I've been having this problem since 2012. Some of my parents are young. They had their children in their teens young. Every now and then I'll get a mom (it's never the dads) who's in college. Even more fun (yea right) is when they're education majors. I love every little thing being told "In my class..." they do the opposite. I usually say I'll try or some other passing comment. It's annoying. This year it's really annoying, because the mom is just being critical. When she doesn't like something for a reasons say "too structured" and then something else isn't going according to her class because "there's not enough structure". I know there's not much to do and the child is aging out soon enough. Just venting and wondering if anyone else has any college mommies.

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I would probably say to her "after years of experience I find this is works best for my class.

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I would probably say to her "after years of experience I find this is works best for my class". And repeat as necessary. What you learn in class is not always something that works in practice, you know what works for you.

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I'm a college mom. education major, yeah.
I go to my director for advice, actually. she has much more group care experience than I do, and her education is higher than mine.
I don't think it depends on the major, I think it's the person.

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Sorry, but it's the major.

It's hard not to want to apply what you learned to the first opportunity you see....which is usually daycare.

In all my years of being a provider.....I have to say that my experience is similar to the OP's and I agree;
it's not the person....it's definitely the major.


fwiw~ most of us were/are ECE majors too

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or maybe the major attracts those kinds of people?
it takes a lot of mental effort to not butt into another person's classroom with a piece of your righteous mind. but then again, my friend is very far from ECE (she is in property management field), and her godmother (!!!) is a teacher, and she (friend) thinks that she knows better. I will gladly turn to her godmother for an advice, 20 years of experience is worthy of respect, but it's not her, but a completely unrelated person giving me a piece of her mind about my profession.
I try to stay as humble as I can. those textbooks are good in writing, but incorporating them in real-life practice is a whole 'nother story. which is why I easily BS my way through the classes

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Mine too. I have to laugh about it, I got my degree in ECE in college, before I had children or a job, and probably would have been this person had I had a child in daycare at the time. YEARS later I went back to school to become licensed in elementary education... I sat through most of my methods classes, saying "Well, in theory yeah, but in a real life situation that won't work..." I am sure my college professors had as many complaints about their "seasoned" students as we have of the newbs.

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Only one time comes to mind, when a dkm asked me if I was aware that "there is no such thing as diamond shape, it is called a rombos"

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I have a lot of teachers/college professors children.

"I learned that in college too, dcm. As you're well aware there is a very large difference between theory and practice."

"I find that with this group _________ works best."

They rarely do it more than once.

What annoys me is the dcm with a SUMMER in a daycare during college (unrelated field) who is constantly trying to give me advice on what the center did for X, Y or Z.

She won't send her child to that same center, though.

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I'd want to reply with, "Sounds great--bet you can't wait to do that in your own classroom!"

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rhombus

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One time, a parent dropped off late. I was thinking of something else and said "Do you want to drive the plane?" to a child with a toy plane. She laughed really rudely and said "You DRIVE a plane". I just ignored her. She said "Do you fly your car?". She was really a mean person. She actually opened her own daycare and got shut down.

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It usually doesn't bother me, but it's like this one is going out of her way to cause issues. One time she was raving about Dr. Seuss. The next day, I was playing a Dr. Seuss cd during nap. She came early and said "I don't like that story".

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AAAAHHHH so embarrassed

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yes she was!
...not our fault we spend so much time with lil kids, that we start talking like they do

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I checked the dictionary

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so, wait a minute... do you drive of fly an airplane?
what about a boat? do you swim it?
that's it, my English is stretched to its limits...

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lol!

Reminds me of the oddity in our language...

Why is it that when you transport something by car it is called a shipment and when you transport something by ship it is called cargo?

