$8,550 for a Reading Tutor!
I was floored, simply mind-boggling FLOORED to read this at Dianne de Las Casas' blog.
"Being the nosy sister, I asked what he was faxing. It was a loan document for $8,550. "What's it for?" I asked my brother. It turned out that it was so that my brother could finance reading tutoring for my 7 year old nephew. If my nephew doesn't improve his reading, he faces failing second grade. $8,550 for reading tutoring!!!? Needless to say, I was stunned. It hurts me so much that my brother has to take out a loan so that his son can learn to read. "
Read the whole piece here.
I am more upset with the tutor and/or institution that would demand this type payment to teach Las Casas' nephew how to read. This little boy is ONLY 7 years old. He'll learn to read just fine. Not all of us have literary genes in us.
Of course, I remember the year before we began hsing. The grandparents each paid a 1/4 and dh and I paid the other 1/2 to send my oldest to Sylvan Learning Center in an attempt to develop his reading comprehension. I think the fee for six months was in the $1,500-$1,600 price range.
Thinking back, I wish I had saved that money for college and instead seated that little boy on my lap and read to him hours on end instead of flipping phonic flash cards, going over lists of sight-word, and stressing over the implications the teacher implied. It was all for naught. Oh, he has fond memories of the tutors and the little tinkets he bought from the incentive shop; but I can't say it helped his comprehension or his grade level.
All I can think is that I'm glad I woke up to home education and never spent $8,550.
We need to find something our child is good at and go with it wholeheartedly. We, as parents, need to trust our children more. We need to trust that they will learn to read. Trust that they will learn to comprehend. Trust that they will explore. Trust that they will enjoy learning.
Tuesday night at the dance studio, I overheard a mother going over her son's school folder with him while little sister was dancing. The mother was stressing, the son was stressing. The anxious tones of the mother and the distressed cries of the child were almost too much for me to bear. Neither were learning to communicate.
Institutional education is what has done this to our children. Teachers are stressing the parents who, in turn, stress the child. It's a dog-gone shame!
Parents need to teach their children to enjoy the story rather than teaching the method. The reading will come with gentle guidance. Stressing over the methods and techniques only builds resentment and resistance. Love for reading is lost and may never be regained.
"Being the nosy sister, I asked what he was faxing. It was a loan document for $8,550. "What's it for?" I asked my brother. It turned out that it was so that my brother could finance reading tutoring for my 7 year old nephew. If my nephew doesn't improve his reading, he faces failing second grade. $8,550 for reading tutoring!!!? Needless to say, I was stunned. It hurts me so much that my brother has to take out a loan so that his son can learn to read. "
Read the whole piece here.
I am more upset with the tutor and/or institution that would demand this type payment to teach Las Casas' nephew how to read. This little boy is ONLY 7 years old. He'll learn to read just fine. Not all of us have literary genes in us.
Of course, I remember the year before we began hsing. The grandparents each paid a 1/4 and dh and I paid the other 1/2 to send my oldest to Sylvan Learning Center in an attempt to develop his reading comprehension. I think the fee for six months was in the $1,500-$1,600 price range.
Thinking back, I wish I had saved that money for college and instead seated that little boy on my lap and read to him hours on end instead of flipping phonic flash cards, going over lists of sight-word, and stressing over the implications the teacher implied. It was all for naught. Oh, he has fond memories of the tutors and the little tinkets he bought from the incentive shop; but I can't say it helped his comprehension or his grade level.
All I can think is that I'm glad I woke up to home education and never spent $8,550.
We need to find something our child is good at and go with it wholeheartedly. We, as parents, need to trust our children more. We need to trust that they will learn to read. Trust that they will learn to comprehend. Trust that they will explore. Trust that they will enjoy learning.
Tuesday night at the dance studio, I overheard a mother going over her son's school folder with him while little sister was dancing. The mother was stressing, the son was stressing. The anxious tones of the mother and the distressed cries of the child were almost too much for me to bear. Neither were learning to communicate.
Institutional education is what has done this to our children. Teachers are stressing the parents who, in turn, stress the child. It's a dog-gone shame!
Parents need to teach their children to enjoy the story rather than teaching the method. The reading will come with gentle guidance. Stressing over the methods and techniques only builds resentment and resistance. Love for reading is lost and may never be regained.
posted by Cay Gibson @ 12/01/2005 01:00:00 PM
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