Amazing Grace - Kozol

This article was such a heart touching, well thought out message to appreciate the very little you may have, for someone else always has it worse. Kozol creates a perfect picture in the reader's head by the way he writes about his experience in the Bronx and with his young tour guide. The way some children are forced to grow up so fast and early is an amazement to me because I myself at nineteen years old am still learning how to grow up and take care of myself, let alone myself and others. While receiving his tour, the young guide points out many things that amazed me trying to remember how young he was. He pointed out street gangs, where to receive drugs, and where multiple people were murdered. It astonishes me that the child's mother even let him go off around this type of neighborhood alone with a complete stranger. When I was a child, I was not aloud to leave my street, and I grew up in a suburban area filled with children my age. My elementary school was in my neighborhood and I was not allowed to walk the two blocks home, in fear something bad would happen to me. Instead, I would either take the bus or have my grandfather pick me up. Then A family member would watch my sister and I until my parents came home, I was never left alone. I guess you could say this makes me "privileged". To not be forced to go home and take care of my sister, get  myself to and from school, and feed myself. These children may not know what they were having for dinner that night and would have to do all these things listed above by themselves until their parents got home at nine, ten o'clock. I remember my bed time was whenever the sun set, and that rule lasted until I was 14. I used to be so angry at my parents for enforcing all of the rules for myself and my sister but as I have grown up, I have realized the reasons behind these rules and have become grateful for having the in place. I was always taught to do things on my own including dishes, laundry, cleaning and getting ready, but with the supervision of my parents alongside me, I am very grateful for this because it taught me structure, but did not consume my entire childhood like it does for these children in neighborhoods and families such as the Bronx. Having bars on their windows, being exposed to violence, having to give up privileges children should be enjoying is not a way to live and it makes me heartbroken to know that these are just  the beginning of many children's everyday occurrences. Hopefully there are more children than not that beat the odds of growing up with these conditions and repeating the cycle.

An Indian Father's Plea by Robert Lake

"He is only five years old, in kindergarten and I can't understand why you have already labeled him a slow learner".  I feel as though this is one of the most important quote of the article and it is rightfully stated in the first paragraph. Unfortunately, kids who do not first grasp a concept immediately with the rest of their peers, are labeled this way, as a "slow" or "challenged" learner. This is most often the case of the beginning of a down hill spiral for many innocent children. Every kid learns differently and starts differently, this by now we have come to know, but not accept. As an example of the child in question, Wind-Wolf, comes from a highly educated family, and has been taught many things that  a western cultured child would have learned by the age of five, plus some, but in different ways. Wind-Wolf knows mathematics, science, history and how to read, but all based around the culture he was raised in. Math was not learned with a computer or building blocks, but with helping his mother work. Science was learned from the Earth and sun when he was with his family. Most things Wind-Wolf learned was hands on and observed, a complete opposite from a school environment, thus labeling him a "slow" learner.
"It takes a long time to absorb and reflect on these kinds of experiences, so maybe that is why you think my indian child is  a slow learner". This is the reason why many innocent children are thrown into special education classes too quickly with no choice or opinion on the matter. Once a child has the stigma of being a slow learner his peers as well as himself will not think other wise or question it. It becomes the truth, even if it did not start out that way. Wind-Wolf went against his years of tradition and highly powered and educated family to fit in with this new westernized culture because that is what the attitudes of his peers, teacher and culture told him to do. This is now what he thinks is right, even though it is the very opposite.
"My son, Wind-Wolf, is not an empty glass coming into your class looking to be filled. He is a full basket coming into a different environment and society with something special to share". When asked how many months were in a year, Wind-Wolf replied thirteen instead of the westernized answer of twelve. This response was not because he did not know, but because, again, he had learned things based inn his own culture. In his culture, there are thirteen months because there are thirteen full moons each year. Wind-Wolf knew many of the same types of information as his peers, just with small differences in them such as the amount of months in a year. This is something not many people know, this is something I did not know until reading this article. I believe that in this case it is the teachers responsibility to educate herself as well as the rest of the class on why Wind-Wolf responded this way and why he was correct. Wind-Wolf has traveled the USA, has been exposed to many different languages, religions and has learned numerous different things about his culture, all by the age of five. How many people can say they have learned that much by the age of twenty? Not me. This is why he is a "full basket".

Hello, welcome to my blog! My name is Madison Fisher! I am a sophomore here at RIC getting ready to enter into the School of Ed soon. So far my semester is going great! I am new to commuting and still getting used to the morning traffic, but its nothing a little coffee stop can't solve! I am looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say about our up coming pieces!