[blindkid] Using a slate and stylus
H. Field
missheather at comcast.net
Fri Feb 19 15:16:58 UTC 2010
Dear Heather,
We are discussing two separate things here. One is how children can be
taught the slate without reversal issues, the other is whether the
letters are, in fact, written in reverse to how they are read. In my
experience the two issues are unrelated.
I was responding to the assertion that young children would experience
difficulty using the slate and stylus because they have problems with
reversals. My statement that they would not, if taught correctly, was
based on my personal experience of over thirty years as an early
childhood educator. If children are taught the dots that make up a
letter thoroughly, so that they can recite them instantly when asked,
then they do not have difficulty writing the letters, no matter where
the dot positions are located. To prove this to dubious parents and
teachers I have, from time to time, turned the slate sideways, so that
dots one, two and three are along the top and four, five and six are
across the bottom. My kindergarten and first grade children had no
trouble writing whatever I request. So, in this I am demonstrating
that properly prepared, well taught young children will not have
trouble with reversals when writing on a slate. They don't relate the
two tasks, reading and writing. One is an active placing of the stylus
in dot positions. The other is touching and reading a letter of a
certain shape that has a specific motor triggering, from practised
exposure, in their brain.
Your statement regarding the facts of reversed, or backwards position
of letters, is a different issue and does not have any relation to my
stated experience with teaching slate use to young, blind children. In
my experience it would not matter if we wrote from left to right, top
to bottom or bottom to top. It is not an issue of reversals but a
matter of insufficient or inferior teaching on proper dot position and
letter construction which cause children problems. So, whether or not
the letters must be written backwards or not is of no consequence if
children are taught correctly.
Now let me speak briefly to another issue. Your prioritizing of
knowing how to dial 911 as more important than knowing how to use a
slate is a false comparison, like saying apples are more important
than oranges. Is it more important to know how to count or to tie
one's shoes? Is it more important to know how to button your coat or
to know grade level spelling? These kinds of questions cannot be
answered without being framed in a context. Without context no
educational claims can be validated. For example, if a child lives in
northern Australia, then he/she will likely never wear an over coat.
Therefore, spelling will be far, far more important to that child. As
Australia also has no 911 service, that skill too will be of no use.
Similarly, counting is only important to young children if they are
given experiences where counting is important, such as setting the
table or keeping track of their own money. Knowing how to tie their
shoes may have very important consequences if they are socially
stigmatized in cub scouts or brownies because, at age eight, they
still cannot tie their shoes. In the same way, to be able to copy down
a new friends name and phone number on your slate may have far more
impact in a young blind child's life than knowing how to dial 911. A
skill's value is determined, for the most part, by it's usefulness to
a child within the context of their life experiences. So, while such a
comparison of skills based on hypothetical value may seem to prove an
educational priority, in reality the claim does not prove correct.
Warmest regards,
Heather Field
----- Original Message -----
From: "Heather" <craney07 at rochester.rr.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 7:30 AM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Technology and Little Kid
The. Cells. Are backwards. No, they are not backwards in the context
of the
sentence, because the writing is also reversed, but when making the
cells on
the slate, they are backwards. An L is dots 1,2,3 and if you are to
think
of the dots on the slate as being the ordinary way, and I am not
saying that
is the correct way to go about it, but if you did, for the sake of
arguement, then L would be dots 4,5,6, which is backwards. So, the
cells
are forwards in the context of the sentence, but the sentence is
backwards,
and so the cells are backwards in the context of the child's prior
experience and personal context. If we look at Lev Vidgotski's zone
of
proximal development, what the child has from early exposure in
braille
books is contrary to the experience of how to braille on a slate.
Does that
mean it should never be taught? That it can never be mastered or
understood? Of course not, but saying that it is not backwards is a
bit
confusing and convoluted to a small child. What I think, from an
early
childhood educator's perspective, might be helpful is to show the
child who
understands basic words of at least three letters how writing the
braille
writer way, left to right and forwards on a slate yields backwards
writing,
then help them problem solve to find out how to make it look right on
the
back of the paper. Let them experement with writing backwards letters
left
to right, forwards letters right to left, backwards letters right to
left,
and keep having them compare and contrast until they get the
orientation of
the paper and the letters. If you just say "Just do it this way
because I
say so" they are likely to get angry and frustrated at the difficulty,
but
if you help them be a part of the proccess and the solution, they are
more
likely to embrace the new activity. Imagine if you at four or five
were
suddenly told "Ok, you are just beginning to master which way letters
go and
how they look and now I want you to write them one way on this machine
and
the completely reversed way on this machine." "Why?" "Because that
makes
it look right and I said so, end of story." I remember in first grade
being
so frustrated. I would make a few letters then open the slate, take
out the
paper and investigate it. I wanted to try doing it the "right" way to
see
why that didn't work. I wanted to have explanations and to play a
bit, but
I was told to "Put the paper back in and do your work." For very
young
children, having to keep their place, with out being able to see the
letters
being created is also a difficult skill to master when it is first
introduced. Perhaps place holding activities in lines of letters and
numbers would be helpful, or practicing writing on a brailler or
reading a
book and being mindful of their position in a word without having to
look
back. Think how upsetting it would be to learn that those cute things
that
meow are "cats" and you are so proud that you can write cats, but
being only
four or five, while you are trying to remember how the c and the a
sound and
look, and how they sound and look together, then add a t into the mix,
and
while you are trying to think about how the letters look, you are also
remembering to write right to left, make sure the letters are
correctly
oriented for that dirrection, while trying to sound out the word to
make
sure you don't miss any letters, and then you add in the math of
trying to
remember which cell you are in because you can't feel what is coming
out on
the paper? God, if I were four I would burst into tears over all of
that.,
Let them master phonix first, or basic math first, or just recognizing
and
producing left to right, forward facing letters first.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Holloway" <rholloway at gopbc.org>
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)"
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 11:57 PM
Subject: Re: [blindkid] Technology and Little Kid
>> This confusion or lack of specificity in precisely stating what the
>> difference between making cells on a braillewriter versus making
>> them on
>> a slate is, I submit, a great part of the problem. Lack of
>> precision in
>> thinking leads to lack of precision in results!
>
> I cannot speak for the others in this discussion, but I am not
> entirely
> convinced that either my or my seven-year-old's "lack of precision
> in
> thinking" has a great deal to do with her potential to master the
> use of
> a slate and stylus.
>
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