ERIC ED332861: Briefs for Parents in Ready-to-Copy Form (English Version).

8 Pages·1991·0.23 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 332 861
RC 018 191
AUTHOR
Howley, Craig; Cahape, Patricia
TITLE
Briefs for Parents in Ready-to-Copy Form (English
Version).
INSTITUTION
ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small
Schools, Charleston, WV.
SPONS AGENCY
Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED),
Washington, DC.
PUB DATE
91
CONTRACT
RI88062016
NOTE
8p.; For a related document, see ED 329 382.
PUB TYPE
Information Analyses - ERIC Clearinghouse Products
(071) -- Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers,
Essays,
etc.)
(120)
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
Adolescents; *Divorce; Elementary Secondary
Education; *Parents; *Reading; Reading Habits;
*Science Education; *Second Language Learning;
Self
Care Skills
ABSTRACT
These six briefs summarize what researchers and
practitioners have learned on several education-related
subjects.
They can be used by
educators and community organizations in
newsletters, handbooks, and school calendars. In "Foreign
Languages
in America? Gimme
a Break:" a case is made nil' the importance of
foreign language instruction for students to be
succssful in the
world. Suggestions for working parents whose
children must engage in
some "self-care" are given in "Are the Children Home
Alone? (Don't
Worry, Be Savvy!)." "Learning to Read Well:
Some Simple Facts"
provides statistics about learning to read and
suggests experiences
that encourage reading. Advising divorced
parents, the brief called
"Helping Your Children Put Divorce Behind Them"
points out that most
children of divorced parents
can adjust well after a time with
adults
help. In "The World According to Science: Think
About It" it
is explained that science is
more than a class in school--it is a
special set of beliefs, tools, and habits
of mind for considering the
real world. The final brief, "I Don't Have
Time to Read--Honest!",
stresses the importance of encouraging
teenagers to continue to read,
and to do so with a
purpose in mind. All briefs provide information
on contacting the ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education
and Small
Schools for more
resources. (KS)
***********************************************************************
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best
that can be made
from the original document.
***********************************************************************
'ERIC!)
Clearinghouse on
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EMCATION
Office or Educational Research and implovement
Rural Education and
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION
CENTER (ERIC)
Small Schools
)fThis document has been reproduced as
received trorn the person Or organization
originating it
" Minor changes have been made to improve
reproduction quality
Briefs for Parents in Ready-to-Copy Form
Points of view or opinions stated in this docu.
ment do not necessarily represent official
(English Versions)
OE RI position or policy
In plain language these six briefs state what researchers and
Originally prepared as articles for
practitioners have learned.
rural newsweeklies as "filler," the six briefs have been given
high marks by both editors and readers.
You'll grobably come up with a variety of uses for these
Other educators and community
briefs, once you review them.
organizations, however, have used the briefs...
in class, school, or district newsletters;
in report cards;
for handouts at PTA or PTO meetings;
for parent conferences;
for distribution in public waiting rooms (for example,
doctors' offices, post offices, health departments);
as readings in parent information or training courses;
in school handbooks or in orientation materials for
parents of incoming students;
in teacher inservice packets; or
in school calendars.
This publication was prepared with funding from the U. S. Department of Education, Office of Educa0onal
Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI-88-062016.
The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily
reflect the positions or policies of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement or the Dekotment of
Education.
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
1991
Appalachia Educational Laboratory 1031 (barrier Street
Charleston, WV 25325
P.O. Box 1348
ERIC/CRESS
800/624-9120 (outside WV) 800/344-6646 (in WV) 347-0400 (Charleston area) FAX number 304/347-0487
AEL is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer
2
LTTLE ELSE is
languages is increas-
Foi.eign
more foreign to
Some states
ing.
Americans
than
Languages
have taken serious
being able to use a
steps to make sure
in America?
foreign language.
that all high schools
There arc excep-
(including small and
Gimme a
t Ins, of course.
rural high schools)
Break!
The most notable
offer foreign
lan-
exception
is
the
guages. And accord-
Hispanic-American
ing to a 1987 survey,
population. Accord-
one-fifth of elemen-
ing to a recent report
tary schools offer
by Calvin Veltman,
some instruction in
nearly 80 percent of
foreign
languages.
this population of
New technology (for
13.5 milliun is bilin-
example, courses de-
gual. Why? It's a
livered over satellite
matter of prosperity.
links) is also making
To do well in Amer-
instruction in Japa-
ica, it's important to
nese and Russian
speak English.
more common. In-
A lot of the rest of
struction, however,
us are lucky enough to be born
needs to begin in the early grades,
speaking English, right?
and it needs to be continuously
So
what's the problem?
available through high school.
