Over the years, I’ve been a bit of a hoarder. Like most things, there are advantages and disadvantages to this habit.
One advantage is that I have held on to different journals that were in the dustbins of Temple University’s renowned Reading Clinic, which at one time was one of the leading clinics in the country.
Attempting to declutter, I started going through some of these journals and found many articles written by some of the top theorists and researchers in the field from 40, 50 and 60 years ago.
Skimming through them it was stunning how many brilliant nuggets are still very relevant to the present day.
One that caught my eye was an article by the late learning dishabilles pioneer, Dr. Jeanette Jansky, called, “The Marginally Ready Child.”
In the opening of the piece, Dr. Jansky refers to early elementary grade children who rarely get anyone’s attention and are only, “marginally ready.” (In effect, they’re borderline “ok.”)
As noted by Dr. Jansky, “Although they had learned to read at the expected time, they did not read easily…. I believe the marginally ready child slips past us all too often; he ‘sort of’ learns to read.
I love this concept of the “marginally ready” child. Such a child would rarely qualify for any services and they easily slip through the cracks.
If you think you have one of these children, find an experienced tutor who can identify specific areas of weakness and get to work on shoring up the skill foundation.
Don’t wait, as the marginally ready child’s weakness gap can easily widen over time.
Copyright: Dr. Richard Selznick, http://www.shutdownlearner.com