14 - Sunday, March 21, 1993 - North Shore News Teacher says PARENTS NEED to get involved in their kids’ education if they want the Year 2000 education pro- gram to work, according to some North Shore educators and parents. By Raeanne Steele Contributing Writer School budget cuts, lack of training support, and the ministry policy of mainstreaming special- needs students into the regular classroom are putting an added stress on an already-stretched has also created problems for children who have come to Sylvan for extra instruction in phonics, “Teachers in their enthusiasm forgot to teach phonics and de- veloped programs around too few phonics lessons.” Parker also feels grammar should be taught as a basic skill in the elementary school system and that writing programs should be structured and very skill-based. Wayne Rowley says experienced teachers are responding to paren- tal concerns about ‘whole lan- guage’ by modifying their ap- proaches. But parents are also to blame, according to Parker. She says society's frustrations parents vital A North Vancouver parent cof- fee group started by Susan O'Neill meets regularly to discuss the Year 2000 program. Their initiative resulted in a special meeting with a ministry representative at Dorothy Lynas elementary school. O'Neill says parent-teacher communication is a key issue and feels teachers need to overcome ‘*narent-noia.’* To improve communications between parents and teachers the ministry of education has budgeted two days per year in the school calendar until 1995 for “school community interaction days.”” These days will be used: for parents and teachers to. get together to talk about the Year 2000 program. Player says the WVSB is also looking at a variety of ways to improve the parent-teacher com- munication flow, one of them be- ing a BC Tel voice-mail experi- ment at West Bay elementary school. Parents and teachers leave messages for each other daily in a voice mailbox at the school. THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS: EXCELLENT INITIAL VALUE OUTSTANDING RESALE VALUE "93 SATURN Si The number ane value in the world for a 4 door family sedon. But don't take our word for it, read what every, major automotive magazine has said. G4 Parents haven't taken on the full responsibility they should shoulder... 39 system. Accarding to Wayne Rowley, president of the West Vancouver Teachers Association. (WVTA), increased demands are being placed on teachers because of the new requirement for individu- alization and mainstreaming. “To meet the needs of all the kids you need to have small numbers,’’ Rowley said. Primary class sizes in West Vancouver have increased this year by an average of 1.3 to a total of 26.5 students per class. Doug Player, superintendent of West Vancouver School District 45, says mainstreaming is the best environment for most children but those with severe behavior disorders should not be allowed to disrupt the education of other children. The District 45 board has voic- ed its concern to the ministry in its discussion paper, ‘*Three Faces of Equity.”’ “Mainstreaming 33 a very ex- pensive process,’’ according to Player. ‘Some parents would like to see added support for their own child instead of (the money) going to ESL (English as a Second Lan- guage) and learning assistance programs."” West Vancouver teachers are also concerned about learning- problem testing time-lags, accord- ing to Rowley. “It takes eight to nine months to identify the problem, get the testing done, interpret the infor- mation, pass it on to the parents and get help brought in.” Almost a full school year can pass before a teacher gets extra help in the classroom for a special-needs child. “To truly individualize a pro- gram you need about 16° stu- dents,’’ says Linda Watson, president of the North Vancouver Teachers. Association (NVTA). “It's impossible to individualize with a class of 30.” Lack of Year 2000 training is also an issue for North Vancouver teachers. They are currently im- plementing the program withort in-services or curriculum consui- tants, both lost in this year’s budget cuts. Lack of teacher training may be why parents are upset with the new anecdotal report cards, ac- cording to Adrian Parker, director of the North Shore Sylvan Learn- ing Centre. “In order to develop mean- ingful anecdotal report cards, teachers have to be trained to become diagnosticians. They have to be, hypersensitive to learning styles ‘and learning concerns of children.” The whole language approach to teaching reading and writing {teaching from ‘‘whole to part’’) — Adrian Parker, director Syivan Learning Centre are being foisted on the Year 2000. “Parents have dumped their kids in the school system in kindergarten and have wanted finished product in Grade 12. The Year 2000 is too big an endeavor for the school sysiem to take on by itself. “Parents haven't taken on the full responsibility they should shoulder, which is ensuring their children go to school responsible, respectful and resourceful. They must remove from teachers the need to manage gross behavioral concerns. ‘“‘Parents should also be prepared to step out of the system to give their child extra support so (he/she) can catch up in the classroom.” West Vancouver parent Charles Haynes agrees. Although he heartily endorses the Year 2000, he feels only pro- active parents wili. get a good education out of the system for their child. He communicates weckly with teachers and spends time each day discussing school activities with his two children. Each morning at 6:30 a.m. he teaches them phonics, reading or writing. 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