Beneficial Basics: They are Necessary!

Well, the time has come. The tenth and final blog post is now upon us. During this blogging experience, I have come to my own conclusion that yes, elementary schools should go back to teaching basics. In my most honest opinion, I believe that basics need to be taught and understood before moving on to more difficult lessons. Everyone needs a solid base when it comes to his or her education.

Going back to topics that I have discussed, I can say that those basics would only enhance the futures of today’s students. Basics in math. These simple basics can make any child a stronger student and can also relieve a lot of hassle when it comes to understanding more abstract concepts.

When it comes to basics in reading, writing and spelling in both the English and the French language, the benefits are quite similar. As I previously mentioned, these three skills are all linked together. To be a better writer and speller, you have to be a good reader. If elementary schools went back to teaching basics in these subjects, future students would become more effective and independent writers since they would not have to depend on others when they do not know how to spell a word. Also, these basics would allow for us to live in a more literate society.

Cursive writing. Another basic that I discussed at length. Through the research that I did on this topic, I have come to the conclusion that students would benefit immensely if elementary schools put more emphasis on this basic. Through cursive writing, students would become better writers since they will have adapted multiple fine motor skills. Also, through these fine motor skills, students will become more effective learners.

As far as life skills go, many students would benefit from these being taught in schools. Not only would it benefit students by learning these skills at a younger age, but it would also allow them to become more independent human beings.

Through the research that I did on this topic, I can conclude that learning basics in elementary school would be beneficial to everyone. It would allow us to live in a more literate society. These basics are not only useful for students ins school, but they are also useful in everyday life.

Life Skills Taught as Basics in School?

Since we are quickly approaching the end of the blogs, I have decided to approach a slightly different topic while still staying within the lines of the importance of basics being taught in schools. This topic was brought to my attention in a previous comment and I decided that it would be interesting to talk about it. Some say that the teachers should teach life skills during school hours, whereas others say that it should be left up to the parents to teach them to their children. Personally, I see it both ways! In this post, I will speak only on the point of view that yes, life skills should be taught in schools.

In elementary schools today, some skills are being taught. For example, in the third grade, students are still learning how to tell time and how to count money. (2) These are skills that I believe are still necessary regardless of there being digital clocks and money counters nowadays. I think it would be very unfortunate if schools stopped teaching these essential skills.

In my opinion, there are still other life skills that should be taught to students in elementary school. As adults (or almost adults), there are some simple skills that we are required to know in order to have a successful future. For example, how many of us can say that we know how to properly write a check or deal with household bills and taxes? (1) I do not believe that the majority of us can say that we are confortable managing those tasks completely on our own. I believe that simple skills like that as well as knowing how to accomplish basic home improvements should be required courses that should be taught to all students in school.

In the case of some students, they are not taught anything except for what they learn at school (there is no parental guidance). With that being said, if students are not learning how to accomplish these simple tasks at school, there are chances that they will not learn them at all.

I see this decline in teaching life skills as a vicious circle. Let’s say that a young adult cannot repair something on his or her own. Since this person was not taught this basic skill at school, he or she has to go out of their way to hire someone to fix the problem for them. That is the first step. Now, after the professional performs the required repairs, this young adult now has to pay this person. Seeing as this person also was not taught how to manage his or her finances either, they now have to go out of their way once again to seek some assistance. To summarize, people are having to pay others to do simple repairs and tasks that could be done on their own.

It is clear to me that there are certain skills that adolescents should be required to learn in school. That being said, teachers should be required to teach them. The simple things that our parents do for us now, will be left up to us to do in just a few years. So, up to this point, what do you think? Should these life skills be taught in schools?

(1) http://www.spinedu.com/top-5-life-skills-schools-teach/#.U15gKJG4lFI
(2)http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/math18curr.pdf

There Are Mistakes in Their Writing and They're Ashamed!

Alright, we are back to English! Another basic that I do not feel is prioritized enough is the art of writing. Since I have already discussed spelling in a previous post, this time I will be focusing more on grammar and writing issues that are not being instilled in elementary schools.

From my personal experiences with either tutoring, or with my elementary school experience, I can say that it seems as though English grammar lessons are almost non-existent. I have noticed with many younger students (as well as students our age) that some grammar rules are still not understood. According to Azadeh Aalai, a professor in psychology at The George Washington University, writing, spelling and grammar have declined in the past five years. (1) She explained that her students are handing in written papers with “poor sentence structure” (1) and grammar. In my opinion, this “poor sentence structure” and grammar are the results of it not being prioritized by teachers in elementary schools.

Commas can save lives!

I find that still today, some students do not know how to use proper punctuation. Not being taught punctuation can lead to a series of other writing issues as well. For example, not knowing when to use a comma can cause students to be making run-on sentences. Not knowing where and when to use a period can cause students to not use capital letters at the beginning of a sentence. I believe that these writing rules should be one of the top priorities throughout elementary school. The only way to learn them is to keep practicing and unfortunately, some students are not being given that opportunity.

The proper way to use there, their
and they're. 

Another common grammar mistake that even students our age are still making is confusing homophones. From the time I was in the fourth grade, I remember being taught that there were words that sounded the same, but were spelled differently. Nothing is more aggravating to me than when someone uses the wrong its (it’s), there (their, they’re) or your (you’re) when they are writing. I think that teachers should be putting more emphasis on these homophones so that students can learn them and use them properly at an early age.

