Lucy Calkins' much-discussed Writers' Workshop has been implemented schoolwide in my son's elementary school.
This program, which is mandated for all NYC public school students as well, has become so calcified in some educator's minds as to be completely useless, and it's definitely got its detractors. And sometimes it does sound absurd - like the kindergartners in one school who were asked on the third day of class to reflect on how they had grown as writers.
The basic premise is that from an early age children develop their own voice as writers, drawing from their own lives. Calkins doesn't believe in phonics - drill, baby, drill! - so there's a lot of room, at least in the curriculum as originally conceived, for kids to develop their own content without a close regard to what is correct or not correct.
Which is how the above comes home, or more precisely, happens at home. The top picture is a song about a ladybug, the bottom one is about Halloween. There are words there - ldebug or ladybug, hlwn for halloween, sad, dad, mom, etc - and he can read it for about half a day before it's pretty incoherent to him, too. Ha!
But all in all, I'm pretty impressed. He's going to learn how to spell, and this is basically preceeding his ability to read, which is also kind of stunning. He's challenged to do it but in that transparent way where he doesn't even really know. He just likes to write.
Right now, he's busy writing lengthy lists of what he wants for Santa to read. Let's just hope someone can decipher them for that jolly old elf when the time comes.
Some links from unhappy people are here and here.
This program, which is mandated for all NYC public school students as well, has become so calcified in some educator's minds as to be completely useless, and it's definitely got its detractors. And sometimes it does sound absurd - like the kindergartners in one school who were asked on the third day of class to reflect on how they had grown as writers.
The basic premise is that from an early age children develop their own voice as writers, drawing from their own lives. Calkins doesn't believe in phonics - drill, baby, drill! - so there's a lot of room, at least in the curriculum as originally conceived, for kids to develop their own content without a close regard to what is correct or not correct.
Which is how the above comes home, or more precisely, happens at home. The top picture is a song about a ladybug, the bottom one is about Halloween. There are words there - ldebug or ladybug, hlwn for halloween, sad, dad, mom, etc - and he can read it for about half a day before it's pretty incoherent to him, too. Ha!
But all in all, I'm pretty impressed. He's going to learn how to spell, and this is basically preceeding his ability to read, which is also kind of stunning. He's challenged to do it but in that transparent way where he doesn't even really know. He just likes to write.
Right now, he's busy writing lengthy lists of what he wants for Santa to read. Let's just hope someone can decipher them for that jolly old elf when the time comes.
Some links from unhappy people are here and here.
