My husband and I do a fair amount of writing—newspaper letters and editorials, technical text copy, music, various other published and non-published creative works. We both read quite well. It is, therefore, quite important to us that our three children read and write progressively better as they mature. Our three children have completed first grade each in three separate environments: private Christian school, home school and public school. I was thoroughly impressed with the academic accomplishment held by the two children that attended first grade in Christian and in home school. Through the chaos of the public classroom the third child did become a reader, but a great deal of that accomplishment was achieved simply through her own determination and desire to read.

Federal Way School District publishes booklets for each grade-level’s expectations. Perhaps you will find these expectations as inappropriate to the grade level as I do.

WRITING
1. The student writes clearly and effectively.

STYLE
1.3 Begins to write about experiences and feelings

CONVENTIONS
1.4 Uses correct letter formation
1.5 Uses correct spacing
1.6 Uses correct spelling of age-level words
1.7 Uses phonetic spelling
1.8 Uses complete sentences
1.9 Begins sentences with capital letters and ends with period or question mark
1.10 Produces a legible final product

2. The student writes in a variety of forms for different audiences and purposes.
2.1 Writes for different purposes

3. The student understands the writing process.
3.1 Generates ideas or brainstorms with assistance
3.2 Writes using own vocabulary and spelling
3.3 Corrects errors with assistance
3.4 Reads back own writing to collect input from others

4. The student analyzes and evaluates the effectiveness of written work.
4.1 Talks with others about writing

I believe in first grade children SHOULD be learning enough about phonetic spelling to use it appropriately, use correct letter formation and spacing, be introduced to punctuation and be able to understand simple sequencing of ideas or situations. But, using complete sentences? Sure. Eventually. But wouldn't the focus on letter sounds and word formations serve them better to start off with? (In second grade home school curriculum our child has recently been painstakingly taught the difference between phrases and complete sentences.) First grade students should concentrate on more basic things like the drilling of the different vowel sounds, the beginning instruction of the different consonant blends, digraphs and the like.

Producing a legible final product? Kind of stressful for a child coping with capitalization, punctuation, correct spelling, correct letter formation, proper spacing, sequencing ideas, thinking up ideas…kinda throwing all the tools, lumber, pipes, and wire at the kid and saying “Here…build a perfect house.”

Writing for different purposes? A person needs to thrive on milk before learning to chew meat! A reader needs to be exposed to various forms of good writing--to recognize the differences in purposes of those kinds of writing--before that reader can really understand and produce that kind of writing. Getting the cart before the horse aren't they?

Analyzing and evaluating written work for effectiveness? Effectiveness? What 6 and 7-year olds has the person authoring this booklet been around? MENSA students?

“Talks with others about writing”? Who are they kidding?

I was in a 1st grade classroom all last year once a week. Those kids didn't talk about their writing nor analyze it. They did talk about their pets and the stuff they did that was fun. I saw an incredible amount of time wasted in ‘journeying’. The children were supposed to write in their journals, but did not have the tools yet to do so with any amount of direction or ease so it was a struggle. The adults in the room needed to wander between the desks so they could spell words as most of the children asked for help. Time lost that could have been firming up their conventions so that in another year they could journal, write letters, write short essays about their interests with confidence!

My husband and I compared this booklet to the building of a house...the foundation is not only uncured yet, but still being poured! But regardless of the incomplete, boggy foundation they are insisting on putting up the support beams and walls! The foundation IS phonics. Boring as it may sound, it is necessary to drill the sounds and letter options that make up our language so that a child can decipher the sounds to produce words.

In kindergarten I saw haphazard “phonics”; taught so loosely that I questioned the teacher on whether or not phonics was really taught. (Oh YES, we teach phonics!”) We had pages and pages of ‘homework’ (in KINDERGARTEN!) which really was MY homework, for our kindergarten child, as of that time, had no frame of reference for much of it.

In second grade (here at home) I was amazed the first couple of months at how inept she was at reading and following instructions...something the children were supposed to be required to do in 1st grade and she always got high marks on. Yet the reality of it was that she could scan the words, but have them zip right over her head. Through much insistence on my part she reads and follows directions better, but still doesn’t digest them properly even though she can read quite well. But as a class they were practiced in everyone reading the directions out loud with or after the teacher, even late in the school year, which did not stretch or exercise individual skills.

First grade reading consisted of some phonics, group reading, using picture clues (Reading 1.3 “Uses picture clues”!) and was conquerable because I had a child adept at reading. Many, many books came home in K-1 that I objected to because the child could ‘read’ them using the pictures! I protested this, but was assured that this was appropriate…that sight-reading was part of the overall teaching even though they insisted they did use phonics. Oh, how exultant my 5 year old was when she would ‘read’ one of those books. Then I would cover up the pictures with a sheet of paper and make her read the WORDS to me...dismal failure. A word or two might be recognized on each page. The key word here is ‘recognized’, for she did not ‘read’ (decipher) those words!

The age-level words they refer to under the Reading and Writing categories are nothing more than lists words that we had to practice, column by column, until she could sight-read them all--under threat of not advancing to 2nd grade if those words were not read on a special test. (Reading 1.4 “Recognizes grade-level words”) There must have been 40 or 50 of those words.

There were so many activities packed into each day and woven into the chaos created by the undisciplined children’s disruptive behavior that precious little time was actually spent in absorption of math, reading skills and spelling. To this day, as my nearly 8 year old complains that the running refrigerator noise is distracting her from her home school assignments, I wonder how she ever learned anything in first grade and retained her sanity at the same time.

If you have not had a child in the lower elementary grades for a long time I would encourage you, especially board members, to politely request to shadow a first grade teacher for a complete day. It will be an education for you. You will no doubt be appalled at the behaviors the teacher must correct before ever launching into teaching academics and the behavioral reinforcement she is forced to give attention to that crowds out timely academic pursuit. Yes, the teachers have a monumental task. No amount of salary could entice me to teach public school! And I believe that their job is made harder by some of the recommendations by the ‘experts’. I believe that much more could be accomplished by simplifying the expectations and really grounding kids in the basics. Does that mean we are becoming soft on education? Does that mean we are lowering out standards? Heavens, No! All of those expectations would be fulfilled--just at a later date when the kids were solid in their knowledge and have the ability to perform those expectations in ability-appropriate sequence.

Simplify now, build a strong foundation and let it cure. Once that foundation is stable teach the child to build the walls, weaving in the necessary plumbing and electrical items (complete sentences, additional punctuation, interest, style, age-appropriate final product). Let us not allow the ‘experts’ to encourage them to throw a coat of paint on their house of writing before the walls and roof are in securely place!

Harriet