Objectives of Individual Education
The objectives of IE are: 1) to generate motivation to learn the academic curriculum and to provide alternative ways of learning these subjects; 2) to offer guidance about how to best proceed in various ways of learning the academic curriculum; 3) to provide testing of learning at frequent intervals; 4) to provide opportunities for supervised social interaction with other individuals; 5) to provide opportunities to learn a variety of non-academic subjects.
Academic Curriculum
The academic Curriculum in an Individual Education school includes the usual elements such as language, arts, arithmetic, science and social sciences.
Creative Curriculum
The creative curriculum is a special means of fostering resourcefulness by helping the child locate and develop special talents and abilities. Teachers and students are invited to submit ideas for classes of special interest. Creative courses can motivate and reinforce learning in the academic subjects; to build a tree house or bake cookies, one must be able to read and measure.
Socialization
The socialization process is aided in an IE school through the concept of discipline, in the homeroom, and through advisement by the teacher/advisors. Education is seen as a voluntary association with equals that creates an atmosphere of mutual respect and regard.
IE has three rules that the child must understand, and agree to follow before being admitted to an IE school. After a third violation a child attends a conference with his teacher/advisor (ТА) and the school principal; after the sixth violation the parents of the child are brought into the conference session; suspension occurs after the ninth and to the eleventh violation; and after the twelfth violation the child is considered for expulsion. Expulsion or suspension is rare at IE schools because students eventually realize that they have little need to rebel in the school.
Advising is a function of every faculty member in IE school. The child chooses his teacher/advisor by petition. The TA's role is to listen, offer help and advice, give information, and allow the child freedom to make decisions and even to make mistakes.
Advantages of IE
The educators list six advantages of IE schools:
1) Children learn more academically in less time.
2) Children like this kind of school.
3) Schools are orderly and disciplined.
4) Children get a better education for life.
5) Teachers prefer teaching in IE schools.
6) Parents prefer IE to traditional schools.
Assignments:
1. Find in the text the English for:
обязанность, любознательность, цель, руководство, социальное общение, особое средство, изобретательность (находчивость), выдвигать идеи, добровольный, взаимоуважение, нарушение, временное прекращение, исключение, выбирать кого-л. по просьбе, предоставлять свободу, принимать решения, делать ошибки.
2. Form the derivatives from:
educate, resource, curious, guide, foster, create, motivate, choice, socialize, advise, violate, admit, inform, able, decide.
3. Arrange A andВin pairs of synonyms:
A. to break the rule, to lead, to require, abilities, talent, to obtain, an objective, curriculum, to foster, to aid, advisor, respect, principal, to occur, to realize, to guide.
B. headmaster, to understand, to lead, to violate, to take place, capacities, to get, syllabus, tutor, to regard, to demand, purpose, gift, to instil, to help, to direct.
4. Arrange A andВin pairs of antonyms:
A. children, advantage, voluntary, best, various,to include, respect, admission, frequent, little.
B. compulsory, much, to exclude, adults, worst, disadvantage, disregard, rare, expulsion, identical.
5. Answer the following questions:
1) What is the basic premise of individual education?
2) How does John Holt describe IE schools?
3) What are the objectives of IE?
4) What academic subjects are included in the curriculum of an Individual Education school?
5) In what way can the creative abilities of students be developed?
6) How is the socialization process aided in an IE school?
7) IE creates an atmosphere of mutual regard and respect, doesn't it? In what way?
8) Are there any punishments for violation in an IE school? What are they?
9) Why do you think that expulsion and suspensionare rare in such schools?
10) How do children choose their teachers?
11) What is the teacher's role in an IE school?
12) What are the six advantages of IE schools?
13) Do you think that children enjoy studying at such schools and why?
6. Find the terms that correspond to the following definitions:
1)A school in which each child can satisfy curiosity/develop abilities and talents.
2) The aims which an IE school pursue.
3)To advise about how to best proceed in various ways of learning the academic curriculum.
4) Children's communication (contacts) with other individuals.
5) When people respect each other.
6) The process of breaking rules.
7) The head of the school.
8) The strong points of IE.
7. Suppose you are the principal of an IE school. Speakabout yourschool, its aims, your students.
8. You are choosing a school for your child. Speak about the advantages of a IE school, and try to persuade other parents to send their children to this type of school.
9. Would you teach in a IE school? Explain why.
GRADE 3-4
(by {Carolina Bodner)
I listen and I hear,
I look and I see,
I do and I understand.