The problem is that, for Ameri-
Schools in the United States
cans, knowing other languages,
have had trouble sustaining for-
too, is a matter of prosperity. To do
eign language programs. Parents
well in the world, Americans need
and community members can do a
to speak other languages.
lot to help. They can encourage
America is no longer the iso-
their own children's interest in
lated nation it was 100 years ago:
foreign langugges. They can en-
No nation is. We know today what
courage schoots to establish and
happens today in China, in France,
keep foreign language programs.
and in Mexico. To do well in this
And finally, they can educate their
shrinking world, Americans need
neighbors about the reasons peo-
to understand cultures, values, and
ple need to speak other languages.
languages that are very different
For more information, call the
from their own.
ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural
General Motors, for example,
Education and Small Schools
had a tough time selling its popular
(ERIC/CRESS) toll-free at 1-800/
Chevrolet Nova in Latin America.
624-9120. We can help direct you
That was because "No va!" in
to other resources. To find out
Spanish means "It doesn't go!"
more about the ERIC system and
And Spanish is the second lan-
its varied units and services, call
guage most commonly taught in
ACCESS ERIC at 1-800/USE-
our schools and the most common
second language spoken in our
ERIC. Staff of ERIC/CRESS pre-
streets and homes.
pared this article, based on infor-
Fortunately, interest in foreign
mation in the ERIC database.
ODAY, even in
Do you need the
Are the
two-parent
of
cooperation
families, both parents
Children
your employer?
often work. As a re-
What for?
Home
sult, many children
'What ground rules
routinely spend time
do your children
Alone?
need to follow
at home without adult
supervision.
More-
when home alone?
(Don't
over, single parents
have long faced the
Worry, Be
Depending
on
challenge of working
your situation and
Savvy!)
and caring for young
what your children
like, ground
children alone.
are
Easy answers don't
rules will vary. The
MO
1111111111111--1111
exist.
After-school
idca is that parent
111M-INEMOMINIII
IMUIIIMM MIL
hard to
daycare is
and child under-
(It's
find.
almost
stand what to ex-
JEll
impossible to find in
la
pect, how to deal
MI NM
NI NS-
01.
-MP IM
MI
most rural
areas.)
with the expected,
When it is available,
and what to do when
it is very expensive.
the
unexpected
This means that most
comes um
of us really have no alternative but
general, though, consider
In
to be away from our children at
making rules for
times when they might need us.
Some reports refer to children's
visits from friends,
"self-care." This term interprets
use of the television,
parents' necessary absence from
completion of homework,
the home (at work) as a choice.
answering the door or phone,
isn't a
Obviously,
usually
it
going outside,
choice, and self-care is sometimes
using appliances, and
not a good alternative.
dealing with squabbles among
On the other hand, many, if not
brothers and sisters.
most, children 11 or older can
Rules can't cover every situ-
manage after school. If the areas in
which they live are not dangerous,
ation, and that's why it's important
and if parents make plans, "self-
that children know how to contact
care" can be a good experience.
you at work.
Children can, if protected by a set
For more information, call the
of ground rules, learn to be respon-
ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural
sible for themselves.
Education and Small Schools
Maybe the
question
real
is
(ERIC/CRESS) toll-free at 1-800/
"When is being home alone ac-
624-9120. We can help direct you
Things to consider
ceptable?"
to other resources. To find out
include:
more about the ERIC system and
its varied units and services, call
Is your neighborhood safe?
ACCESS ERIC at 1-800/USE-
Will a neighbor help in an emer-
ERIC. Staff of ERIC/CRESS pre-
gency?
Can your children get in touch
pared this article, based on infor-
with you when they need you?
mation in the ERIC database.
THOSE OF US
students without
Learning to
who can read
such experience do
take our
better with
for
Read Well:
skill
their
For us,
reading if they use
granted.
Some
"invented"
spell-
reading is as easy as
(rather than
ing
talking or breathing.
Simple
Many of us can
correct spelling)
when they begin to
Facts
vaguely remember
write.
that learning to read
was no easy chore.
