I
In last week’s post, I made the following statement as part of the primer on reading:
- “Whether in the classroom or in tutoring for struggling children scattershot remediation will not be effective for either Type I or Type II categories.”
A parent contacted me who read the blog (nice to know that someone is reading them) asked what was meant by “scattershot.”
Here’s my take.
When tutoring children who show mild, moderate or severe Type I issues ( Type I or Type II ), remediation should be laser focused. There would be little teaching of comprehension or engaging children with activities such as open-ended writing (e.g., “Write about your weekend.”).
When a teacher was asked by a mom what approach was being used with her child showing significant deficits with word identification, decoding and reading fluency, the response was, “I do a little of this and a little of that – we do some comprehension with stories, some practice with reading out loud and writing imaginative stories.”
Sports analogies are helpful in countering a scattershot approach.. Let’s take tennis (although any sport would apply).
While playing a game of tennis is certainly more fun than working on basic skills, in the hands of a good instructor skill targeting would predominate.
If the tutor is not clear on the approach and is scattershotting, you may want to reconsider and find someone else.
Takeaway Point
Good testing data should help you get clear on what needs to be emphasized in remediation. Be laser focused in your approach so you can hit the right target,
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