Our classroom environment and curriculum are organized to give children the opportunity to learn as much as possible through direct experience while reinforcing academic skills and concepts. The activity areas are designed to stimulate an awareness of the exciting world around them and to integrate their learning of writing, reading, math, social studies, art and environmental science. We believe this learning atmosphere naturally encourages and promotes a curiosity for learning, self-discovery, and individual expression of ideas.
The writing process is used in daily work, through journals, reports, and all forms of creative writing including poetry, story-telling and fiction. Each child publishes a number of original manuscripts each year.
The Laidlaw reading series* is the foundation of our language arts program. We also use Curriculum Associates spelling language activities, including SRA individual reading cards, and read individually chosen books during Quiet Reading** each week. Children are encouraged to bring in books from home or the library to read at this time.
We use the Scott Foresman Math program supplemented with "hands on" activities and games as much as possible to assure the understanding of concepts such as fractions, graphing, measuring and metrics.
Children are encouraged to feel a sense of pride in their family heritage, their city, state and country and to develop a sense of responsibility to each other and their community. Through our study of Somersworth and New Hampshire*** history and present day government, we hope they will develop a beginning understanding of our participatory democracy. At home this is a good age to follow daily news and begin to read the newspaper. Discussing relevant issues, locating places on maps, and using encyclopaedias can be a great family activity, while reinforcing important research and study skills.
Assignments:
1. Look through the text and say what level of education is described in the article.
2. Speak on the main way of teaching children in this school.
3. Find the paragraph where children are taught patriotism and translate it into Russian.
4. Say what the author advises to do in families while children are out of school.
________________________
* Laidlaw reading series – пособие для обучения чтению
** Quiet Reading– уроки, посвященные чтению про себя
*** New Hampshire– штатвСША
16. WHEN YOUR CHILD COUNTS TO TEN, DOES HE HAVE TO USE HIS FINGERS?
(by Carolyn Davis)
It's painful, watching children struggle to "make friends" with numbers. Especially today, when number knowledge is so vital to success in school, college, and the workaday world itself.
Yet this struggle to master math needn't be. Not with the wonder-working teaching aids on the market today.* And the best of these, according to many parents and educators, is the brand-new** set from Reader's Digest called "I Can Count."
What is it? Fun and games, really: 79 in all***. And once you put them in the hands of a child you love, you'll marvel at the sudden joy he finds in numbers.
Did I say "marvel"? Yes. Because before you know it, that child of yours will be counting to 100. He will have learned how to add... substract... tell time... keep a calendar ... measure... make change for a dollar... and so much more...
What others say about "I Can Count"?
Hundreds of educators and parents have written to us, praising "I Can Count." Typical of this comment from Mrs Joseph S. Caleagno, Jr, of Santa Cruz, California: " 'I Can Count' holds the interest of all three of my children. My 2 1/2-year-old son is fascinated with the Number Bars and the Tall Chart, Claire, my five-year-old, is learning about the value of money from the Supermarket Game, and 7-year-old Kristen enjoys everything in the Kit. If anything, all three are playing with it more than they were two weeks ago!" (From "Reader's Digest")
Assignments:
1. Look through the article and say whatit is about.
2. Read the article again and say what skills children acquire with the help of the new book.
______________________
* Not with the wonder-working teaching aids on the market today. – He стемичудеснымиучебнымипособиями,которыепродаютсясегодня.
** brand-new – совершенно новый
*** in all – всего, в общей сложности
WHAT TO DO ABOUT HOMEWORK
(From "The Harvard Education Letter")
Homework at the elementary school level is fast becoming a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. Certainly, giving students more work to take home is one visible way for teachers to respond to public demands for higher standards. Many parents, students and administrators expect homework to be assigned regularly, at least by the third grade.
But teachers receive complaints if they give too little and complaints if they give too much or the assignment is too difficult. Similarly, parents worry when children say they don't have any homework, but may resent homework when it takes precedence over other activities or family needs. Harris Cooper of the University of Missouri concludes that homework does not begintohave positive effects on achievement until the junior high school years, and that its academic benefits double when students reach high school.
Boosting achievement, of course, is not the only reason for assigning homework. Other good reasons include developing children's initiative and responsibility and helping them see that learning can happen outside of school. Cooper recommends that homework be tailored to serve different purposes at different grades. Since the effects on achievement are negligible for younger students, the goal should be to foster positive attitudes, habits and character traits. Thus assignment should be short, make use of materials commonly found in the home, and give children success experiences.
