the the person giving the tour was like, oh, we found the educator in the room, ladies and gentlemen. And I was like, so embarrassed.
Speaker: But i was I was like, so it sounds like your expectations align with responsive classroom. You know, I was asking things like that. that so So I was saying like some buzzy words that I actually understood. i would say don't say a buzzword if you don't really know what it means.
Speaker: So we know that the science of reading, this is just a small example. We know that the science of reading usually does not entail starting with memorizing words. A parent I was working one-on-one with said our school said that they were doing a science of reading backed approach.
Speaker: And my kindergartner came home with a list of color words to memorize. It was like practices every night, orange, purple, white, blue, pink. And I was just like, this is so, not only so dated in the science of reading research, but just like starting with the color words. Like I would have been slightly happier if it was like said, what, me, my, the.
Speaker: But what what would need to happen before a list of words to memorize comes home? In kindergarten, we'd need to have had um the teacher assess all of the students, since they're sending this home to all the students, not just one of the students.
Speaker: Assessed all the students, know where they are with how many letters and sounds they know, know that they can read and blend real and nonsense consonant-vowel-consonant words, and have introduced the concept of irregular words. So they've already practiced mapping regular words, and she or he has already introduced the concept of mapping irregular words.
Speaker: And then the irregular words I would start with would be more like my, that they're actually going to see um shorter words, like two letter or three word letter words. These are the words they're going to see more frequently. But again, i would not start that until I had certainty that they are understanding how to blend Regular words. Then I would introduce irregular words. So no, I don't believe that that happened within the first two days of school because having taught kindergarten in first grade, the assessments, it would I wouldn't start kindergarten reading assessments until mid to late October because kindergartners take so much time to get acclimated into their classroom.
Speaker: and to their routines. So we would often get false results because they were shy. If they're getting pulled out by the reading specialist for an assessment, they might not do their best work until they're more familiar with their environment.
Speaker: So I definitely don't think that that all happened in the first two days of this kindergarten class. So I was like, do you feel, i said to the mom, was like, do you feel comfortable saying like, hey, I know you guys said that you're doing a science of reading based curriculum.
Speaker: to my understanding, this does not follow that. Can you explain how this this assignment aligns to the science of reading research? And i know that to me, i feel confident asking, but my friend is a physical therapist. And I remember after my like 18-week appointment, my OB said um that I couldn't lift more than 20 pounds, and I lift more than that.
Speaker: um And I did before I was pregnant. I had been doing it my whole pregnancy because the OB I had seen before I saw this one said, yeah, you can do whatever you've always been doing. And my physical therapist friend said, you should say, could you show me the research that says if I was lifting before,
Speaker: I have to stop because I'm pregnant. And I was like, oh, I can't do that. to She's going mad at me. So I'm aware that would but it's so funny because I'm like, I would have no problem going to a school where I know no one and asking this because I'm so confident. And it's funny because my friend who's the physical therapist is so confident in knowing the research that she's like,
Speaker: that will That is a fine question to ask. But I was like, what if I'm wrong? What if I'm dumb? Like, what if I ask it the wrong way? Trust me that that is a normal question to ask.
Speaker: and and And just know that going in with the the like the the mindset that you are curious. So say like, I am curious. Just say that that phrase. I am curious.
Speaker: How this aligns with the science of reading research, I don't i don't know a ton about it. But can you explain how this aligns? Not, I don't think this aligns. You can just say, can you explain how this aligns? You don't even have to say it doesn't seem like it aligns. You just say, can you help me understand how this aligns? um Or even like cop-out would be like...
Speaker: A couple of the parents on the playground were talking about this, so I said I would be the one to ask. So then you're like, that's good i'm I'm the one that's coming to you, teacher. Like, I'm not talking to other parents. Teachers love when you come directly to them. they don't And the admin, nobody wants to hear that everybody's talking about something and not coming to them.