It’s obvious that students’ writing habits have changed over the years. In my opinion, learning how to write properly does not seem to be as important in schools as it used to be. Knowing the proper English grammar rules and being able to write are simple skills that are important to have for everyday life. With the decline in teaching writing in elementary schools, I’m interested to see how it will affect all of us in the near future.

(1) http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-first-impression/201402/why-can-t-college-students-write-anymore

Reading…En Français!

In my previous post, I discussed the importance of French spelling and grammar. I decided to continue with the subject of French and dive into reading. For the good majority of us, we almost have fourteen years of French education behind us. This is why I find it shocking that some of us still cannot properly read in French.

Since we began reading at the young age of five or six, there are some rules that have been, or should have been drilled into our heads. I am sure that many of you have either heard or made the mistake that I am about to discuss. We all know that in French, the plural form of a verb ends in ent and not with an s. What some of us still do not remember while reading is that you do not pronounce that ent…it is silent! In my opinion, this reading mistake is acceptable for young readers who are just learning to link their sounds and letters. As for the older and more experienced readers, I do not believe that there is an excuse. We have been reading in French now for several years, which intern means that we have had a lot of practice.

Chat and Shoe share the same
sound. 

Similar to what I mentioned in my English reading blog, syllables are important to all young readers and a child’s ability to read will depend on a child’s ability to spell. Although there are some differences between the French and the English languages while reading, I believe that they are quick and easy to learn. For example, in English, the syllable ch makes a sound like at the end of the word sandwich. In French, this same syllable (ch) will create the same sound as our English syllable sh. For example: shoe and chat. This is where there could be some confusion for young readers, but as I already mentioned, students can know these simple rules and differences with a lot of practice.

A "petit livre".

I am sure that many of you remember learning to read by reading a different “petit livre” every week for homework. These small books served as a base to help us be able to move on to more complex chapter books in the future. Having said that, these small books are still used in elementary schools today for the same reasons.

From previous experiences at Club de Devoirs, there have been certain comments that came from teachers that have frustrated me. On numerous occasions, I had to listen to a teacher tell me that the students’ reading is not as important as their math or writing homework. For some students, reading at Club de Devoirs is the only chance that they get to practice their reading outside of school seeing as neither parent speaks French. Where I’m going with this is that I believe that teachers (being in a French school) should prioritize reading just as much as math or science. If reading is left to be done at home and a student’s parents do not speak French, no one is there to correct them.

A plural French verb ending in ent.

In my opinion, I find that learning the simple rules when it comes to reading in French has been put on the back burner for most French elementary schools. I find that students are being taught how to read by simply memorizing words instead of mastering each sound. I know that I cringe whenever I hear someone misread a word, so I’ll leave you guys with this. Please, when you are reading a plural verb out loud, remember this simple rule…DO NOT pronounce the ent.

Spelling and Grammar...En Français!

Most of us (if not all of us) have had a complete French education for almost fourteen years. This leads me to my next blog topic. French spelling and grammar is often a class that most of us will curl our noses at. What we do not realize is how easy and effortless it can become if we put forth the slightest effort.

In my opinion, the reason that students dread learning French grammar is because the teachers (for the most part) do not make the effort to make it enjoyable. In both French and English schools, I have heard many students complain about having to learn French. I believe that one of the reasons for this is based on the teachers’ educations. For example, a person that attended an English elementary and secondary school can very well become a French-speaking teacher. Most of these teachers will become French teachers in English schools. All judgments held aside, I believe that the reason that children who attend English elementary schools dislike learning the French language is because the teachers do not know the subject well enough to teach it to others. I find this very unfortunate seeing as this beautiful language can open up so many doors for numerous people if they just put forth a small effort.

From my experiences of tutoring at “Club de Devoirs” at Monseigneur Augustin Caron, I can say that there are few students who can properly read and write in French. Certain rules that most of us do not even think about as we write in French are now becoming unknown to most students. Rules such as making the proper grammar agreements (accords) and knowing whether a verb ends in é or er are now guessing games for students. I find this very upsetting.

As I already mentioned a bit in my previous blog entries, not mastering these basics at a young age can lead to bigger problems in the future. In many instances at “Club de Devoirs”, I have noticed that not only do the students have bad French Grammar, but some of the teachers do as well. I have noticed numerous times that certain teachers are making grammar mistakes on the students’ worksheets. The mistakes that I have noticed the teachers making are not typos and are certainly avoidable. If teachers are making mistakes such as forgetting to add an s when you use tu and knowing whether a verb will end in é or er, how are the students supposed to learn from them? In my opinion, these teachers really do not have much of an excuse to be making these mistakes. Nobody is perfect, but the students are never going to learn proper French grammar rules if the teachers do not know them themselves.

In my opinion, for students in both the French and English school systems, French spelling and grammar is very important. Although grammar rules are known to be lame and boring, they will become easy and effortless once a student has properly been taught them. After all, as an aspiring teacher, I know that I do not want a spelling mistake of mine to be pointed out to me by one of my students. Imagine the embarrassment…