One-on-One

I have been working a lot with one student.  It is the student I briefly mentioned in my last post.  The teacher asks me to sit with him while she goes over the day's Math lesson with the class.  Socially he is still at a first grade level, but hopefully he will catch up as he gets more comfortable in the classroom.  This student is smart.  He is at the same level as many of his classmates.  However, he still has a hard time reading and writing.  His handwriting looks like a kindergarten student's.  He writes some letters and numbers backwards.  I feel that he should be getting some extra help in reading and writing, but he isn't.  It makes me think of the Lau v. Nichols case that we learned about.

The case dealt with non-English speakers such as Chinese-Americans and the automatic disadvantage they had in school because they weren't being taught how to speak English.  However, I think about this boy who was never really taught how to read and write before coming to school and wonder if this also applies to him.  He needs to be given the opportunity to develop his English reading and writing skills in order to catch up to his same-age peers.

Whenever I sit with this student, I try to encourage him.  I remind him he's smart when he says he cannot do something.  I remind him how to write those numbers and letters when he writes them backwards, but I try to do that in a way that won't make him feel bad.  He's very insecure and needs someone to help boost his confidence.  When I help him with his homework, he finishes it before half the class does.  He knows how to do the math problems, he just needs to be allowed to receive more practice with reading and writing.