Speaker: That simple phrasing I think is really helpful. Yeah. Even, yeah. it Also, it's like so interesting. I had a doctor today. You know, I have no allegiance to any doctor because we just, they were like, who's your general or your main doctor? And I was like, I've seen a different one every time. I don't know, which is fine because I don't, you you know, you don't know who's going to deliver your baby, but I like all of them. I don't feel, I'm like, I i guess I'm very chill. Everyone keeps being like, wow, a lot of people are like, I need to see this person. and I'm like,
Speaker: whatever, whoever will see me. But this woman today was so awesome. She was so chatty. I felt like I could ask her anything and it wouldn't offend her.
Speaker: So there is like, hopefully you have a teacher that makes you feel that way. Like i you know, I had one doctor that I was like, everybody says I'm going to have a C-section if I deliver here. And he was like, why? We don't want to give it. why We don't want to do surgery. Like that's, that's more work for us. And He was kind of just, like, annoyed that I was saying what everybody said. But today, this woman I saw, I was like, I'm worried about this. And she's like, everybody's worried about that. That's so normal. Let me explain why people are stressed about it. And i was like, she didn't take it personally. She wasn't like, why would someone be saying I'm more likely to give a C-sign? You know, she just was she just was so
Speaker: open to that. So I just like, my hope for everyone is that they have a teacher that receives their curiosity and is like, oh my gosh, I actually love, this is what the doctor today said. She was, I love this shit. And she's like, let me explain this. And she just started like, she literally sat on the counter, like in the and thats in the um like doctor's office. And we're like, this is so funny. She just like sat like a girlfriend. And I love that. So I hope that you have a teacher that's like, oh my gosh, I have spent so much time learning this. I've spent so much time building this curriculum. I've spent so much time thinking about your kids sitting in their desks and how they're going to learn how to read this year.
Speaker: Thank you for this opportunity for me to word vomit all over you about what we are doing. Like, that is what you should have. That's what a great teacher would look like. They would love to share that with you. So I hope that for everyone. Go into it assuming that's what their mindset is.
Speaker: That's helpful too. Because I think sometimes you go in feeling like you're already an adversary, but if you go in, assume the best. Assume that they're excited to talk to you about your childhood.
Speaker: Well, I think that's like a good thing to remember in life. I was giving like a little pep talk to my middle schoolers, my my nieces and and friends' kids. And I was like, I wish when I was in seventh grade, I felt like people like me. Of course, I'm going to go up and say, hey, can I hang out with you guys? Or, hey, what are you guys doing? And not feel like, oh, I needed to wait to be invited to something. But like nobody feels confident going up and saying... Like, hey, can I join this? But assume the best. The best case scenario is is what I'm trying. that's That's my goal for this year. Maybe that should be everyone's goal for this year.
Speaker: Like, assume the best. Okay, another question I might ask at back-to-school night is, what do you hope kids can do independently by the end of the year? What do you hope a kindergartner can do independently at the the year? Insert whatever grade. This is so much more, um this gives you so much more information than, like, well what standards are you covering?
Speaker: I don't know many parents that really would know what that means when somebody says the standards they're covering. um Standards tells you what's supposed to get taught, but I would want to know what you actually hope my actual child can do. That gives me something to work on. Like, oh, I hope at the end of preschool they can write their name.
Speaker: um You know, just like something a teacher will very happily and easily give you a little thing like that. I think that that's easy for them to to come up with because it might even just be like I hope that they learn how to make friends or introduce themselves it's just it shows more of the whole picture another question is what does it look like when the child needs extra help this is a big one because you never know what is going to happen In the classroom, you might get in October or November, you might be sort of blindsided and get a note home that says your child isn't where they need to be. So we're referring them to the reading specialist or um Title one And a lot of parents come to me like, how come they didn't tell me this before? So asking ahead of time, like, what does it look like if a child needs extra help?
