BiBunny, Sir W, midwestyankee, and whoever else can put a paragraph together..

[nh23]

As I've mentioned previously my daughter has special needs. She is currently in summer school. I received a letter from her "intervention specialist" today. I'm going to copy it verbatim here. Would someone please fix all the errors in the paragraph? I've found several myself, but I'm no English major. Then tell me if I should be worried that this person is teaching my child who has major issues in language arts.

Dear Parents,

I am _______, the intervention specialist, which is working with child during summer school. I work with your student for one hour per day. First graders, I go into the classroom with Mrs._____ to help your students in centers. Mrs._______ will report to you on there progress. Second and third graders, I bring to my room and work on math and reading, every week your student will bring home the papers we worked on that week with a note on how they did and what they still need to work on. Fourth and fifth graders, I am doing a reading unit on Charlotte's Web. They will be bringing papers home each week also with a note on how they are doing. If you would like to share any information with me about your child feel free to come see me or write me a note about your child. If I can answer any questions for you let me know.

Thank-you,
_______


I could be wrong, that's why I'm asking people who know but in the first sentence shouldn't which be whom? There should probably be a your before child also. Third sentence improper use of there. It should be their. It also feels like there are some run on sentences or a ton of missing comma's.

 

[harrlequin]

Dear Parents,

I am _______, the intervention specialist who is working with your child during summer school. I work with your student for one hour per day. First grader parents, I go into the classroom with Mrs._____ to help your students in (which) centers (unclear). Mrs._______ will report to you on their progress. Second and third graders, I bring to my room and work on math and reading. Every week, your student will bring home the papers we worked on that week with a note on how they did(,) and what they still need to work on. I am doing a reading unit on Charlotte's Web with Fourth and Fifth graders. They will also bring papers home each week with a note on how they are doing. If you would like to share any information with me about your child, feel free to come see me or write me a note. If I can answer any questions for you, please let me know.

Thank-you,

***


Wow. What a cluttered, awkward and confusing message. As well as looking like it was written by a 2nd or 3rd grader.

If I had received a note like that from one of my child's educators, I would do whatever I could in my power to see them fired.

 

[nh23]

Thanks harrlequin! My first question to my little girl was, does this chick even speak English? I'm going to fix the letter and send it back with my concerns that someone who obviously lacks in proper English is trying to "help" my daughter. She's in summer school because she really need the help. Looks to me right now it's going to be an enormous waste of our time.

 

[graceanne]

I don't know the laws in Ohio, but if you have charter schools I'd look into them. Cause, .

 

[nh23]

I don't know the laws in Ohio, but if you have charter schools I'd look into them. Cause, .

In our district the only charter school available is a high school. I don't worry as much during the normal school year. The teachers she has then do an excellent job. It looks however like they just hired the first person off the street for summer school.

 

[harrlequin]

Thanks harrlequin! My first question to my little girl was, does this chick even speak English? I'm going to fix the letter and send it back with my concerns that someone who obviously lacks in proper English is trying to "help" my daughter. She's in summer school because she really need the help. Looks to me right now it's going to be an enormous waste of our time.

I don't want to make any presumptions about what time commitments you have already , but I believe you could probably help your daughter ten times over what the author of this note could. An hour a day, and an opportunity to spend some real quality time with her. There's all kinds of home-school resources on the net.

I don't have any formal education beyond trade school and basic Grade 12, but seriously - that is abysmal. If someone at the school insists your daughter takes this, you can insist on her "teacher" at least being functionally literate.

 

[graceanne]

In our district the only charter school available is a high school. I don't worry as much during the normal school year. The teachers she has then do an excellent job. It looks however like they just hired the first person off the street for summer school.

Or she lost on a straw draw.

 

[nh23]

Or she lost on a straw draw.

Yep.

I don't want to make any presumptions about what time commitments you have already , but I believe you could probably help your daughter ten times over what the author of this note could. An hour a day, and an opportunity to spend some real quality time with her. There's all kinds of home-school resources on the net.

