HELP needed with drafting an education plank for Democratic Party platform

Parent Cafe
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<p>Let me revise what I was trying to convey with my previous post. If a child gets to third, fourth, or fifth grade and they are not reading on or above grade level then absolutely drastic intervention is called for. Pull them out of whatever is necessary to create the extra time needed to get them to grade level. No arguments here.</p>

<p>On the other hand to cut the time spent on other subjects across the board even for children who are at or above grade level in reading is detrimental to their complete development.</p>

<p>Whole development and whole language are not the same thing. Whole language is a reading strategy, in my opinion a poor one. It does have its merits though. While I am not an elementary teacher my wife is. Our system uses the Four Blocks approach to teaching reading. It incorporates the better elements of whole language with phonetics. Both word recognition and phonics are important. Since all kids do not learn in the same way a “one size fits all” approach to teaching reading is certainly not the answer.</p>

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<p>jhsu:</p>

<p>it sounds like what you required as an elementary strudent was an Individual Educaton Plan under a strong Gifted and Talented Program. However, if I recall a newspaper article correctly, Illinois has decided to defund its GATE programs.</p>

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<p>Isn’t the emphasis on ‘Whole anything’ a one size fits all? You can’t have Whole unless you start with a part.</p>

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<p>When I say “whole development” I am not referring to any particular educational program. Rather what I’m talking about is the development of children in a more complete way. As educators we have a responsibility to help children develop physically, intellectually, and emotionally. That’s what I mean when I use the term “whole development”</p>