Another school program I don't know how I feel about.

[disykat]

About the board games. There have been documented studies about how much playing board games can advance math skills. Spacial reasoning, predicting, etc. is a big part of it.

We all know that when we play monopoly we've constantly thinking in our head "I need # to land on x." You don't have to count it, you just know it as you learn the space of the board.

 

[allison443]

My misuse of the word, I did not mean minority in and of itself. I am well aware that being a minority does not mean a free ride, however in some cases it can help.

I figured you were just venting, the whole financial aid process is very annoying I know, and college is wickedly expensive these days

 

[Gammaresource]

I figured you were just venting, the whole financial aid process is very annoying I know, and college is wickedly expensive these days

My point is that that poster seems to think her child deserves a handout, but no one else's does. And incredible double standard.

Most kids leave school owing something. Perhaps this young man would have benefited from working for a year and then attending a more reasonable institution.

 

[disneyjunkie]

My misuse of the word, I did not mean minority in and of itself. I am well aware that being a minority does not mean a free ride,however in some cases it can help.

My point is that that poster seems to think her child deserves a handout, but no one else's does. And incredible double standard.

Most kids leave school owing something. Perhaps this young man would have benefited from working for a year and then attending a more reasonable institution.

 

[Cindy B]

Apparently the OP has no idea what at risk student are up AGAINST.

I spent 3 months in a very dangerous urban setting where these programs were in place. First, all 500 kids in the school were on free lunch so it was 100% poverty level. Second, 70% of kids in the school were native Spanish speakers so English was not their first language.

(no debates about that please-- if they left Puerto Rico/Mexico/El Salvador to come to one of most dangerous urban areas of the country to have a "better life".. it is sad)

Most of these kids had limited if no parental involvement. I had a few kids in my classroom whose parents were in jail.

This is the environment where the word shelter means "where me and my momma went after her boyfriend beat her up". True story-- I was doing a social studies lesson and shelter was a vocab word and that is what one of my girls said.

Students that get retained are at risk. Some are retained for maturity, but some are just because they don't understand the concepts or did not have a firm preschool or even family involvement.

My school had a program like this. These kids were in the program from 3 to 6 pm everyday. They had 2 solid hours of homework every day in the program. One half hour or 45 minutes was devoted to exercise-it had to be indoors because it isn't safe to have outside recess due to drive-bys!


It wasn't just fun games and a free handout. Studies have shown that board games do enhance math reasoning... google up Marilyn Burns and math games to see this. I taught using math games.. in my TWO HOUR math block. Picture inner city kids, picture 8 or 9 year olds and then picture a mandated 2 hour math block. Most adults cant sit still for 2 hours of math.

So I would teach/lecture for 40 minutes, do some independent work for about 20 minutes and then we would play a math game or activity based on the math skills they just learned for the remainder of time.

 

[alexandria674]

I was the kid with the issues that this program is targeting.

I lived in an area that was not safe for kids to play in, my mother worked all day and I only saw my dad on the weekends, so when I came home there was no one there. I technically have a learning disability that makes things a little harder for me to understand. As a kid sometimes I would be very late to class or not go in at all if my sister's babysitter did not come in or was late, so my grades suffered. I did go to a program like this, I needed the help (especially in Math), does that make me a leech? Does that corner me out for special treatment? No. I worked hard in that program and when school started, I worked hard then too. I am now in college, and I volunteer to help the kids in my area with their homework. Yes, we use board games because not only does it help with math and logic, but it also teaches the kids to be good sports and to take turns. We use positive reinforcment, the things we have are from donations.

I don't think that the program will magically change every student to a model one, but there is no denying that it does help. Good for you if your kid is so smart he/she doesn't need to program, but there are some kids who aren't so lucky. I am sorry if a college student has to face student loans that are high, but guess what, so do I. I don't have a student loan, I put off college until I can pay for a semester, once accepted I knew that things were going to be tough so I worked and studied hard. I was the kid in the volunteer classes but did that enable me to take hand outs? Not every kid can make it, but those who do often pay back the society that helped them, by being a good citizen.

 

[smfritz03]

About the board games. There have been documented studies about how much playing board games can advance math skills. Spacial reasoning, predicting, etc. is a big part of it.

We all know that when we play monopoly we've constantly thinking in our head "I need # to land on x." You don't have to count it, you just know it as you learn the space of the board.

This is true, my dd learned to add and subtract at 4 yrs old because she wanted to be the banker all the time and I told her she'd have to learn to do that and now, as a 4th grader she is doing 7th grade math.

Same for scrabble, it has really helped to build up my kids vocabulary and spelling since we keep a dictionary around as we play and we let the kids have "free" turns to look up words. It is truly amazing to see how much certain board games do help with expanding knowledge.

Lastly, I keep seeing the words "loser" and "bad kids". Some of these kids that you are referring to are under 8 years old . They are that way because of their upbringing or lack of. They NEED to know there are adults in the world who care and are willing to take the time for them (they need this at any age). Why would a grown adult be jealous over what little extra they may get from a school?

More often than not, these kids are made fun of at school, the victim of jokes, laughter (at their expense for not being smart enough, not wearing the right clothes,etc). It's good for them to be in a school setting where they are all on the same grounds for a few hours through the summer to show them what school could be like, to help and encourage them to do better.

Yes, there are going to be those that just fall through the cracks, that happens EVERYWHERE, nothing is 100% guarantee in life (only death is the 100% sure thing to happen). But if this program reaches out and helps even ONE child............AWESOME!!!!! Never know when that one child it helped could be the person who has came up w/ an idea/or done something that will save one of YOUR family members.

I know I wouldn't trade my childrens upbringing that I give them and how well they do in school so they could have the "free" things in life. They have a good foundation and I could only hope that these school activities could help foster that in other kids who aren't so lucky.