I don't have any formal education beyond trade school and basic Grade 12, but seriously - that is abysmal. If someone at the school insists your daughter takes this, you can insist on her "teacher" at least being functionally literate.

We read a few stories each night before bed. Master or I one will read one story and then have her read the other. She has a diary I bought her that she writes in to practice on her writing. During the normal school year we spend at least an hour nightly on homework.

I'm getting ready to enter collage for the third time. I work full time. It's been suggested by a lot of people that I home school her. I honestly don't have the time. That isn't the biggest issue though regarding home schooling.

I have a very hard time teaching her. I was always a straight A student. I skipped a grade in HS and started college at 17. Graduated at the top of my class. I was IQ tested at 153 in high school, if you can believe that. LOL. I learn very quickly. I never had to study, things just come easy for me. They do not for her. She's got what they've diagnosed as an unspecified learning disorder. Try as I may, I have no idea how to teach her. I've tried over and over unsuccessfully. She just doesn't learn the same way I do. Master actually does a lot better with her during homework etc.. His mind seems to work more in the same way that hers does.

The teacher she had last year was excellent. My only issue then was that I think sometimes they baby her and don't push her enough. She's a beautiful little girl with a great personality and she uses it to her advantage. Her teacher told me once that she found it very hard to push her. Otherwise things went well. We moved into this school district just for her. The last one was horrid.

You're right though. Summer school is a requirement for her to go to second grade. If she has to be there, she should at least have a teacher who knows the things she's supposed to be teaching.

 

[MisterSir]

Dear Parents,

I am _______, the intervention specialist, which is working with child during summer school. I work with your student for one hour per day. First graders, I go into the classroom with Mrs._____ to help your students in centers. Mrs._______ will report to you on there progress. Second and third graders, I bring to my room and work on math and reading, every week your student will bring home the papers we worked on that week with a note on how they did and what they still need to work on. Fourth and fifth graders, I am doing a reading unit on Charlotte's Web. They will be bringing papers home each week also with a note on how they are doing. If you would like to share any information with me about your child feel free to come see me or write me a note about your child. If I can answer any questions for you let me know.

Thank-you,

"Which" rather than "who" is only not a mistake if she's a robot.
There should be a "your" before the first "child".
"First graders" alone is unclear at best.
They're not our students, they're our children and they're YOUR students.
I don't even know what "in centers" is supposed to mean.
Why is the "Second and third graders..." a run-on sentence? A full stop or a semi-colon would break it up and again, they're our children not our students.

Those are just the simple mistakes; the note itself reads like she's writing to the children rather than the parents.

 

[harrlequin]

Yep.


We read a few stories each night before bed. Master or I one will read one story and then have her read the other. She has a diary I bought her that she writes in to practice on her writing. During the normal school year we spend at least an hour nightly on homework.

That is the most wonderful thing you can do. What a lucky girl she is. *smile*

I'm getting ready to enter collage for the third time. I work full time. It's been suggested by a lot of people that I home school her. I honestly don't have the time. That isn't the biggest issue though regarding home schooling.

Wow - you're amazing. Like I said - I had no idea as to what your schedule was.

I have a very hard time teaching her. I was always a straight A student. I skipped a grade in HS and started college at 17. Graduated at the top of my class. I was IQ tested at 153 in high school, if you can believe that. LOL. I learn very quickly. I never had to study, things just come easy for me. They do not for her. She's got what they've diagnosed as an unspecified learning disorder. Try as I may, I have no idea how to teach her. I've tried over and over unsuccessfully. She just doesn't learn the same way I do. Master actually does a lot better with her during homework etc.. His mind seems to work more in the same way that hers does.

*nods* I understand. It's a very valid observation, people do think about things a different way. One of the - challenges - of brilliant people is not necessarily having teaching skills, as they never really had to "learn". (God, I hope that wasn't insulting, I didn't mean it that way.) It can be very frustrating for both teacher/teachee.

What about tutoring as an alternative. "Sylvan" or "Koumo" learning centers come to mind immediately, but they are in Canada, you are where??? These places seem to excel with your particular situation.

