Happy Spring

Good morning!

Yesterday I went to Cliveden Park to meet with one of my clients, and then on to the House to see if any children showed up. It is the Easter break ("spring break") holiday here, so mostly they are out of school and thus unlikely to think they should be having tutoring.

However, as I was walking from Ross Street over to Musgrave, I was hailed by about eight of the kids we normally see in a given week. Including, surprise surprise, little R from last summer. R who never came back after school started. I have seen his big sister continually, but had been told eventually, that R wanted to watch TV instead of come to tutoring.

Anyway, when I arrived at the House, Clyde was there and he had brought me a sandwich for supper. We ate together with the door open to the glorious day until one of the ladies of the group walked in and sat to chat with us. Shortly after her arrival, who should appear but R, his sister B and, A my new child from a couple of weeks ago!

So R picked out a book, B sat down and started reading her own book and A sat with a snack. R read me the first chapter of Sideways Stories from Wayside School, and when A was finished eating, I had him pick a book to read as well. R went on reading the Sachar, and in fact, proceeded to read the ENTIRE book in front of me in an hour and a half!! I haven't read the book so didn't have the chance to ask him if he really understood what he is reading, but he said he did. And I notice he reads fast aloud, so perhaps he was skimming. But I was truly impressed. He's only seven.

A is eight years old, and we established last night that he doesn't understand how to sound words out. He the child that froze up when I asked him to sound something out in a previous blog entry. This time he froze up again, but I tried hard to explain to him that not knowing how didn't mean he was "stupid" or "dumb" or all those bad words. And that I wasn't going to call him names for not knowing. But that I needed to understand where he got stuck, so that we could work on it together. He loosened up a little bit, and listened to me when I spoke.

He picked out Danny & the Dinosaur to read, and read it, haltingly, from beginning to end. When he doesn't know a word, he guesses at it and keeps on going - as if speeding over it will make things fine. Unfortunately when he does that, it often throws off the next few words.

There were a few instances of switching letters, but again, I couldn't tell if that was because it was read at speed. (e.g., three instead of there). I also tried to get him to look at the pictures for help with words he didn't know. But you see, he's eight. It's embarrassing to him that he doesn't get on well with reading. And heavens, let's face it, he's eight and he's having a hard time with Danny and the Dinosaur.

After Danny, he read another, easier I Can Read book called The Three Friends (or something). It was easier because it had an emphasis on word family words (cat, sat, rat) etc. And he almost breezed through it. His reading style normalized when it was easier, because he got more involved with the story. After that, I had him read One Fish Two Fish purely (on my part) to see how he did. He read the whole book, again in some parts haltingly, and made myself and Ms. Barbara giggle. Because we hadn't read it in a long time, and parts of it are funny. We were not giggling at A himself.

When he finished reading, I picked out a Matt Christopher book and read them five chapters of the story. R was listening in rapt attention. A, who had told me he liked sports, was bored and fidgeted. I told him that next week, he can pick out a book for me to read aloud. At eight, R & B left to walk home. A called his mother, but she wasn't home. While we waited for her to arrive, I asked him if he liked his new school. What was his teacher like, etc. He told me that he had not liked his old teacher - in a different part of Philadelphia, because she had been mean to him. I was not surprised. I mean, that he had been held back by bad teaching.

His Mom arrived with her two younger babies in tow (5 and 3yo) and she and I spoke a little about what could be done with A. She wonders if he could use more tutoring from elsewhere to give him help -- and I'm sure that might help, but I don't know if she can manage it financially. Although I didn't say that. She's in college herself, you see. And there's no husband or father living with them. So A is even more cursed because he doesn't have a male role model to guide him. He's a very shy, introverted boy. Mostly I tried to impress upon her the idea that she should read to him and let him read to her, and that they should both see the book when either is reading, and that she should show him by example how to sound a word out loud. This dawned on her with new understanding, so perhaps it will be of use. In any case, I said I would see A next Monday night and we would go from there. I shall have to figure out what to do about him.

The girls didn't come, and nor did the new girl, Kelly. I have decided to tell Kelly's mother that there is no need for me to work with her if she is in the other program - reading stars. Kelly reads well and only occasionally needs help. I think that I need to focus my energies on the three children who really need my help.

Anyway, that's the Cliveden Update for now.