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Rebecca L. Gerald
Coordinator
Dutchess BOCES School Library System
900 Dutchess Turnpike
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
P: (845) 486-4840 ext. 3061
F: (845) 486-4833
E-mail rebecca.gerald@dcboces.org
URL: http://www.dcboces.org/library

School Library Systems Association of New York State
Celebrating 20+ Years of Improving Student Achievement

Aside from doing their homework, I don’t emphasize using English at home. Home is a place to relax and let go, to really communicate with family members. Anything that impedes that isn’t healthy, in my opinion. I encourage my parents to read to their children in their native language as it’s an excellent way for the children to retain and progress in their first language.

I believe — from my many conversations with bilingual families — that the danger is greater that the children will lose their native fluency while acquiring English (or while struggling to acquire English). Then they can find themselves not proficient in either language.

I loved reading, “Oral language needs to blossom progressively in all children, and we can help it along through rich verbal interactions.” [p.147]

That’s the hallmark of what I do with students, and it’s where I believe I can best help my students. Whether it’s reading aloud to them and talking about what we’re reading or teaching them new games or asking them about what they do outside of school, the more opportunity I have for verbal interaction, the more I see — and hear — them using English and gaining proficiency.

And making those connections with my students is all part of welcoming them to the community of English language users. That’s what it’s all about from an ESL standpoint.

I was shocked, however, to read, immediately following the above quote, “A firm home rule could stipulate: ‘In our family we only communicate in complete sentences.’ ” [p.147]

This is laughable. And a recipe for non-communication between parents and children.

While having or not having children at home doesn’t necessarily qualify or disqualify anyone from having expertise when it comes to educating young people, I have to question whether anyone who would write such a statement has lived with and/or reared children. At least in the last 25 years.

[The blurb on the back of "A Mind At A Time" says that Dr. Levine lives on a farm with his wife, Bambi, and many animals. No mention of children.]

A quick perusal of the self-help section or parenting section of any bookstore will show all kinds of books on getting along with your children and how to communicate or interact more effectively with others.

Grunted monosyllabic responses to dinner table questions are typical, perhaps, for teen-age boys, and no amount of rules regarding “how we speak in this family” is going to change that. Nor should it.

Parents need to keep the channels of communication open, and anything that impedes that — like a school-type rule — is courting disaster.

Well, that’s enough soapbox oration from me for today! Thanks for reading.

Michael.

Steve

Steve