The teacher she had last year was excellent. My only issue then was that I think sometimes they baby her and don't push her enough. She's a beautiful little girl with a great personality and she uses it to her advantage. Her teacher told me once that she found it very hard to push her. Otherwise things went well. We moved into this school district just for her. The last one was horrid.

K - there's where you can do some Mommying, in terms of her attitude. And her having a loving personality should make that part easy.

You're right though. Summer school is a requirement for her to go to second grade. If she has to be there, she should at least have a teacher who knows the things she's supposed to be teaching.

Absolutely. I wouldn't put her back in that situation without at very least a stern talking-to to the principal. *shakes head* I'm absolutely amazed at how ill-equipped that teacher seems to be.

 

[Netzach]

As I've mentioned previously my daughter has special needs. She is currently in summer school. I received a letter from her "intervention specialist" today. I'm going to copy it verbatim here. Would someone please fix all the errors in the paragraph? I've found several myself, but I'm no English major. Then tell me if I should be worried that this person is teaching my child who has major issues in language arts.

Dear Parents,

I am _______, the intervention specialist, which is working with child during summer school. I work with your student for one hour per day. First graders, I go into the classroom with Mrs._____ to help your students in centers. Mrs._______ will report to you on there progress. Second and third graders, I bring to my room and work on math and reading, every week your student will bring home the papers we worked on that week with a note on how they did and what they still need to work on. Fourth and fifth graders, I am doing a reading unit on Charlotte's Web. They will be bringing papers home each week also with a note on how they are doing. If you would like to share any information with me about your child feel free to come see me or write me a note about your child. If I can answer any questions for you let me know.

Thank-you,
_______


I could be wrong, that's why I'm asking people who know but in the first sentence shouldn't which be whom? There should probably be a your before child also. Third sentence improper use of there. It should be their. It also feels like there are some run on sentences or a ton of missing comma's.

post dysfunction, see my edited version

 

[MisterSir]

Yeah, one little addendum - find out who wrote that before savaging the wrong person.

 

[Netzach]

As I've mentioned previously my daughter has special needs. She is currently in summer school. I received a letter from her "intervention specialist" today. I'm going to copy it verbatim here. Would someone please fix all the errors in the paragraph? I've found several myself, but I'm no English major. Then tell me if I should be worried that this person is teaching my child who has major issues in language arts.

Dear Parents,

I am _______, the intervention specialist, which is working with child during summer school. I work with your student for one hour per day. First graders, I go into the classroom with Mrs._____ to help your students in centers. Mrs._______ will report to you on there progress. Second and third graders, I bring to my room and work on math and reading, every week your student will bring home the papers we worked on that week with a note on how they did and what they still need to work on. Fourth and fifth graders, I am doing a reading unit on Charlotte's Web. They will be bringing papers home each week also with a note on how they are doing. If you would like to share any information with me about your child feel free to come see me or write me a note about your child. If I can answer any questions for you let me know.

Thank-you,
_______


I could be wrong, that's why I'm asking people who know but in the first sentence shouldn't which be whom? There should probably be a your before child also. Third sentence improper use of there. It should be their. It also feels like there are some run on sentences or a ton of missing comma's.

There are myriad errors here. If she didn't write this communication she has no business letting it go out like that. If she did she has no business teaching language arts to elementary students of any ability of any kind. I knew better in sixth grade.

Do you know any people you could maybe hook up with, so that your already taxed schedule isn't maxed by working on it at home? Could you trade off something else for tutoring from someone who's more hip to her learning style and maybe homeschools her own kids or has? Just some thoughts. Maybe you could hook up with an education Masters-seeker informally? We had homework help as part of the YWHA I did things after school at.

 

[Netzach]

Yeah, one little addendum - find out who wrote that before savaging the wrong person.

True enough. This could be written by an unpaid intern with very poor educational background for all we know.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

True enough. This could be written by an unpaid intern with very poor educational background for all we know.

More likely, it was written by an administrative someone in the district office.

 

[AngelicAssassin]

Would someone please fix all the errors in the paragraph? ...

i'll make it easy on you.

