Transformational Tutoring

I have ranted in the past about incorrectly using apostrophes as plurals. But the following takes the cake. Believe it or not, I saw Bryan Adams' name written with an APOSTROPHE "S"!!! Not the way I just wrote it, but like so: "Adam's" Who does that???? This is beyond ridiculous and it shows how far gone the English language is getting. The last name is ADAMS, which has NEVER, in human history, EVER, been spelled with an apostrophe!!!!!

I would like to wish everyone a Happy, Healthy Thanksgiving!

Don't forget that I am now receiving students again in my classroom as we are all double-vaccinated and taking all COVID precautions....

Contact me at 705-429-1155

My classroom in my residence is now open! We are taking all the necessary precautions for protection from Covid-19. All members of my residence have been "triple-vaccinated". We are using sanitizer and masks and distancing as necessary.

I am posting this to show an example of how children have not been taught how to use capitals and small letters properly as well as an inability to write on the lines. This shows the printing level of an 8 year old........

School boards ‘blindsided’ as Ford government slashes program funding | The Star The province’s 72 school boards received emails late Friday with the list of programs to be cut or that will see funding reduced, and have been scr...

How are most children expected to comprehend when they are permitted to omit words, replace words or just read half a word?

WHY CHILDREN ARE FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS

As I have been working with my students, I have noticed several issues that they all have in common regardless of what grade they happen to be in:

1. Most of them have not been taught how to hold a pencil properly.
2. They are not familiar with all of the individual sounds of the letters;
3. They do not know when to use capital letters and when not to;
4. They have very little knowledge of grammar and punctuation; hence they have difficulty constructing a proper sentence;
5. Most of them have not learned to cursive write and if they have, they may have spent a few weeks on this in a haphazard way;
6. When they are reading, if they are able to at all, it's all a guessing game where they can only pronounce words that they have seen before, they omit words and/or replace words with other words that they are already familiar with. In other words they solely depend on the memorization of words which interferes with their ability to comprehend......

All of these shortcomings result in the children becoming lost and almost paralyzed because they "do not get it" and their learning suffers in general. As a result they may act out and will no longer pay attention; becoming oblivious to what is going on in the classroom; hence they get labelled because the educators have determined that there is something wrong with the children....

I believe there is something wrong with the SYSTEM because of the large numbers of children falling through the cracks. Since 1968, the system has gradually been transformed from a TEACHER-DIRECTED learning system to a CHILD-DIRECTED learning system which professes that the children must be the directors of their own learning....Does this not sound absurd? How is a child to know what needs to be learned and how? As I work with my students, all of them, without exception, attempt to pick and choose which way they would like to perform a task without the acknowledgment that there is a proper and correct way to do it.

The answer to these problems is a highly structured, step by step intensive phonics programme administered in a way that accommodates the learning "style" and the learning pace of the child, ensuring that the child has honed each step before going on to the next. This programme can make a world of difference in a child's learning capabilities reducing drastically the potential of falling through the cracks.

Happy New Year to you and yours! May you have a happy, healthful and peaceful new year! 🎆🎇