At the junior high level, when homework begins to serve as academic function, students appear to benefit from working for one or two hours a night on material that is not too complex or unfamiliar. But the role of homework in developing motivation should not be overlooked. He recommends that teachers combine mandatory and voluntary assignments, giving students interesting projects or tasks to complete.
Such recommendations may prove difficult to carry out. In a recent study, Joyce Epstein of the John Hopkins Centre for Research in Elementary and Middle Schools found a complex relationship among students' attitudes about homework and school, parents' level of education, and parent-child interaction in the family.
Children who behaved badly in the classroom and failed to complete their homework tendedto be ones who did not like talking about school with their parents and felt tense when working with a parent. Furthermore, their parents were less educated and their homes less likely to be stocked with books, dictionaries, globes or other materials that might be useful to them in completing assignments. Yet children whose parents have low education levels and low incomes may derive important benefits from homework. Jean Chaudler Catherine Show, and a team of researchers from Harvard University concluded that homework gave these parents a window on their children's school-work and sometimes led them to talk to the teachers. These contacts sometimes improved the children's chances for success at school.
Questions about how much and what kind of homework to give in the elementary and middle grades cannot be resolved by teachers alone. The need is great now for parents, children, teachers and principals to discuss the homework policies in their schools. The first step is to clarify the purposes of homework at each grade level, paying particular attention to whether assignments are having the desired effects on students' effort and motivation, as wellason communication between home and school.
Assignments:
1. Find in the text the English for:
откликаться на, давать домашнее задание, получать жалобы, возмущаться (негодовать), первоочередность, положительно влиять на, увеличивать вдвое (удваивать), приспосабливать что-л. к чему-л., незначительный, воспитывать, черта характера, получать пользу от (извлекать выгоду из), (не)знакомый, обязательный, выполнять что-л., иметь тенденцию, напряженный, выяснить (прояснить) что-л.
2. Form the derivatives from:
regular, to resent, to initiate, to recommend, common, familiar, to combine, to relate, tense, to use, to clarify, to communicate, grade, to assign, to achieve, response, research, high, to motivate.
3. Replace the underlined words or word combinations with the corresponding synonyms:
1) Giving students more work to take homeis a way for teachersto reactto public demands for higher achievements.
2) Many parents may resent homework when it dominatesother activities.
3) Students' academic achievements increase twice when students reach secondaryschool.
4) Home assignments must be adaptedto serve differentaimsat different grades.
5) Teachers must combine compulsoryand voluntary assignments, giving students interesting projects or tasksto carry out.
6) Many students feel ill at easewhen doing homework with a parent.
7) Many investigatorscame to the conclusion that homeworkgaveparents a window on their children's schoolwork.
8) Home assignments should have the desired effects on students' effort and motivation, as well as on interactionbetween home and school.
9) Children who behaved badly in the classroom and did not manage to completetheir homework tended to be ones who did not like talking about school with their parents.
10) Children whose parents have low education may profitfrom homework.
4. Fill in the blanks with prepositions if necessary:
1) Many educators say that homework does not begin to have positive effects ... achievement until the junior high school years.
2) Boosting achievement is not the only reason ... assigning homework.
3) Homework serves ... different purposes ... different grades.
4) Some assignment should be short, make use ... materials commonly found ... the home.
5) ... the junior high level students appear to benefit ... working ... one or two hours ... a night ... the material that is not too complex or unfamiliar ... them.
6) The role ... homework ... developing motivation should notbeoverlooked.
7) Many homes are not stocked ... books, dictionaries, globes or other material that might be useful ... children ... completing assignments.
8) The contacts ... parents and teachers help to improve the children's chances ... success ... school.
5. Ask all types of questions about the text. Be ready to answer them. (Work in pairs.)
6. Speak on the aims of homework at different grade levels.
7. Share your own ideas about the importance of homework at school.
OYSTER MVER MIDDLE SCHOOL
The middle school children are passing through a unique phase of life. The curriculum for these students should be carefully tailored to the specific needs of the age level and yet maintain continuity* from elementary school to high school. The academic program, which includes English, mathematics, reading or foreign language, science and social studies is designed to continue the development of basic concepts, skills and attitudes started in the elementary grades. New objectives are introduced that will also be useful in high school, college and life. The Middle School curriculum centers around the learning processes; factual matter is the base for the development of those processes.