Dear Parents,

I am a moron with access to your child's brain for the summer. You would have been better off letting her/him watch Hulu. By the end of summer, what was brain matter could pass for tapioca.

Thank-you and the Aliens thank you.

Then tell me if I should be worried that this person is teaching my child who has major issues in language arts.

Be afraid ... very afraid.

 

[nh23]

True enough. This could be written by an unpaid intern with very poor educational background for all we know.

More likely, it was written by an administrative someone in the district office.

I'm assuming she wrote it, but maybe she didn't. My daughter's name is handwritten at the top, along with a personal note and her signature at the bottom. She personalized it by saying my daughter is doing a good job because she knows her numbers Of course she knows her numbers she's eight, and going into second grade.

Intervention specialists have to have a Masters degree, but as far as I can find they don't have to have an undergrad in education.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

Dear Parents,

I am _______, the intervention specialist (-) working with your child during summer school. I work with each group of students for one hour per day. For first graders, I go into the classroom with Mrs._____ to help (-) students in centers. Mrs._______ will report to you on your student's progress. I bring second and third graders to my room and help them work on math and reading. Every week, your student will bring home the papers we worked on that week with notes on their accomplishments and goals not yet reached. I am doing a reading unit on Charlotte's Web* with the fourth and fifth graders. They also will be bringing papers home each week with notes on their progress. If you would like to share any information with me about your child, please feel free to come see me or send a note. If you have any questions about your child's intervention program, please let me know.

Thank you,**

My take is slightly different from Harrlequin's, but for the most part, either of our corrected versions would be linguistically/grammatically acceptable.

"Centers" are small areas devoted to a specific area of learning (e.g., reading, writing, letters, colors) within a classroom.
(-) - Word(s) or phrase(s) deleted.
* - Charlotte's Web is considered a novel; it should therefore be underlined. Italicizing it would be marginally acceptable.
** - "Thank you" is two words, not one compound word.

 

[nh23]

"Which" rather than "who" is only not a mistake if she's a robot.
There should be a "your" before the first "child".
"First graders" alone is unclear at best.
They're not our students, they're our children and they're YOUR students.
I don't even know what "in centers" is supposed to mean.
Why is the "Second and third graders..." a run-on sentence? A full stop or a semi-colon would break it up and again, they're our children not our students.

Those are just the simple mistakes; the note itself reads like she's writing to the children rather than the parents.

Yeah I thought so too.

That is the most wonderful thing you can do. What a lucky girl she is. *smile*



Wow - you're amazing. Like I said - I had no idea as to what your schedule was.



*nods* I understand. It's a very valid observation, people do think about things a different way. One of the - challenges - of brilliant people is not necessarily having teaching skills, as they never really had to "learn". (God, I hope that wasn't insulting, I didn't mean it that way.) It can be very frustrating for both teacher/teachee.

Not at all insulting.

What about tutoring as an alternative. "Sylvan" or "Koumo" learning centers come to mind immediately, but they are in Canada, you are where??? These places seem to excel with your particular situation.

We do have Sylvan here. I'm in the U.S. I can't afford it though. It would be great if I could.

K - there's where you can do some Mommying, in terms of her attitude. And her having a loving personality should make that part easy.

There are myriad errors here. If she didn't write this communication she has no business letting it go out like that. If she did she has no business teaching language arts to elementary students of any ability of any kind. I knew better in sixth grade.

Do you know any people you could maybe hook up with, so that your already taxed schedule isn't maxed by working on it at home? Could you trade off something else for tutoring from someone who's more hip to her learning style and maybe homeschools her own kids or has? Just some thoughts. Maybe you could hook up with an education Masters-seeker informally? We had homework help as part of the YWHA I did things after school at.

That is an excellent idea. I really do need to check into some free or income based aides that are available in this area.