 

[luvmy3]

Taken from the OP's newsletter:
The mission of The Edge after school program is to encourage the students of **** I.S.D. through strong relationships with families, schools, and community members together providing social, academic and cultural learning opportunities that build upon individual strengths and interests necessary for lifelong success

If this is truly the mission of this program, then the school district shouldn't discriminate against those who aren't failing and who don't have social problems.

 

[Jeafl]

My ds has a boy in his class that has issues, its an inclusion class. When he has his outbursts to calm him down the whole class has to sing to him or they all stop working and put on a movie
OKay rant over

I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous. We have a couple of special needs students in my classroom but when they have outbursts, or need a motor break the aide removes them from the classroom. I can't imagine an entire class stopping their lesson to sing to the student or watch a movie! We would get nothing done. I'm surprised parents haven't complained about this.

Believe me, I am very sympathetic to the special needs kids, I am with them all day and I know how much harder they have to work to succeed. They deserve the programs they get, I just don't think it should be at the expense of the other kids.

Is there another adult in the classroom who can remove the child temporarily so the rest of the class isn't disrupted?

 

[luvmy3]

I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous. We have a couple of special needs students in my classroom but when they have outbursts, or need a motor break the aide removes them from the classroom. I can't imagine an entire class stopping their lesson to sing to the student or watch a movie! We would get nothing done. I'm surprised parents haven't complained about this.

Believe me, I am very sympathetic to the special needs kids, I am with them all day and I know how much harder they have to work to succeed. They deserve the programs they get, I just don't think it should be at the expense of the other kids.

Is there another adult in the classroom who can remove the child temporarily so the rest of the class isn't disrupted?

There are a total of 3 adults two teachers and an aide, and parents have complained but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Unfortunately he is alllowed to stay in the class for his lessons and his condition is an excuse for a lack of discipline. I'm not saying that he never gets taken out of class, because I'm sure he is but its not everytime he acts up.
My ds is a child that gets distracted very easily and has struggled this year in that class to get his work done because of this student's lack of control in the classroom. While my ds is responsible for his own ability to focus on his work, I can see how a student who regularly screams out loud and constantly talks out loud could effect him. He tells the teacher and she spends the whole time telling the kid to be quiet, yet he is permitted to remain in the classroom.
I have had many conversations with the teacher but of course you can't even name names, she has said she's pretty much stuck between a rock and a hard place. Thank goodness the year is almost over, and I have the right to switch teachers if my ds is placed in the inclusion class next year.

I agree students with special needs deserve the best education for them but not at the expense of every other student.

 

[DizBelle]

Your son is pretty darn lucky he didn't grow up the way the other kid did.

You think how a child grows up has to do with "luck"?

 

[DizBelle]

Taken from the OP's newsletter:
The mission of The Edge after school program is to encourage the students of **** I.S.D. through strong relationships with families, schools, and community members together providing social, academic and cultural learning opportunities that build upon individual strengths and interests necessary for lifelong success

If this is truly the mission of this program, then the school district shouldn't discriminate against those who aren't failing and who don't have social problems.

I agree. Do I think this program should simply not exist? No. What I do think is that it should be open to anyone who wants to be a part of it (or who wants their child to be a part of it). It sounds like a prgram that anyone would benefit from.

 

[Gammaresource]

I agree. Do I think this program should simply not exist? No. What I do think is that it should be open to anyone who wants to be a part of it (or who wants their child to be a part of it). It sounds like a prgram that anyone would benefit from.

Then it would cost a great deal more. And, since it is very possibly grant funded, the money would not be given. Because, more than likely, the grant is available to help high risk kids.

The mission of The Edge after school program is to encourage the students of **** I.S.D. through strong relationships with families, schools, and community members together providing social, academic and cultural learning opportunities that build upon individual strengths and interests necessary for lifelong success

This just oozes grant-speak.

 

[ckay87]

You think how a child grows up has to do with "luck"?

I do. When souls are being assigned to bodies, a child is pretty "lucky" to land his little self in a family who cares enough, or is able to, raise him properly. That's all about luck, what else would it be?

 

[ckay87]

I agree. Do I think this program should simply not exist? No. What I do think is that it should be open to anyone who wants to be a part of it (or who wants their child to be a part of it). It sounds like a prgram that anyone would benefit from.

Well we'd all benefit from food stamps too, but I thank God I don't qualify for them.

 

[DizBelle]

I do. When souls are being assigned to bodies, a child is pretty "lucky" to land his little self in a family who cares enough, or is able to, raise him properly. That's all about luck, what else would it be?

You have GOT to be kidding....

 

[ckay87]

You have GOT to be kidding....

You asked what about the way a child grows up has to do with luck. We don't control what crummy (or wonderful) family we are born into, do we? And it's our family who determines, mostly, how we grow up. Maybe we're not talking about the same thing, here, because that makes sense to me.

 

[Gammaresource]

You asked what about the way a child grows up has to do with luck. We don't control what crummy (or wonderful) family we are born into, do we? And it's our family who determines, mostly, how we grow up. Maybe we're not talking about the same thing, here, because that makes sense to me.

Well, you know, those 'losers" shouldn't have chosen to be born of dysfunctional or poverty stricken families!

 

[luvmy3]

Well we'd all benefit from food stamps too, but I thank God I don't qualify for them.

All the students of that school district recieve the same exact education during school hours. If everyone recieved the same salary and benefits from their employer your food stamp analogy would work.

 

[Gammaresource]

All the students of that school district recieve the same exact education during school hours. If everyone recieved the same salary and benefits from their employer your food stamp analogy would work.

I highly doubt that the school is paying for this program with their own funds. That means that some other private or public organization is paying for it. And they have the right to decide whom they want to benefit.