Other facts let us
But chances are,
know that a good
we've forgotten all
in reading is
start
the little struggles we
very important. For
had to wage to get
example, 40 percent
where we could actu-
of poor readers in the
ally hear those little
fourth grade would
printed words in our
rather clean
their
heads! This forget-
rooms than read!
fulness makes it dif-
These children will
ficult for parents to
overcome their bad
sympathize
with
start only with the
young readers, or for adults who
help of someone who cares.
can read to sympathize much with
The message is simple: Learn-
those who can't. Luckily, there are
ing to read takes a lot of low-pres-
people who study reading, so even
sure experience with the written
as adults we can begin to under-
word. This includes being read to
stand the mysterious process of
by someone else and talking about
learning to aad.
sounds, letters, words, and writing
Here are some simple facts
with someone who likes to read. It
about reading. Keep them in mind.
also includes things like telling
They may help you help someone
stories and having someone else
you care about learn to read:
write them down. And, of course,
it includes plenty of reading. Natu-
5,000 words account for 90 per-
rally, the best reading materials are
cent of the words we read;
those that seem to interest the
94 percent of all words appear
beginning reader.
less than 10 times per million
For more information, call the
words;
ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural
people who know sounds and
Education and Small Schools
letters tend to do better when
(ERIC/CRESS) toll-free at 1-800/
they start learning to read;
624-9120. We can help direct you
butjust teaching the alphabet
to other resources. To find out
doesn't give students a notice-
more about the ERIC system and
able advantage in learning to
its varied units and services, call
read;
many children get over 1,000
ACCESS ERIC at 1-800/USE-
hours of contact with reading
ERIC. Staff of ERIC/CRESS pre-
and writing before they enter
pared this article, based on infor-
schoo'. and
mation in the ERIC database.
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
teachers may have
TiIE SHARP rise
Helping Your
n divorce rates
gone through divorce
Children
alarmed the nation
themselves! Schools
during the 1970s and
Put Divorce
may also put you in
early 1980s. Somere-
touch with support or
Behind Them
searchers predicted
counseling groups.
that half of all chil-
Teachers can recom-
dren would spend part
mend insightful
li-
of their childhoods in
brary books for you
single-parent homes.
and your children.
Others reported that
Expect the adjust-
children from single-
ment to take up to two
parent homes had
years. Stay in touch
more problems in
with teachers and
school. People wor-
school counselors for
that longuntil ev-
ried that growing up
single-parent
in
a
eryone feels resettled
home was risky busi-
and secure in the new
ness.
family arrangement.
New studies, how-
Once things settle
ever, show little or no
down, expect your
difference
the
in
children to do just as
school achievement of children
well as those from two-parent
from similar backgrounds in one-
families. Make sure that school
parent and two-parent families.
people share your view.
"From similar backgrounds" is the
Also, be sure to take part in as
key phrase.
The early studies
many school events as your sched-
failed to look at single-parent up-
ule allows. That will show some-
bringing within a given income
thing to two groups: your children
bracket.
and their teachers.
Taking part
Recent studies, however, do
shows that you consider schooling
show divorce to be a traumatic
so important that you save time for
event for children. But they also
it in your obviously busy schedule.
show that most children adjust
Finally, remember this:
Your
well enough, after a time. Com-
child lives in a family that is a lot
munication, warmth, and structure
like many other families today.
from adults are the things that
There is every reason to be opti-
build a strong family. And that ap-
mistic about the outcome.
plies to both single-parent and
For more information, call the
two-parent families.
ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural
Education and Small Schools
What can you do about school if
your family must deal with di-
(ERIC/CRESS) toll-free at 1-800/
vorce? You can help make sure
624-9120. We can help direct you
that school is a source of help.
to other resources. To find out
During the first weeks, let your
more about the ERIC system and
children's teachcrs know about the
its varied units and services, call
crisis in your family.
ACCESS ERIC at 1-800/USE-
Teachers,
too, can provide warmth and struc-
ERIC. Staff of ERIC/CRESS pre-
ture, and some extra words of en-
pared this article, based on infor-
couragement. Don't forgct, many
mation in the ERIC database.
6
IF YOUR children
That's where math
The World
are like most, they
Math is
comes in.
think that "science"
both the language of
According
is a class in school,
logic and an i Ipor-
to Science:
and that the most im-
tam tool for collect-
portant
thing
is
ing and dealing with
Think
whether or not the
evidence.