Speaker: um You're not really asking what happens if my kid falls behind. You're asking how the system overall works. So you want to know, do they get small group instruction? Is that with their main teacher? Is that intervention pulled out? Is it pushing? Is it extra practice sent home? Is it different materials? Is it progress monitoring? So you want to know that. And then another one that kind of like attaches to that is how will I know if my child is starting to struggle?
Speaker: You don't want the first conversation about a significant concern to happen in November when they're saying, hey, they're going to this. referral or in February. in First grade in February is like sort of a nightmare time because after December, after the holiday break, first grade moves so fast and you don't want to find out in February like that that they're significantly behind. So how will i how will I know if my child is starting struggle? What will that look like? Is that on their report card? Is that information from you?
Speaker: Um, that those are some questions that I would ask. Um, and then how do you challenge kids who are ready for more? So this I hear from a lot of parents. I actually work with a lot of families who have kids who need more of a challenge.
Speaker: And, um, it is as important as if a child is struggling because kids that do need more of a challenge, their brain is wired differently. They, they need to be stimulated in a different way.
Speaker: Support doesn't always mean intervention. Sometimes a kid walks into kindergarten already reading. And what do we what do we want to do for that? So maybe just asking more generally, how do you challenge kids who are ready for more rather than, well my kid is five and can read Harry Potter, so how are you going to keep up with them? That is a little bit of a different question um and kind of can put people into the defense. It can activate a lot of fears in a lot of other parents. um And the teacher probably is thinking, okay, well, I'll be the judge of that. You know, they're going to test them on their phonological awareness, their vocabulary, their comprehension, um their rhyming skills, how they can write letters. Are they able to write and recognize all lowercase letters? Or are they like
Speaker: just skating by and and they have some high skills, like a really good teacher will look for the gaps that are missing in and be able to support them and challenge them in the same way.
Speaker: What you don't want to hear is just that they would get more work. So say you have a kindergartner that reads at a high level and they'll say, okay, well, if that happens, we'll give them first grade work. That's not ideal, in my opinion. um You want them to get deeper work, not just like, okay, here's the next grade. You want them to be challenged in the ways that they need to be challenged. So asking about how kids in general will get challenged rather than my kid's so smart. you won't even you've You've probably never experienced a kid this smart. So obviously you don't know how to handle it, but just in general, what do you do with kids that are ready for more of a challenge?
Speaker: Leave it vague, not the subject, um not your kid, but just in general, what does that look like at this school maybe even? Okay, piggybacking off of that, um and this kind of goes with challenging kids, not kids that are challenging, but challenging kids in their academics. um How do you handle mistakes in the classroom um would be a great question to ask, especially, ok so there are often a lot of really high-achieving, perfectionistic kids. Okay. And I want to hear that mistakes are normal and celebrated. I want to see kindergarten writing hanging on the walls that is spelled phonetically and not perfectly.
Speaker: um This shows that the school slash classroom slash teacher whatever... celebrates developmentally appropriate things. And so sometimes you might see like on a bulletin board, like we're learning how to spell, like, and so it, you know, that's kind of why there's inventive spelling. But I love to see celebrated kindergarten work, first grade work, with inventive or phonetic developmentally appropriate spelling.
Speaker: I do not want to see 24 identical, perfectly spelled sentences below a picture that clearly had them copying the sentence off the board that the adult wrote.
Speaker: um A classroom should show evidence of children learning Not adults correcting everything before it gets displayed. That just is setting us up for so much struggle down the road. And we want kids to know how to work through a struggle, not just to ask the adult how to do something. Okay, I'll summarize the questions I've mentioned so far. What does a typical day look like?
Speaker: What do you hope kids can do independently by the end of the year? What does it look like when a child needs needs extra help? How will I know if my child is starting to struggle? How is the best way we can expect to be communicating with you and that we should reach out to you?
