Students Teach Their Parents Well
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Pilot News Photo/Jamie Martin
Megan Deon, Easton Brock and Emily Eveland work through a word projected on a screen by first signing the
different letters, then pronouncing them. |
By Mike Siroky
PLYMOUTH � It might be a sign that the way we all learn can change.
It definitely is a sign that Principal Paula Neidlinger and the parents of the youngest Jefferson Elementary School students have the children�s best interests at heart.
And it is just as definitely a sign the children have their parents� attention.
All of which makes for a circle of life in the best educational sense.
The children of the beginning grades are using the Tucker Sign Method for learning basic verbal, spelling and � most importantly� comprehension of reading and writing.
Tucker has its own fundamental signed alphabet in which the students use their left hands (or, at least use their left when remembering to do so) to physically and audibly sound out new words, letter by letter, syllable by syllable, until the light goes on and the whole word is revealed to the children.
Interested parents gathered at the school to see their children in action. The children then taught the parents in individualized sessions.
There was a whole lot of learnin� going on.
Tammy Houin was there with her son, Aaron.
�He likes it and he thinks it�s fun,� she said. The children/teachers were each given a flower and a candy bar for being such fine instructors.
�His comment to me was �They didn�t have to give me a candy bar to do this.� �
When Aaron was at the tables with the adults, he worked through several tough, three-syllable words. He kept at one, sounding, signing and repeating until � yes! � he got it. �Quinine,� said his mom. �How many first-grade kids know the word or what it means . . .�
She had brought her sixth-grade daughter, Kelsey, along. When Kelsey was in that grade level, this system had not yet been implemented.
�She said to me, �You know how much easier it would have been for me if we had this?� � said Tammy. �Aaron can read a big book and not think of it as a challenge. He knows vowel blends. It�s so good for the kids. The first-graders are doers. They need to do something to get it. He likes doing this.�
Megan Deon is also in the first grade. She is a natural leader, this night helping her younger schoolmates �and kindergarten brother, Colin � with the �big kid words� using some of the secrets the kindergartners have not yet been privy to.
Jennifer Deon had two stars this performance, Megan and Colin.
�She enjoys reading and the whole bit,� said Jennifer of Megan. �And Colin, we weren�t sure he was going to go through with this (demonstration) because he is so shy. But he was smiling and doing it. I am so proud of them.�
But Megan was not alone. In fact, teachers Tammy Greenlee (first grade) and Julie Good (kindergarten) walked the audience through a typical school course, complete with the signage. �Sometimes, we put a star or a mark on the left hand to remind them to use it, because most of us are right-handed and the natural tendency is to use the dominant hand,� said Good.
All of this is geared toward helping the students reach the Indiana Academic Standards, part of the ISTEP process which is necessary as they progress through the educational system.
As young as kindergarten, students are expected to learn word recognition, develop vocabulary, reading comprehension, literary response and analysis, the writing process and written English language conversations.
This is no longer the �See Spot Run� and �Dick and Jane� of their parents� generation. These children were more than likely the smartest people in the room.
Art Brock was there with his son, Easton.
�He seems to enjoy the challenge,� said Art. �That�s the aspect I like; he enjoys this.�
Like the Houins, Art has older children, three other boys in fact.
He sees Easton as doing better at this stage of the educational process.
�He�s actually a little ahead of his brothers,� said Art. �I think this a good way to teach. It shows them a different angle.�
It became clear in this session that teachers learn, too. In fact, the participating teachers this night made reference to the constant upgrades of their own skills. �We all went through training,� said Greenlee.
Phonics are learned at all levels, The use of the Tucker system �. . . requires the child to think out loud, it�s going to improve reading, writing and spelling,� said Greenlee.
Put most simply, �We�re signing it, then we�re doing it,� she said.
The lineup of bright, smiling faces reflected the inner glow of confidence this method has given the children. They enjoyed showing the adults their skills. Learning has become an unending adventure for kindergarteners Colin Deon, Nathan Rundle, Brianna Hayes and first- graders Easton Brock, Megan Deon, Aaron Houin, Emily Eveland and Sarah Rundle.
As they mingled with their parents, working through previously-unseen words like �whisper� and �provoke,� little explosions of appreciative applause would break out, table after table. The excitement pot was on full boil.
The second part of the show dealt with the third �R� of basic learning: �Rithmetic.
As you might imagine, Jefferson has a new way of making sure it all adds up.
Teacher Kathy Hunt (third grade) walked the audience through a lesson plan using �Mountain Math/Language.�
�It teaches familiar skills,� she said. �And it causes them to look at numbers differently, to think differently.
No boredom here, either.
Students are empowered to work at their own pace, with the teachers always at the ready to jump in and help when an assist is needed.
Students start the class day with an individualized folder containing a lesson to be learned, a worksheet which includes reviews of previous lessons, and a way to run their own tests through a computer system for instant grading.
�If the worksheet shows they are not in the acceptable range (of proficiency), they can go back and do it again,� said Hunt.
�There are objectives at each level. We test them on skills and we move on.
�This is all part of the �No Child Left Behind� idea.�
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