The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 17

The Indianapolis Star MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1991 B-10 EDUCATION Better reading may be key to better leamram Education consultant says schools must change their methods of instruction. is that students don't take the reading habit outside the classroom. "A real problem in schools is 'aliter-acy' kids who know how to read, who were taught basic skills of reading, but don't practice reading. As they move through the grades, then, they lose those basic skills," she said. "We did a great job of teaching basic skills.

But we've done a very poor Job In (instilling) in them a love of reading so they will continue to read. And since they don't continue to read, they lose those skills." Cornwell believes that giving kids their choice in reading material will enhance their love for reading. "B.F. Skinner said, 'We shouldn't teach great books: we should teach the love of reading, because if the kids don't love to read, they're not gonna read great she explained. One program Cornwell manages is Project REAP (Reading Excitement And Paperbacks).

Lilly Endowment has given 15 middle schools and 40 elementary schools money to buy recreational reading collections chosen by students. "The whole premise of this program is. 'Let's give kids high-interest reading CHILDREN'S EXPRESS he average elementary stu- dent fn 1985 filled out 1,000 I I ditto sheets a year, according II to Linda Cornwell, a consul- tant for the Indiana Depart- ment of Education. Can you Imagine filling out 5'h worksheets during one school day? Those flll-in-the-blank handouts may become a thing of the past if Cornwell has her way. "The research Is irrefutable you Improve your reading by reading.

You become a better reader by reading a lot. We drastically need to change our Instructional methods, because we're spending time on skill and drill, and not reading," Cornwell told 14 educators from Louisville and San Diego. The state is experimenting with different teaching approaches, particularly In summer school, to reach students who did not fulfill the requirements needed to pass Into the next grade. One new method includes an Interdisciplinary program In which the teachers focus on one topic, such as the en Fourteen educators were in Indianapolis in June to train for a Children's Express project in their schools. C.E.

staffers helped them prepare for this interview of Linda Cornwell. Louisville educators were: Amy Blanchard, Nancy Robison, Curtis Whitman, Chris Corbin, Ann Cos-tanzo, Shirley Erickson, Phyllis Fine, Dale Redford and Joni Seitz. San Diego educators were: Jeff Alstot, Michael Cawley, Linda Good, Jim Good and Ernie Smith. contact with those preschoolers' parents. "We don't even have mandated kindergarten in our state, much less preschool.

So. it's really hard to get people to access those people that we most need to access," she stated. "Whereas 20 years ago, they (children) would come In with more readiness skills, now they are coming in with a lack of readiness In terms of reading and learning language. And so those children are starting behind the eight ball in the whole process already," she added. Cornwell also stressed her concern about the lack of role models in the lives of schoolchildren.

"Our adults are not reading. And so, they don't have that role model there, so we're trying to encourage everybody to read," she said. "When talking about role models, I'm talking about even in school. We have found in our school that out of a staff of 28, we only found two or three teachers who were role models for our students in terms of reading. And the other teachers may value reading personally, but they never conveyed that to their students." In today's growing technological society, youths need an education more than ever.

"In 1910, what you could do with your literacy as a functional illiterate and (what) you could achieve, you can't do today," Cornwell said. "You could go out with a fourth-grade education and do quite well in 1910. You can't do that today." EDITORS: Erin Cox, 15, Sharlene Toney, 14, Tj Ebel, 16, Chanda Boyden, 15, Amy Weisenbach, 15, Randy McDade, 16. REPORTERS: Tim Ward, 13 1 he research is irrefutable you improve your reading by reading. You become a better reader by reading a lot." vironment, and use It to teach the other subjects.

"We try to work with our administrators and our teachers to do a program that Is different from what the child receives during the year. In other words, throw out the worksheets, throw out the ditto sheets, throw out the workbooks, Linda Cornwell Cornwell ex- 1., fi' CHILDREN'S EXPRESS PHOTO SUZANNE PRFSTflN Linda Cornwell says fifth-graders read less than 5 minutes a day on average. materials geared to their reading level, and hook them on to the love and joy of reading so that they will see themselves as lifetime readers and lifetime learners," she said. "We have to prepare critical thinkers and people who can read and apply that information whether they go on to a college or university or a technical training beyond college or a university. I think that's the least we owe our students." Cornwell also said that in trying to plained.

"Our kids need to read more. The average fifth grader reads 4.6 minutes a day, independently. Now that's sad," she said. "According to the National Association of Educational Progress, the average 18-year-old cannot read more than three paragraphs and translate what those three paragraphs said. That's very depressing to me." One of Cornwell's greatest concerns help our youth prepare for the future, parents need to be more involved in their children's reading habits, at school and at home.

"We need to have family literacy, not Just teaching your child to read. And there's not much support out there. In terms of the population," Cornwell said. Because the majority of Indiana's population is concentrated in rural areas, it is harder for the state to get in ALTERNATIVES I Voices Personal approach attractive to home schoolers "is not for everybody. Does everybody who home schools do a good job? I doubt It.

But everybody In the public schools doesn't do a good Job either." We think that at least teachers In schools are evaluated and fired If they're Incompetent. You can't fire a mother, though. We wanted to know how home-schooled kids are socialized if they don't go to school with other kids. Moitozo said home schooling "isn't all or nothing." Students who are home-schooled can take some of their classes at the local high school, so there is a chance to interact with kids their age. The Home School Association also plans field trips.