Speaker: How do you challenge kids who are ready for more? How do you handle mistakes in the classroom? Like those are like the general ones that I think I would, I would start with because even like the question of what is a typical day look like, or um what does it look like if a child needs extra help? That's going to hopefully give you more information about specifics that you might not have thought of, like about behavior. So yeah,
Speaker: What does it look like if a child needs needs extra help? Hopefully they're telling like, oh, if they need to take a break, we have this brain break corner. And in it, we talk about all of these tools. Like we shake this globe and when it calms down, they calm down. um You know, hopefully when you say, what does a typical day look like in the classroom? They'll include, and then we have a water break. And, you know, you hear about, like, what agency they have if they're allowed to go on their own to the bathroom, things like that. So in a typical day, you'll probably it'll probably trigger a couple more questions that you have.
Speaker: um And other people will have, too. Those are such great questions because I haven't in the however many times I've been to one of these. um I don't think I've ever heard those questions before. I think people like think they should have like a really specific one. Like what what happens if my child has to go to the bathroom and it's not during the bathroom time? Like and those, of course, there's an answer to those. But I think you'll get more information if you kind of think about a bigger picture than just like those micro moments that we're kind of stressed about.
Speaker: On the flip side. um I do think that your reading questions can be specific. So I have some some useful reading questions that you can ask, if that's which I know a lot of our listeners, of course, are focused on literacy like we are.
Speaker: um You don't need to ask your teacher 14 questions about phonemic awareness. um But it's useful to know what reading curriculum are you planning on using? And what i I might ask, this is like very, this is kind of out there for people, but I might ask like, what kind of training do you have? And and is is there more training that you're looking to have? um and That's like kind of like an out there question, because if they are looking for more training, if they say like, oh, I'd love to be trained in the science of reading, then if you feel it
Speaker: The follow-up could be like, is there a way parents get and can get involved in that? Because as a teacher in the classroom, I would have so much rather had parents like contribute to a fund for me to get a specific training than like a mug and a $5 Starbucks gift card that I got so often. um That would have been so meaningful because it also would mean like that he that the parents ask, not like not doing it on your own. But if the teacher says like, oh, I would love this training um and just asking more information like, oh, is that minute the school covers? Is that something that you have to cover for yourself? How can we support you in that?
Speaker: um Not just saying like, you seem like a bad teacher at reading. So we got you this training. Of course, making sure the teacher wants it. Yeah. But I would ask what phonics instruction looks like. So instead of just like, what does is a reading lesson look like? Ask more specifics. What does phonics instruction look like? you teach phonics?
Speaker: Is it explicit? Is it systematic? um These are things that you're going to hear probably. um are children taught? you You want to hear that children are taught letters, represent sounds, and that those sounds make words. You want to hear a little bit more about their phonics lesson.
Speaker: um I might ask specifically in kindergarten and first and second grade. When my child comes to a word they don't know, what are they taught to do? If the answer if if the answer is look at the picture, think about a word that would make sense, look at the first letter, can you take a guess?
Speaker: My heart rate and eyebrows are very raised. um I'd rather hear. We use a phonics program that we talk about looking at the words, saying the sounds, and blending them. We use real and nonsense words. We do orthographic mapping.
Speaker: um All of those things matter, and context matters for understanding. so You know, don't necessarily think like, oh gosh, they said sight words, but like, are you hearing the other parts too? Like, we do nonsense words. That's how we assess them.
Speaker: You could even ask for an example of what what their reading assessment would look like. I'm sure they would be happy to share that with you. And I know, it's so funny because I'm like, I'm probably making enemies by some teachers when I say this stuff, but also that should be a huge red flag if they don't want to answer parent questions. um Sorry, I said it, but The school should want to be on the same team as the parents. Would you say thinking of back-to-school night questions is more of getting the information and then follow up later? So if the response is something that you're like, ooh, I don't like that, just make a note of it. And then that you can come back to one-on-one with them as opposed to like having some confrontation front the whole.
Speaker: Yeah, kind of just collect information. So don't I would say if the curriculum, if they're saying... And in our curriculum, we use sight words. I wouldn't necessarily panic about this right away. One thing doesn't tell you how the entire school teaches reading. It doesn't tell you about the rest of the year.