The so-called "non-academic" or special area subjects such as art, home economics, industrial arts and music help to expand concepts, skills and attitudes but place greater emphasis on developing sensitivity to** and interest in the arts.
Physical education and afterschool sports enable middle school Students to develop athletically, and provide physical activity.
Informal activities such as student councils, yearbook committee, dances and other afterschool events also contributetothe social development of the middle school child.
Assignments:
1. Look through the text and say what new objectives are introduced in the middle school curriculum.
2. Read the text again writing out all the subjects that are taught at Oyster River Middle School.
3. Speak on the differences between the elementary and middle school grades.
19. CO-EDUCATION: A HIGH PRICE TO PAY
Research carried out in the Eighties strongly indicated that co-education was generally better for boys than for girls. The dangers of single-sex education for boys have often been stated, and there has long been an assumption that girls benefit from coeducation in the same way. Recent research tells us that this assumption is wrong. Girls studying in coeducational schools can, it seems, pay a high price in diminished career ambitions, poor self-confidence and under-achievement in academically rigorous subjects such as science and mathematics.
_________________________
* to maintain continuity – обеспечитьпреемственность
** sensitivityto –восприимчивостькчему-л.
Girls' schools are working hard to compete with the independent boys' schools that are currently increasing their intake. MarIborough, the pioneer, has increased its number of girls and begun admitting them at 13. The battle for girl pupils is growing fiercer all the time. Averil Burgess, headteacher of South Hampstead High School, believes parents needs to consider the effect of mixed classroom learning on reinforcing gender "stereotypes." She believes that in the halfway house type of co-education favoured by independent boys' schools, men become "macho" and girls are forced to be inarticulate and passive. This is inevitable, she says, when the school is still run by the male-dominated senior teachers with little insight into gender education issues. She points to a study by Professor Hoyle of London University showing how boys were allowed to jump the queue to gain access to limited computer facilities. As a result girls' choice of career of computing suffers.
The recent introduction of co-education by Oxbridge colleges seems to have had the same harmful effect on girls' academic performance as identified in schools. In 1958, 8.1 per cent of men and 7.9 of women won firsts. In 1973, the corresponding figures were 12 and 12.1 per cent. Since the mid-eighties, when both men and women's colleges have admitted members of the opposite sex, 16.1 per cent of men have gained firsts, but only 9.8 per cent of women. As Averil Burgess argues: "Maybe the girls fall too readily into the sock-washing and meal-providing mode for the benefit of male colleagues and to the detriment of their work. At least a single sex institution offers the freedom not to behave as a woman."
No one is suggesting that boys should be restricted to single-sex education; co-education is here to stay. But boys' schools with a minority of girls should take care to protect the latter from social domination by the boys. Parents should consider a single-sex school as a first option for their daughters, even if they choose co-education for their son. Maybe the implicit contradiction in that statement will only be resolved when girls' schools admit boys on gender-aware terms.
Assignments:
1. Read the text and make notes about how this type of education affects girls and boys under as many of the following headings as you can. An example has been done for you.
a) academic record– under-achievementin science and maths
b) self-confidence –
c) behaviour inside and outside the classroom –
d) attitude of teachers–
e) job prospects –
2. Speak on the main advantages anddisadvantages of co-educational schools for girls/for boys.
20. VIDEO SCREENS: ARE THEY CHANGING THE WAY CHILDREN LEARN?
(by Patricia Marks Greenfield)
The video screen has become omnipresent in our society. Along with television, action video games are now a mass medium. In a recent survey of children in southern California, conducted by Sarah Rushbrook, 94 per cent said they had played video games either at home or in an arcade*.
When parents and educators worry about the amount of time children spend in front of video screens, they usually focus on the content of particular programs or games.
Traditionally the term "literacy" has been defined as the ability to read and write. Formal education itself grew up around the technology of print. The video screen is helping children develop a new kind of literacy – visual literacy – that they will need to thrive in a technological world.
In television or film, the viewer must mentally integrate diverse camera shots of a screen to construct an image of the whole. This is an element of visual literacy: an understanding of the code by which to interpret links between shots or views.