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Park in a driveway

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...and drive on the parkway

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Oh my God. My SIL does this. She is very spoiled and self centered. Doesn't want kids, never really comes by to see her niece & nephew..they don't even remember her name most of the time..never comes to bday parties, etc. She went back to school to get a teaching degree, and started talking about 'her kids' and the stuff she was learning in school. Most of the stuff I was like, well yeah, duh. She was studying about linguistics and how children learn, etc.. Started offering me advice. I was like, "Uh...thx, but you've been a teacher for 2 months. You never even babysat as a teen." I don't even think she's changed a diaper, even though she has a younger sister. "I've had a daycare, babysat, and oh yeah...been a parent for 23 years. I have 4 kids." She says, "I know. I have 20 though." I just laughed. Her 20 kids go home to their house at 3 oclock. No sitting up with sick kids or making dinners or wiping butts for her. But somehow, she was an expert.

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I dunno, maybe her classes are stronger, but I had the language and literacy class over the summer, and I cannot teach my own 4-year-old to read! not because she doesn't want to, but because I don't know how because they don't teach that in college! I'm seriously annoyed. seriously. this education costs me all that it costs (no financial aid, no loans, one measly AmeriCorps grant that covers half a semester), and I take so little knowledge out of it, it's laughable.

btw, anyone knows a good technique on teaching a preschooler to read? we read books, and she memorizes the text on each page and then "reads" them to me (Piggy and Elephant series works best at that), and she really wants to read when I'm busy, and I would love to help her, but don't know how. I got the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, but still wrapping my own head around it.

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Well Mad Pistachio, honestly every ECE class I have ever taken has repeatedly driven home the point that it is better not to teach reading in the early years. I didn't teach my oldest son. And, when he started reading in Kindergarten, he did great. I haven't taught my younger son and he is learning letters and asking how to spell words or what are some words he sees. It is always advised to simply read to your child and have a "print rich environment" meaning they will see words here and there. As a teacher, I have taught kids to read. There are many ways. Teaching letters, the sounds they make, how to slur them together, how to sound out words, beginning sounds and end sounds, sight words, rules for vowels, etc. I feel like the kids are best served by playing now and learning to read when they're older. But, there are many opinions!

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Same thing, I get it. But she is showing interest in independent reading. Runs in the family: I learned to read at 4, my mom at 5, and my husband at 5. I feel like a parent of a child who's ready yo use a bathroom, and I have no clue how to lead the process. This age, between 5 and 8, is that border line when some still play, alnd some want to move on to more academic stuff. I am in no way pushing her to read, but I don't know how to support her emerging interest.

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I'm a strong believer in supporting a child's interest in learning, regardles of age.
Assuming he/she has mastered letter recognition, I would start with single letter sounds, then move to sounds in 3 letter words
I'm totally against memorizing words

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Oh, she recognizes letters, alright. I'll play with sounds. I know they learn single sounds in daycare, so I guess I'll start with single sounds to get a feeling of where she's comfortable and go from there.
Memorizing is the reason I didn't enroll her in Kumon. And the cost and mean teachers.

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My son was very interested in learning to read when he was late 3's and we just sat and read books any chance I had. He read by himself shortly after he turned 4. Everywhere we went, we'd talk about letters and he'd ask "what's that word?" I am fairly certain he memorized whatever word he asked about once he got going, so I'm not sure why some of you say that you are against memorizing words. We have several of the huge Richard Scarry books that are basically pictures with words beside them and he LOVED those.

I had no idea how to teach him, but he had it in him to learn how and he did. Unfortunately, his K teacher did not know what to do with him because he read 2nd grade level books by the time he got to her so when she listened to the other students read, she never listened to him, which made him sad. I pointed it out to her several times, but she still never listened to him...and what really made him sad was that all the other kids got a reward for reading to her and he didn't get one because she never listened to him.

Fast forward to 2nd grade...he tested at a 12th grade reading level because this kid devours books like candy. lol They still had no idea what to do with him. They let him do 4th grade reading, which he also did in 1st grade, but then said he'd pretty much have to continue to do 4th grade reading because anything further out than that would put him too far ahead of the other students...and they just wanted to get him leveled out with the rest of his grade. Needless to say, I took him out of that school and switched him to a larger school where the teachers grouped the students by abilities. It was also very tricky to find age appropriate books for a 2nd grader who could read at 12th grade level so he spent several years just reading non-fiction and anything I had read as a child.