Speaker: um and And remember, science of reading curriculum does not mean every single activity the teacher sends home will be perfect. A lot of times teachers are piing piecing together curriculum. So like The school might say a science of reading, but it might be pieced together. So um I would say um you also can remember as a parent, like this coming home on the first day is not a death sentence because you also have what it takes to teach your child at home. i We have a free sight word resource. um that So if you get these words, you can work on that with them.
Speaker: um You can work on teaching them the right way. um at home so so don't panic over one thing that feels misaligned don't feel like you have to address it right now you know you have me you have big city readers on your team in your back pocket you can reach out to us so it's not like oh no everything's gonna go wrong like it might be 85 great curriculum they're still working out the kinks Um, you know what's right. And so you can also, I know it's like a privilege to get to teach your child at home, but, um, we can support them at home. We can help them. You were a classroom teacher at one point, right? Yeah.
Speaker: So did you ever host like back to school nights or curriculum nights? Yeah, i loved it. I did. too i' I'm not surprised, but... But yeah, I definitely i loved but i loved curriculum night. I loved talking to parents. I would be I would host office hours and be like, come come five to six on Wednesdays. I'll be at school. But I would still, I mean, I still do office hours for people that take big city readers classes.
Speaker: I still am in my DMs, like, send me a picture if it doesn't make sense. So I just, it's just, it just feels like I don't want people to feel so alone about it. i actually really have have had great experiences with parents, probably because I'm like, I welcome questions. I never really had like a parent that asked too much or Yeah, okay, so questions I would actually ask the teacher regarding that sight word question. People are like, what do I do when they come home with this list of color words?
Speaker: Not, why are you making my child memorize sight words when that's not the science of reading? um But instead, i saw this color sight word list come home. Can you show me how you're teaching these words at school so we can practice them the same way at home?
Speaker: Um, this will tell you if they're using a science of reading approach, if they're telling you how to map the words. So if you're saying, can you show me how you're teaching these words? Um, not like, are you, are you really implying memorize these words? Okay. So this, this particular piece ah said like review these words. So you could say, when you say review, what would you like that to look like for a kindergartner? Um, just kind of like asking for more clarity without, um, kind of being,
Speaker: attackcky i think I think is the the big goal here. Here's a few other questions I might ask at curriculum night for parents of kindergarten through second graders. How much writing do children do independently? Should I expect invented or developmental spelling at this stage?
Speaker: What should homework feel like at this age? What should we prioritize at home? If I have 10 minutes only at the end of the day, what would be the most valuable thing for us to work on?
Speaker: And when is something worth reaching out about? So knowing this sort of ah before there's a problem makes it easier. again, like, wow, I am making this a lot, like how pregnancy is related to school, because like, it's like, I'm like, when? Okay, so it's normal for me to have contractions. When should I call the hospital and say I'm coming in? So like, you might be like, my kid isn't reading. When is it something that I should worry about or reach out about?
Speaker: um Kind of like knowing that before um you get to the problem. And then about the whole child, i would also ask How do you help kids build independence? What happens when a child gets frustrated?
Speaker: How do kids get motivation throughout the day? How does conflict resolution work in the classroom? And what's something parents often worry about at this age that you really wish they wouldn't?
Speaker: Well, that is all I have for today, but I am excited to continue a series about curriculum questions or homework questions into September and October, as much as this baby will let me. um So please send your, like if you have a picture of your child's homework and you're like, I don't understand this, or you hear something about curriculum or anything that you want clarity on, we will anonymously break it down in a podcast episode.
Speaker: throughout the next few weeks as we are all in this back to school season so send them you can send them on instagram at big city readers or email them to susan hello at bigcityreaders.com anything we mentioned today will be linked in the show notes and yeah if you liked this episode or found it helpful please like rate and review send it to a friend it helps us keep the show running