In an experiment at the University of Rome I compared children's responses to stories presented on television and on radio. The major advantage of television was that the combination of image and word led to better overall memory for information than did word alone. In addition, television led to better memory for action information in particular. On the negative side, television – with its visual images – was less stimulating to the imagination. After watching an incomplete story on TV, children were less likely to add new or original material than after listening to a similar story on the radio. We found that children exerted less mental effort after watching TV than after listening to the radio.
____________________
* an arcade– (зд.)магазин
In sum, the dynamic imagery shared by film and all of the video media produces a number of cognitive benefits: 1) an array of visual literacy skills, 2) better acquisition of information in general and 3) better acquisition of action information in particular. On the negative side, dynamic visual imagery leads to: 1) decreased stimulation of imagination, 2) a decrease in mental effort and 3) a decrease in attention to purely verbal information.
Among educators today, the general philosophy is that we should compensate for the large quantities of television and video games children are exposed to outside school by relying exclusively on other media – notably print – in school.
Each media has its strengths and weaknesses. No medium – not even print – is perfect for education. The implication for education is that each medium should be used to do what it does best. Schools need to learn how to use each medium to its best educational advantage.
Assignments:
1. Translate the text using a dictionary.
2. Give a short summary of the text in English.
21. CURING VIDEO ADDICTS*
(From "Newsweek")
Kids used to come home from school, throw their books on the floor and dash out for a few hours of fun. Now they rush home and plop down** in front of the Nintendo home-entertainment system, there to spend time with the Super Mario Bros and other Nintendo characters. Some parents and educators think that time might be better spent in front of an algebra problem. They cite studies*** showing that video-game addicts do less well in school than other students.
______________________
* curing video addicts – лечениевидеонаркоманов
** plop down – плюхаться
*** they cite studies– они цитируют исследования
Hopingto capitalize on* growing concern about video-game addiction, an entrepreneur in Dundee, Illinois, had devised a lock that prevents kids from using a Nintendo machine. The product, called Homework First, consists of a simple J-bolt attached to a four-digit combination lock. The lock, which screws into the bottom of the control deck, blocks the chamber into which game cartridges are inserted. Tom Lowe, the inventor of the device, says it requires no tools, takes only seconds to install and does not harm the machine. "Parents need an effective way to control when and how much time their children play video games," says Lowe.
Assignments:
1. Read the article and answer the following questions:
1) What did kids do when they came home from school?
2) How do they spend their leisure now?
3) What do some parents and educators thinkis better?
4) What major reason do they give speaking against video games?
5) What for has Tom Lowe devised a new device?
2. Speak of the advantages and disadvantagesof video games.
GAMES CHILDREN PLAY
(From "Toys Are No Joking Matter")
I'm 56 and for 25 years I've been teaching children so I think I know their psychology. I want to take issue with Holger Zscheyge's "What do you think about toy guns?" In his article he wrote: "Our country produces weapons for children's games. I mean toy pistols, submachine guns and such war game as "Sea battles." Of course these weapons are not real. They are made of plastic. Nevertheless, they greatly influence the way children think. Don't children have more interesting games than those arousing a desire to kill one another?"
Children of my generation had no toys. But we used sticks and tree twigs to make toy rifles and automatics and played at war anyway. My peers experienced war firsthand and some fought**.
_____________________
* to capitalize on– извлекатьвыгодуизчего-л.
** My peers experienced war firsthand and some fought. – Мои сверстники испытали войну на себе, и некоторые воевали.
We hate war because we know what it is, but we aren't very worried about toy guns. Toys are not the point.* It's a child's upbringing that counts. Did they become nazis in Germany because they played with toy weapons? They were raised and educated on a planned and efficient basis of Hitler's thugs.
In the 20s and 30s fairy tales were not published in this country. They were thought to distract children from reality. But fairy tales continue to exist and be enjoyed.
So long as there are armies, weapons, military parades and military service, there will be war toys. So long as boys must protect their land, they will play at war.
So we adults should fight against real weapons – not toy guns. This is the only way to save from war, violence and death.
I do agree with Zscheyge on one point. He asks: "Don't children have more interesting games than those arousing a desire to kill one another?" I can only say with bitterness that for boys our toy industry offers no other toys. Visit any children's shop and you will see plastic and metal pistols, submachine guns and tanks. Nothing else. So parents have a very limited choice.
Assignments:
1. Look through the text and in a few sentences say what it is about.
2. Read the article again and say which point of view youagree with. Speakon your own pointof view on the issue.
____________________
* Toys are not the point. - Делоневигрушках.