Clever Currents

It All Adds Up: Math Ideas Start Early.

A year ago, President Bush created a National Mathematics Advisory panel, and earlier this year, they released a preliminary report that was quickly criticized for being a summary of the Panel's mission and process, and devoid of recommendations for improving math skills. Do you need to wait for the government to tell you how to help your child with math? Every small child has a grasp of basic math, for instance: "More!" Give one child two cookies when his sister gets three, and instantly the inequality is noted. You don't have to wait to help your child build on these natural observations.

The Blue Lake take on it:
Math for preschoolers happens naturally in your everyday life. We stumbled upon Meddybemps, a terrific ad-free website created by a Grandma/Grandpa team (Susan Jindrich, teacher and former HeadStart Director; Jerry Jindrich, retired Internet Design executive). Check out their Understand Math section with great tips for young families. We also enjoyed the Kitchen Math ideas we found online.

Day Care Dilemmas: Can Child Care Kids Play Nice?

No doubt you saw the press coverage of a government study release last month showing that more time spent in child care centers before the age of 5 resulted in a slight but measurable increase (1%) in "problem" behaviors (interrupting, teasing, bullying) through sixth grade. There were positive correlations – child care kids had higher vocabulary scores. The study results entered the long-running debate over the pros and cons of child care. One thing is clear – social skills need to be considered as part of the early education we give our children, and parents need to assess potential caregivers on this attribute.

The Blue Lake take on it:
We like the way our fellow Oregonian, Sue Shellenbarger, the Work & Family columnist for the Wall Street Journal covered this last week. She devoted her column to identifying care centers that build better social skills. Look out for too much academic drilling, and choose a center where the adults train kids on working together, and where kids can find a quiet place to retreat. Sue's column is available to paid WSJ subscribers only, but she provided this source for information on social emotional development.

The Reading Wars: Phonics vs. Whole Language

Last month, The New York Times Education Reporter Diana Jean Schemo reported that schools were being pushed into using phonics-based reading materials or else risk losing federal funds under the Reading First program. Schemo profiled the Madison, Wisconsin school district, which chose to stick with their balanced program and withdraw from funding. Are phonics-based reading programs more effective than whole language-based programs? Phonics is based on learning letter sounds and putting them together; Whole language helps the child use contextual cues like pictures and story flow, to read. Dr. Richard Allington, former president of the International Reading Association said the research shows no strong support for a single style, and that relying on phonics may hurt comprehension skill as readers advance.

The Blue Lake take on it:
You don't have to choose! Look at the Six Early Literacy Skills, there are valuable tools in both phonics and whole language approaches. We say go for the best of both worlds. The Tessy & Tab Reading Club magazine stories have very detailed visual clues to help pre-readers with a whole language approach, and our online activities include a phonics-based alphabet game.