So....long story short...be careful what you wish for and know what you are getting into with an early reader. Everyone always said "oh such a problem to have" but it was NOT an easy time! I wouldn't change what I did on my part as far as letting him learn as much as he could, but I just wanted to warn you what you could be in for later on when she gets to school. If I could do that part over, I would've changed schools sooner and bumped him up a grade at the same time. Thankfully, he is now a junior in high school and has amazing teachers who "get" him and know how to challenge him and keep him interested. He's captain of his quiz bowl team, so all the years of non-fiction reading are serving him well. I'm very proud of him, but when I read about others with little readers I have to tell his story so you are aware of what you may be up against later. Definitely let her learn to read if she wants to, but don't force it. And if she does learn before K, make extra sure you are vigilant about what the teachers are doing to serve her needs. Good luck!!

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There is a big difference between a preschool age child learning to read because they have such a high interest in words and books, and teaching preschool age children to read. One is student led and one is teacher led. A child asking what a word is, and you telling them, is vastly different than, for example, holding up flash cards for all of the children to memorize. A print rich environment, as suggested above, leads children who are ready to read without pressuring children who are not ready. Studies have shown that formal reading instruction before the first grade leads to an increase in learning disabilities, but the schools are still pushing those little kindergarteners, and now preschoolers, to get it together and read already.

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a story of my life. learning to read early, I started school when I was 7, and for the first 2-3 years, I was sitting out the readig lessons because I was so far advanced. didn't bother me one bit, by the way: I just brought my own books and quietly read them in class (and aloud to classmates at recess).
if she does start reading early, and a teacher has a problem with it, I have a nice choice of schools that are closer by and dying to get a bilingual child in their classrooms for promoting diversity, so I won't hesitate pulling if that's what it takes.
as for books... again, we are bilingual, and when the time comes, I may have to teach her reading in my language. the choice of books will double instantly.

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Oh I'm glad you have choices! I am lucky to have been able to switch. We are in a very rural area so the schools are small. I had actually open enrolled him to this one because it was smaller than our home district, and only 5miles away. Our home district is 11 miles away and any other options are 15 or more miles away and I'd have had to drive to meet the bus. As it turned out, the smaller district put 25 students in a classroom because that was how many were in the grade, but the bigger school had 60 in a grade and divided them into 4 classrooms so class sizes in the elementary grades were only 15 students, plus each grade has their own floating TA so 5 teachers for 60 kids.

And I should thank you for saying that this is the story of your life because not everyone gets it and I never meant it to sound like I was bragging, even though it could read that way to someone else. I've been told so often that I shouldn't complain, but my concerns as a parent who wants her child to fit in were valid even if other people didn't see it as a very bad problem to have. I constantly had to keep on top of things to make sure he wasn't left out of things. You are one step ahead of me in having been there yourself.

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oh, brag away, for Pete's sake
I just remember how it was: I never fit in, anywhere. I think it bothered me in my early 20's, but in early childhood/preteen/teenage years I did not give a hoot if I fit in or not. being unique was far more interesting than a conveyor belt. same was with my reading skills: I could read when no one else could? great! I'll just sit here and read quietly, and you can moo and maa through the class. it was shocking to find out that someone may not know how to read at 7, but I got over that one quickly and learned to take advantage.
not everyone wants or needs to fit in. those who don't have a choice: try to bend over backwards fitting in or let it go and move on. I let it go and moved on. life got much, much easier... hopefully, my daughter learns to do that, too, if she doesn't fit in.

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This is so true!

I think reading is much like toilet training. We can teach ourselves to read their body clocks and lead them to the toilet.,.usually with a pretty good success rate but it takes soooo long.

Or we can also provide an environment that is rich in literacy and the kids will grasp the concept of reading pretty quickly on their own because they are developmentally ready.

Early reading has nothing to do with reading skills later on in life... There is no correlation to whether your child will be an avid/skilled reader based on what age they learned to read.

My daughter was a very early reader and although she is an avid reader as an adult, she read at the same level as her peers her whole school life.

My son on the other hand, didn't learn to read as early as my daughter (and is an avid reader as an adult as well) but he read at a much higher reading level in comparison to his peers during his school years.