About It
teacher is in a good
In short, the "sci-
This is a
mood.
entific method" is
pretty common reac-
not bloodless, me-
tion. It's understand-
chanical, or boring.
able. The world of
It's a complicated
children is small.
business of looking
Science, however,
beneath the surface
is a lot more than
of things. It entails a
what happens to a
lot of pain and heart-
child in science class.
ache for scientists,
It's also more than all
but it is very excit-
the discoveries of
ing.
science put together.
Like our children,
Science is a way of knowing. The
we need to understand that science
word itself means "knowing" in
is more than a class in school. It's
Latin. Is this all Greek to you? It
a special set of beliefs and tools
shouldn't be. The Greek word for
and habits of mind for considering
"knowing"
is
"mathematics."
the real world.
Science can be
Math and science have a lain
useful whenever we need to look
common, and mathematics
is
beneath the surface of things.
sometimes called "the hand-
Good science teachers understand
maiden of science."
these points. With a little help from
What is
this special way of
us, our children will begin to un-
know ing?
derstand that what happens in
First, science takes a particular
school is only part of the picture.
view of the world. Most of all, the
In fact, we understand more about
world according to science is
un-
families, businesses, farms, and
derstandable. Scientists also be-
schools because dtese parts of life
lieve that their ideas can and
have been studied scientifically.
should change, but that, at the
For more information, call the
same time, careful study will pro-
ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural
duce lasting knowledge.
The
Education and Small Schools
search for lasting knowledge leads
(ERIC/CRESS) toll-free at 1-800/
xience to grow in its understand-
624-9120. We can help direct you
ing of the world.
to other resources. To find out
Second, the methods of science
more about the ERIC system and
put the belief that the world is
its varied units and services, call
understandable into action. Scien-
ACCESS ERIC at 1-800/USE-
tists work with evidence, logic,
ERIC. Staff of ERIC/CRESS
pre-
and imagination to explain and
pared this article, based on infor-
predict events in the real world.
mation in the ERIC database.
can do is to help
ANAMAZING
I Don't
thing happens
teenagers discover
to children:
They
those motives. Ob-
Have Time
that can
grow into adulthood.
viously,
to Read
In the time of greatest
happen only when
change, teenagers
adults who read ac-
Honest!
can look like adults
tively share experi-
and act like children
ences, views, and
(and vice versa). The
information with
transformation
is
teenagers
the
wonderful and, at
they care about.
times, frightening.
Teenagers seek
The unpredictable
role models, and
behavior of adoles-
both parents and
cence can weaken
teachers are near at
the relationship be-
ham: for this pur-
tween parent and
poseso becom:ng
child. That's toobad,
a role model is not
because the process
really so difficult.
of leading into adult-
Some of the mo-
hood is
what the
that
tives
have
word "education"
meaning
teen-
for
originally meant (in Latin). If
agers include knowledge about
we abandon teenagers to their
personal relationships and getting
own devices, we abandon their
insights into one's own identity.
education.
They include reading that helps a
Take reading. In childhood, the
person develop opinions and val-
stress is to learn to read. When our
ues or understind current
events.
children do learn, we are apt to sigh
More practical motives include in-
in relief. School success is clearly
vestigating career options, ex-
a lot easier when a child reads well.
panding knowledge of a hobby or
later, however, we take less inter-
special interest, or becoming a
est in our teenagers' reading hab-
more shrewd shopper.
its. Perhaps we think, "Let them
When people who care about
relax and watch TV or gab on the
them read and share the impor-
phone."
tance of reading, then teenagers
When that happens, we've lost
learn not just
how
to read, but they
Because reading isn't some
it.
learn
what reading is for.
kind of chore, and teenagers don't
For more information, call the
need to get the message that it is.
ERIC Clearinghouse on Ruml
Reading with a purpose is part of
Education and Small Schools
the adult role. The idea of purpose
(ERIC/CRESS) toll-free at 1-800/
is a bit complicated, but it means
624-9120. We can help direct you
that the adult has some reason
to other resources. To find out
some motive that he 'N she is aware
more about the ERIC system and
offor reading. There are about
its varied unit.s and services, call
as many motives as there are
ACCESS ERIC at 1-800/USE-
adults, so "motivatton" is not re-
ERIC. Staff of ERIC/CRESS pre-
ally a problem.
pared this article, based on infor-
One thing teachers and parents
mation in the ERIC database.
BEST COPY AVAILABLE