-> Children (all people) learn on a continuum from novice to expert in
-> any given domain of learning of development.  Age has little to do
-> with the developmental stage a child is in.  What I mean by this is
-> that two children who are exactly the same age could be very
-> different developmentally.  Even two children exactly the same age
-> from homes that are equally enriching and nurturing could very well
-> differ significantly developmentally.
The above is clear.
-> OTOH, children who live in homes where there is not a lot of
-> enriching activities and where learning is not a priority will likely
-> have some learning delays.  These delays are (could be) more an
-> environmental problem and here tutoring plays an important role.
......
-> When I use the term developmentally I don't apply it in this way.
-> These kids had developed to the point where additional lessons could
-> get that light "turned on."
......
I'm not going to go through your post and find all the other little
similar phrases and bits that seem to apply to this next point of
mine...
I get the impression that what you are saying is that the developmental
phase that the child is at is INDEPENDENT of any tutoring or
environment. The child can learn only what s/he is developmentally ready
for, and that somehow the child's developmental stage may have
progressed to a certain point such that even though the child is not
performing a certain task in school, tutoring may help him to very
quickly gain that skill because s/he was "developmentally ready" for
that skill. OTOH, if the child were not "ready" to learn that skill, the
tutoring would not help that child to learn it.
I'm not sure that I buy into such a simplistic scheme of the whole
thing. The idea that the child's developmental stage is INDEPENDENT of
his/her environment or tutoring gives me a great deal of trouble. As you
are probably aware, as young children learn new things, especially such
as language, this stimulates synapses in the brain and new connections
between neurons are formed. I would imagine that tutoring could
stimulate more of these connections and COULD advance the developmental
stage of the child. Perhaps in the examples you cite of your own
students catching up quickly, they were just very ready to be receptive
to the tutoring. It is also worth noting, that after a certain age,
these changes in the information routing scheme of the brain are much
harder to affect, which is why children who get past a certain age (is
it 10?) without certain types of stimulation will ALWAYS be at a
disadvantage in language based communication, and why children can learn
foreign languages more easily that adults.
-> No amount of tutoring will take that bottom kid and make him/her a
-> top kid
Why did we all of a sudden begin discussing comparing students to each
other? I don't think this has anything to do with the topic at hand.
Rather, the point should be comparing that bottom kid to himself at
different points in time and seeing the progress he has made.
-> Yes we can increase a child's understanding (if they are
-> developmentally ready for it) by providing the child with many
-> experiences with a given concept.  I think that this is what you have
-> described.  The student's had the developmental ability but didn't
-> have the pre-requisite skills (or experiences) to understand the
-> concept.
Again, I think that the experiences actually DO move the kid along
through the developmental phases.
If this is not what you think (that the child moves through
developmental stages as a result of his/her experiences), then, pray
tell, WHAT is it IYO that causes a child to move along through these
stages? Do you think that it is simply genetically programmed into his
chromosomes at birth and simply passage of time moves him/her along? I
can't buy that.
-> I don't like the word "hurry."  If you said that early schooling
-> could "help" a child in his/her developmental growth, then I'd buy
-> that.  In my view you could help the child progress to a higher point
-> on the continuum, but you can't really "hurry" a child along.
-> Certain ideas, like teaching kindergartners to add, using work
-> sheets, are not "developmentally" appropriate.
I only used the word "hurry" because it was in your previous post that I
was replying to.
"Help" or "hurry"...just semantics. The point is that the tutoring does
affect which developmental stage the child is at.
Sheila
--- PCBoard (R) v15.3/M 10
---------------