Providing the environment for the child to learn on their own and at their own pace is so much more beneficial and it aligns with "how to teach" in general.
Flashcards, memorization and rote learning is not developmentally appropriate at all.

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just what I said a couple of days ago: I feel like a parent of a child who's ready to use a bathroom, and I have no clue how to lead the process.
which is why I want to help. I have a ready child and no potty to use, so to speak.

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You are looking for help in regards to how you should lead....

The child needs to lead.

Google (or use Pinterest if you are brave ...I get lost there every.single.time ) for ideas and tips on how to set up a literacy rich environment. You can also find a ton of blogs that give you lots of ideas and methods for teaching letters, site words and letter recognition.

A couple of my favs are:

No Time for Flashcards
http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/

This Reading Mama
http://thisreadingmama.com/

TeachMama
http://teachmama.com/

Pre-Kinders
http://prekinders.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/

The Crafty Classroom (Letter of the Week)
http://thecraftyclassroom.com/

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mad pistachio-

I would set up some fun activities/games with the preschool dolch sight words list. I use secret letters/hidden letters, taping them to the floor and jumping the words, slapping the words on the wall with flyswatters, writing them on balloons and saying the word when you hit it, etc.

I also strongly believe in using word families.

-at
AT
HAT
MAT
CAT
SAT
FAT
RAT
PAT
BAT

I find parents inadvertently holding their kids back by using letter sound wrong.

Fffffff= FUH

NO, f does not say FUH, it is JUST FFFFFFFFFFFFFF

My 1st grade dcb had to relearn letter sounds, as he was sounding out words like

FUH AYE TUH

was never going to get FAT from those sounds.

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I was taught to teach reading the Carden way which does teach "fuh" for the letter "f". It's not really wrong, it's just a different way. "Buh", "cuh", "duh", "fuh", guh","huh",... Haha we did it every day. Then they learn vowels do make more than one sound, but to start we will just use words where the vowel says it's name. We will only let the first vowel say it's name, the second vowel is silent: eat, goat, late, etc. When the kids get farther along, they learn other "controls" or rules to use for spelling and reading. The one thing I really appreciated about Carden was the way the letters are taught. It's long to explain here, but there are visual cues to the shape of the letter as well as the sound it makes. So the letter "b" is called the "stinger of the bee, the body of the bee". That way kids remember the line (stinger) is first and the circle (the body) is next (going left to right. We would explain "buh, buh, bee" when the time for letter sounds came. It's all very regimental. This is how we taught starting with four year olds. I wouldnt do it now, but it was the philosophy at my job then, so I did! And, truly, it worked amazingly for all these kids. I was shocked. I learned to read before kindergarten. My mom used flash cards and I memorized them. I was a very high tester for many years. Then, I barely graduated high school. So there's my flash card story lol

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when I was young, all schools had the same textbook for teaching children to read. I googled it today and had a huge facepalm moment: it is loaded with Soviet propaganda. but it was used everywhere. this is what was used to teach me to read. this is what got me interested in reading, writing, languages, and communications. I am not certain I would learn another language so easily had I not learned my own early.
no one knew about flash cards. I can't stand them: they get lost and create clutter. I wish there was a similar book in English. sans propaganda, of course.

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My dc kids love to learn how to read. I don't use flashcards. They are boring. I try to avoid rote memorization as much as possible. I want that my DCkids understand the principles that form the foundation of reading. Also, Amazon is full of good toys that turn lessons into interesting games.
For example,
- this one is great for my 2yo. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
- this one is great for my 3.5yo https://www.amazon.com/Boggle-Junior...e+classic+game
- magnetic board with letters and pictures.
IMG_20181002_162751.jpg
it is done by 3 and 3.5 yo kids.

You can try this link.https://www.starfall.com/ I love this website!

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oh, I see it is the old thread. Sorry

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Old thread but usually still relevant info

I try to point out the dates on threads only so that anyone responding isn't waiting for a poster from 2010 to reply...kwim? but there is nothing wrong with posting on an older thread. Sometimes its fun to see how attitudes, comments and posters have changed.

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