 

[BiBunny]

Dear Parents,

I am _______, the intervention specialist, who is working with your child during summer school. I work with your student for one hour per day. For first graders, I go into the classroom with Mrs._____ to help your students in centers. Mrs._______ will report to you on their progress. Second and third graders, I bring to my room and work on math and reading. Every week, your child will bring home the papers we worked on that week with a note on how they did and what they still need to work on. Bunny's note: this is a horrible sentence, but I THINK it might be at least technically correct now. Fourth and fifth graders are doing a reading unit on Charlotte's Web Bunny's note: The title of the book could also be underlined instead of italicized. They are both correct.. They will be bringing papers home Bunny's note: deleted the unnecessary "also," but wasn't sure how to show that. each week with a note on how they are doing. If you would like to share any information with me about your child, feel free to come see me or write me a note about your child. If I can answer any questions for you, let me know.

Thank you, Bunny's note: there is no hyphen in "thank you."

Ok, that made me want to stab someone. Unless I've missed something in that myriad of errors up there, it's technically correct, but it's still awkwardly worded overall. The syntax downright sucks in some places. Poor nh. I'm sorry you have to worry about the quality of your child's teaching in addition to everything else. *Hugs*

 

[nh23]

i'll make it easy on you.



Be afraid ... very afraid.

*laughs* It's nice to get a laugh from all of this. I needed that. I am afraid. I just don't know if there is anything I can do about it.

My take is slightly different from Harrlequin's, but for the most part, either of our corrected versions would be linguistically/grammatically acceptable.

"Centers" are small areas devoted to a specific area of learning (e.g., reading, writing, letters, colors) within a classroom.
(-) - Word(s) or phrase(s) deleted.
* - Charlotte's Web is considered a novel; it should therefore be underlined. Italicizing it would be marginally acceptable.
** - "Thank you" is two words, not one compound word.

Thank You!

 

[Netzach]

That is an excellent idea. I really do need to check into some free or income based aides that are available in this area.

I'm with AA. Zero confidence. If this is really what you're up against, there has to be some kind of group of people just as pissed off and stuck who have done some problem solving and grouping of knowledge on this one. Egad.

Maybe even the public library would have some programs or ideas?

 

[nh23]

Ok, that made me want to stab someone. Unless I've missed something in that myriad of errors up there, it's technically correct, but it's still awkwardly worded overall. The syntax downright sucks in some places. Poor nh. I'm sorry you have to worry about the quality of your child's teaching in addition to everything else. *Hugs*

Aww..*hugs back* It is overall very poorly written. That's what made me start the thread. I saw where I could fix it in places, but others I had no idea. The sentences are all over the place.

 

[BiBunny]

Aww..*hugs back* It is overall very poorly written. That's what made me start the thread. I saw where I could fix it in places, but others I had no idea. The sentences are all over the place.

I didn't even touch the lack of parallel sentence structure (i.e., the "first graders," "second and third graders," and "fourth and fifth graders" thing). I don't think anything short of rewriting the whole thing would make that mess better.

I really, really hope you can find some other options. Though if this kind of thing is what passes for English teaching, the teachers need to stop blaming kids and their text messaging for said kids' inability to write!

 

[nh23]

I'm with AA. Zero confidence. If this is really what you're up against, there has to be some kind of group of people just as pissed off and stuck who have done some problem solving and grouping of knowledge on this one. Egad.

Maybe even the public library would have some programs or ideas?

I'm looking into it now. There are a few programs that I've found so far, but they charge more per hour than I can afford right now. Hopefully I'll find something. *crosses fingers*

I didn't even touch the lack of parallel sentence structure (i.e., the "first graders," "second and third graders," and "fourth and fifth graders" thing). I don't think anything short of rewriting the whole thing would make that mess better.

I really, really hope you can find some other options. Though if this kind of thing is what passes for English teaching, the teachers need to stop blaming kids and their text messaging for said kids' inability to write!

I know. I have a whole rant about that. Our last levy failed so they had to make budget cuts. Guess what they cut..Special Ed. I wrote a note to the school board about it, but it of course didn't do any good. I guess they are assuming that the special kids don't know the difference anyway.

I did just make a call to the superintendent's office. They gave me a number to call on Monday to talk to someone about all this.