teaching disadvantaged children in the preschool

Carl Bereiter

Siegfried Engelmann

pages

comparison with other approaches

increase in vocabulary,visual and spatial perception,general knowledge,motivation or attitudes

meeting the broader needs of the developing child

school is not the only source of learning and that the child's other needs may be adequately met outside of school

the child whose stress is based on fear of failure,concern over pleasing the teacher,or sheer competitiveness is more likely to get into difficulties than the child whose stress is related to curiosity or a desire to achieve competence

try hard,pay attention,and think,tangible rewards were given for such effors

it was not teaching itself that produced excessive stress,but only ineffective teaching, which presented the child with task beyond his capabilities

if sb. is without the necessary competencies,he/she is sure to experience crippling stress and anxiety at that time

亲子关系中的重要成分mutual respect,shared intellectual interests,invested hopes,and fatherly pride

how does what the child learns in school transfer to his out of school life?

creativity refers to divergent thinking-the production of new structures or ideas as contrasted with the production of predetermined right answers of the kind usually called for reading,artimetic and logical

inventing new verses for songs,generating explanations for events in stories,thinking up new words that rhyme with other words

in the traditional nursery school,the children learn to play together under the monitoring influence of a socially adept teacher

in the academically oriented preschool,the children learn to work(but also to play)together under the monitoring influence of a teacher who counts social skills among her other qualifications as a teacher

learn to cooperate,to respect each other's property and feelings,and generally to enjoy one anohter's company

a direct instruction approach does not minimize stress on children,but tries to direct it into productive channels and to develop in the children the ability to handle it

a direct instruction approach does not provide the children with mothering,but does permit the development of close affectional ties of a kind that are more productive of growth and that compensate more directly for the deficiencies in parent child relationships often found in lower class homes

because a preschool is generally in a better position than the typical first grade class to assure that a child's first encounters with school type learning are successful and enjoyable,it is probably undersirable to defer the introduction of school type learning until the first grade

the emphasis of an academically oriented instructional program is on knowledge and skills that the child will need to apply in shcool,therefore transfer to out of school behavior(in both its positive and negative aspects)is not a major issue,transfer of learning to other kinds of school tasks cannot be taken for granted,but must itself be taught

if creativity is eqated with freedom,the disadvantaged child usually has too much of it already,divergent thinking is best developed through tasks that directly call for it,tasks of this kind are included in the direct instruction program,though they occupy a minor place

social learning is promoted in much the same way in academically oriented preschools as in traditional preschools,with the important difference that an academically oriented preschool teaches children not only to play together but also to work together,as they will be expected to do in the elementary school

management of the preschool

enabling every child to ectract the maximum amount of learning from every minute of the school day

scheduling

what activities are included in the daily schedule?

language,arithmetic,and reading

3个老师，不同老师负责不同科目，a负责语言，b负责算术，c负责阅读

把小朋友分成3组

在同一个时间段内，a组语言训练，b组算术训练，c组阅读训练

音乐、美术、大课间等全体学生一起进行

children can learn to read even when they must play at home on a dirt floor

children have a tendency to regress when their parents are around

consider more effective techniques for presenting different tasks

we should recognize that even the best teachers have blind spots that can be removed only through the help of others

an object rich environment is ineffective in compensating for the child's toy deficit and in stimulating learning

toys should be limited to form boards,jigsaw puzzles,books,drawing and tracting materials, cuisenaire rods,and a miniature house,barn,and set of farm animals,paper,crayons,and chalk  should be available for expressive play,motor toys,such as tricycles and wagons and climbing equipment

extra clothes(for children who wet or have similar accidents and for children who are not adequately dressed,especially in cold weather)

家長要正視自己的職責：

1.attend all parents meetings

2.see to it that their children attend school regularly

3.get their children ready on time for the car pool driver or bus

4.see to it that their children receive adequate rest and get to bed at a reasonable hour

5.encourage their children,and not shame them,call them dumb,or compare them unfavorably with other siblings

6.not allow their children to communicate with a nod or a single word,but require them to speak in full sentences

when dropping the children off,the driver should always let them out on the side of the car away form the street and wait until they are inside the house before driving away

because of the vast range of individual differences in initial abilities,therefore,if every child is to progress at near his maximum rate,grouping according to rate of progress is an absolute necessity

it enbles the teacher to study each child more carefully and detect possible problems,it drastically reduces discipline problems,it makes it easier for the teacher to attract and hold attention,it allows more rapid feedback and correction of responses,and a greater number of responses from each child

能力好的，每組5個學生左右

能力差的，每組3-4個學生

一開始可以根據學生的語言能力進行分組

讓學生回答一些問題：

example

puppies are baby dogs. 

what are puppies?

a big truck is not a little truck. 

is a big truck a little truck?

babies eat and cry. 

do babies eat?do they cry?

she ate the pie because she was hungry. 

why did she eat the pie?

he got the wood so he could build a fire. 

what did he get?

there were many cars going to the city. 

where were many cars going?

it is in the box. 

is it on the box?

examiner shakes head no

this means no

examiner nods head yes

what does this mean?

examiner claps

what am i doing?

examiner walks

what am i doing?

do what i say:

hold up your hands

touch your ear

hold up your hand

touch you ears

一個月後按能力重新分組

the greater danger in ability grouping is that it will encourage teachers to set lower standards for the slower groups

the administrative arrangement by which every teaches one subject to every group rather than teaching all subjects to one group should help to avert this danger

concentrate on what to do on day one

at least three teacher meetings should be held,rules of behavior should be reviewed in detail during the first meeting,it should be emphasized that these rules are easier to enforce on the first day than on the second or third(the children are usually more tractable at first,so that the first day should represent an opportunity rather than a threat).during the second meeting,each teacher should demonstrate the tasks she plans to present on day one,the final meeting should concentrate on a walk through rehearsal of the first day's activities,it should be held in the preschool,special attention should be paid to ways of moving the children quickly and quietly from activitiy to activity