"Isolation does not have to be part of home-schooling at all," Moitozo said. For Moitozo, spending more family time together Is another plus of home-schooling. Children's Express is concerned that kids who are home-schooled might get a narrower base of ideas than kids who go to regular school, where they get exposed to beliefs different from their parents' beliefs. analyst with the U.S. Department of Education.

We asked Moitozo how home-schooled kids are monitored to make sure they are keeping up with other kids their age. He said there are annual tests: parents choose which type their child will take. The choices Include standardized tests and a presentation of a portfolio of work. There Is also 'peer review, with one family evaluating another's home-school student. Tests vary from state to state and from district to district.

Colleges that recognize home-schoolers give a lot of weight to standardized test scores. Carol Lunkenheimer, director of admissions at Northwestern University, said that she requires home-schooled applicants to take college board achievement tests in five subjects to substitute for grades. Moitizo told us there are no requirements to be allowed to home-school anyone can easily do It. Children's Express doesn't really like the idea that anybody without qualifications can teach their kids. We feel anybody can xmake a mess out of their children, and if a parent fails to teach the child, the child is being deprived of Many parents teach religion and enjoy the extended family time together.

CHILDREN'S EXPRESS NEW YORK BUREAU For seven years, Steve Moitozo woke up whenever he wanted to. He didn't ride a school bus and he didn't have a locker. He spent his days at home with his family. But last year Steve wanted to play football, and the life he had known for seven years ended. Steve Moitozo was home-schooled.

Instead of going to a regular school with other kids, he stayed home and was taught by his parents. Steve's father, Stephen Moitozo is the executive director of the Home School Association of New England, an organization designed to meet the needs of the 1.5 million home-schoolers In America today. "Public schools only prepare you for Institutions," Moitozo said. "The same kids In the same room doing the same thing In the same way at the same time to get the same results, just because they're the same age. That's pretty bizarre.

"My gut tells me that any time I want to produce a product from an Institu tion," Moitozo continued, "the product is going to be of lesser quality than a product that's custom-made. That's the difference between having a builder build you a house to your specifications and letting the government of New York state build all the houses within its borders. We don't let the state build all the houses. Why should we let the state build all the children?" Moitozo told us that his son and another teen-ager spent a whole year building an Ultra Plane, an airplane, as their home-school project. "They had to read and write about the rules of the Federal Aviation Administration for operating an airplane.

They had to know science as far as (understanding) the lift-off and thrust and weight capacities. They had to know math to calculate the (length) of the runway." Moitozo admitted this is an extreme example of what home-schoolers can accomplish but stressed that a personalized curriculum Is always better for kids. He told us another advantage of home-schooling is that you can teach your child about religion while teaching them academics, which you can't do in public schools. In fact, 90 percent of the parents who choose to home-school their children do so mainly for this reason, according to Patricia Lyons, a research WRITE US A LETTER I Mail to: Children's Express News Bureau, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, I P.O. Box 3000, Indianapolis, Ind.

46206. You also may call us at (317) 921-4 125. i Uniforms great for any school Dear Children's Express: I Uniforms help your life, they don't I destroy it! Most Catholic schools make students wear uniforms. When I went to a Catholic school I had to I wear a uniform and since I didn't I worry about what I was wearing, I learned more. I'm now in the acceler- ated class in a new school.

I Last year when I started junior high I I no longer had to wear a uniform and I was surprised by what some kids thought was appropriate for school. In my opinion uniforms are great for any I schooll Barbra Wilson I Speedway Junior High School Indianapolis Asthma sufferer for smoking ban Dear Children's Express: I You asked the question about I whether or not smoking should be banned in all public places. In my opinion YES. I For the last 1 0 years or so I have had asthma. I must take two types of medication four times a day in order to breathe and live a normal life.

I Tobacco smoke is the number one I trigger for an asthma attack in my situation. When exposed to tobacco smoke my medication seems to be "undone." I An individual has a right to smoke. However, my not smoking does not interfere with a smoker's health. A smoker does interfere with my health I when smoking in public places. For the above reasons you have I my "vote" to eliminate smoking in all public places.

If a total ban is not I possible at this time, then clearly designated non-smoking sections should be established in restaurants I and other public places. Designated smoking areas should not include any area where a nonsmoker must pass in order to reach any destination (i.e., airport walkways, copyfile rooms in offices and restrooms). Beverly Hudnut Indianapolis EDITORS: Samantha Mandor, 15. REPORTERS: Suki Cheong, 13, Megan Burke, 10, Jessica Goldberg, 1 1, and Shelly Goldberg, 8. ineir ngni 10 an education.

Moitozo admitted that home schooling What do you think? Mike Tyson has been accused of rape. Do celebrities get special treatment? "No, because they are just people." "Yes, because they are rich and famous and they can pay people to do stuff for them." "Famous people have gotten special treatment and I think that this country has a big problem about serving justice, not "Yes, I think that they do because they are stars and everyone thinks that they didn't because they think that stars are good people." A Angela Kinnett, 12 Heather Clark, 17 necessarily Jake Hurler, 15 Lebanon Middle School Lebanon, Ind. Sunungura Rusununguko, 13 Keystone Middle School Indianapolis Lebanon Middle School gSffiSS500' Mike Tyson. Ind. Lebanon, Poll conducted by Whitney Slaughter, 12, and Brendan Kirsch, 13, at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis..