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VOLUME 46NUMBER 4MAY 2005

The Lutheran

EducatorT h e W E L S E d u c a t i o n J o u r n a l

T H E L U T H E R A N E D U C A T O R

VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4MAY 2005

Editor — Jack N. Minch

Editorial Board — Philip M. Leyrer, Cheryl A.Loomis, James F. Pope, David D. Sellnow

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Copyright ©2005 by Martin Luther College. Re-quests for permission to reproduce more thanbrief excerpts are to be addressed to the editor.

The Lutheran

EducatorThe education journal of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synodedited by faculty of Martin Luther College

The Living Hope of HeavenJohn R. Schultz 100Where Experiments End Paul L. Willems 102Lindamood-Bell Reading TherapiesSandra Whited 105Establishing an Observation Bee Hive in the ClassroomTim Rambow and Steven Thiesfeldt 109Teachers as RecruitersRonald Brutlag 113The Importance of Family Involvement in Becoming Literate Cheryl Loomis 115Saxon Math: Fire and IceBrian Maurice 123

As We See ItTeaching a Love for Souls 99

An Associate of Arts Program 126Reviews 127

A R T I C L E S

D E P A R T M E N T S

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Teaching a Love for Souls

The sign over the classroom door encouraged students’ eagerness: “Enter withan open mind.” When students exit our classrooms later, we don’t want their think-ing to be narrow or restricted then either. Our goal in education—includingChristian education—is not to close students’ minds or hearts, but to expand andenrich them.

Christian schools will seek to open children’s hearts to the wide variety of peoplein their world—people for whom Christ died and rose again. Christian educationought not cause our young people to close themselves off from the world aroundthem, but rather prepare them to live in that world and impact the world with god-liness and faith. We want them to become seasoned to serve as the salt of the earth,enlightened to give off light to the world.

It is an unhappy consequence if our educational system becomes insular andteaches children to stay to themselves. God tells us to avoid conforming to the waysof the world, but he does not tell us to avoid the world. We teach our children tobe wary of temptations and to steer clear of false teachings, but at the same time wetrain them to be models and messengers to others in their neighborhoods and com-munities.

When kids learn about the religious beliefs of others—whether those of otherdenominations or of various cults or of world religions—they may go home and telltheir parents, “Do you know what _________ believe? They’re really weird!”Teachers and parents will seek to inculcate an alternate outlook: These are peoplewhose lives are immensely valuable, who will stand before the Lord on the day ofjudgment just as we will. We pray for them. We seek to share truth with them. Wego out of our way to proclaim Christ to them.

The apostle Paul exemplified a Christian’s burning love for lost souls, taking thegospel to as many places as possible. For his own countrymen, who did not sharehis belief in Jesus as the Christ, his yearning for their eternal well-being was palpa-ble: “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish thatI myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those ofmy own race, the people of Israel” (Romans 9:1-4). He longed for their salvation.

Our Christian schools exist as training grounds in which our children learn thetruths of the faith and godly principles for their own lives. But they are also morethan this; they shape our children’s attitudes toward people in the world. Our ownattitudes as teachers will rub off on our students. “So from now on we regard noone from a worldly point of view” (2 Corinthians 5:16), but see all as persons whoneed Christ. We see ourselves—and teach our children to see themselves—asambassadors for Christ, imploring others on Christ’s behalf to be reconciled toGod.

DDS

As we see it

Praise be to the God and Father of our LordJesus Christ! In his great mercy he has givenus new birth into a living hope through theresurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,and into an inheritance that can never per-ish, spoil or fade kept in heaven for you. 1Peter 1:3-4

“I hope for a quiet, restful summer.”After a long, often stress-filled schoolyear, principals and teachers can be for-given for having such a hope. But itreally is wishful thinking. We commonlyuse the word hope to express a wish forsomething. In the Bible, however, hopeis not wishful thinking but a firm faithtoward something in the future. Likesaving faith, such hope is God-given.The resurrection of Jesus from the deadgives believers a new birth into a hopethat they will be resurrected just as hewas. Believers are born again not only toa hope but also to the object of thathope, an inheritance in heaven. PraiseGod that he has given us such wonder-ful hope!

The Bible seems strangely silentabout heaven. To be sure, we have briefglimpses in the Book of Revelation bymeans of pictures and symbols: a citywith jeweled walls, gates of pearl, goldenstreets. Jesus referred to heaven as the

Father’s house of many mansions pre-pared for us. We are told that sad earth-ly experiences are absent in heaven: nomore mourning, no more pain, nodeath, no more tears. But yet, heavenseems a mystery. It’s almost as if Godhas purposely kept it his best-keptsecret.

From 2 Corinthians 12 we learn thatthe Apostle Paul was permitted to seeheaven. He “was caught up to paradise”where he experienced the beauty andjoys of heaven. Yet, Paul was preventedfrom describing for us what he saw andheard. These things were “inexpress-ible.” It is interesting to note that he wasso moved by what he saw that he spokeof it in his epistle 14 years later with asense of awe and wonder.

Perhaps God isn’t really being silentabout heaven at all. He is telling us thatheaven is so wonderful and gloriousthat our minds are too limited, ourvocabulary too inadequate to under-stand and describe heaven. As sinfulhumans, we just can’t fully fathom it.“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, nomind has conceived what God has pre-pared for those who love him,” 1Corinthians 2:9. You think you’ve seenbeautiful places down here on earth?

100 T H E L U T H E R A N E D U C A T O R

The Living Hope of Heaven

John R. Schultz

You haven’t seen anything yet! Youthink you’ve heard beautiful sounds inthis life? Just wait to hear the awesomerefrains that will fill heaven! You thinkyour mind can clearly picture heaven?Our mind can’t even begin to imaginethe wonders of that place!

What the Bible clearly tells us, andour Spirit-washed minds gratefully com-prehend, is the most comforting factthat in heaven we will be in the pres-ence of Jesus Christ, our Lord andSavior. Jesus prayed, “Father, I wantthose you have given me to be with mewhere I am, and to see my glory, theglory you have given me because youloved me before the creation of the

world” (John 17:24). To be forever withJesus, our dearest Friend, that is our liv-ing hope! Share that hope with your fac-ulty, students, parents, community, andworld.

Read some more: Philippians 3:17-21Dear Heavenly Father, we are amazed byyour love for us through your Son, JesusChrist. We long for the day when we will seeyou face to face. Until then, let us serve youfaithfully here on earth, motivated by yourawesome love. Amen.

John Schultz served as principal/administrator ofMinnesota Valley Lutheran High School. He iscurrently retired and living in New Ulm,Minnesota.

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Schultz

Recently, two excellent published materials have been made available on CDs. In 1992 Carl Hochmuth wrote and compiled a large set of materials that could

be used in schools and congregations to teach and practice evangelism. He calledit the Evangelism Handbook for Schools and it was printed and sold by theCommission on Parish Schools. Mr. Hochmuth has now added new material, thir-ty-seven activities or resources and a Powerpoint presentation, and put it all intopdf (Adobe Acrobat) and Microsoft Word format. This set of materials has beenburned onto a CD. If you would like more information, contact Carl at LutherPreparatory School, 1300 Western Avenue, Watertown, WI 53094.

In 1997 Paul Boehlke, Roger Klockziem, and John Paulsen, working with sci-ence teachers, compiled a set of 150 hands-on science experiments and activities,taught from a scriptural viewpoint, for elementary and high school students. This

book, Discovering God’s Creation, hasalso been put into pdf format andburned onto a CD. The college isstill working out the details, but ifyou want further information, con-tact Roger Klockziem at MartinLuther College, 1995 Luther Court,New Ulm, MN 56073.

ILIKE EXPERIMENTING. When I was nineor ten I heard cats always land on

their feet. I decided to see if that werereally true. I experimented with myneighbor’s cat. I held her upside downand dropped her. She landed on herfeet. I dropped her from greater andgreater heights. She landed on her feet.I finally threw her into the air as high asI could. She bounced and lay still. Ithought she was dead, but she was onlyunconscious. She had not landed onher feet that time. My experimenttaught me not to take everything thatpeople say as true. In sixth grade myteacher said water expands when itfreezes. I found that hard to believe.The wires on the power lines near myhouse were shorter in winter than insummer, not longer. They did notexpand when cooled. One evening inlate November I filled a vinegar bottleto the brim with water and screwed thecap on tight. I placed it outside ourhouse under my dad’s mortar box so noone would “spoil” my experiment. Earlythe next morning I went to look at thevinegar bottle. It had shattered as thewater cooled and formed a pattern ofthe vinegar bottle when it froze and

expanded. Many people like to experi-ment and to investigate the world inwhich we live.

My cousin, Roy, had a chemistry labo-ratory in his basement complete with asink and a siphon for running water. Hewas an experimenter. A friend wholiked to paint experimented with ascratching technique using acrylicpaints. He painted his canvas with greenand yellow-green paint, then over paint-ed them with brown. When hescratched through the brown paint witha steel comb the green and yellow-greencolors appeared. By manipulating thecomb the scratches became the bladesof grass in his painting. Poets experi-ment with words to create a picturewithin our minds. Beethoven was deafduring the last twenty years of his life,but he continued to experiment withnotes and produced a symphony we stillenjoy today. We like experimenting to“discover” new things. It’s fun! It ishuman to experiment. Roger Bacon(1214-1294) wrote down the steps ofhuman investigation which includedobservation, hypothesis, experiment,and theory which we call the scientificmethod today. Humans experiment.Humans are filled with curiosity. We


Where Experiments End

Paul L. Willems

want to know about this wonderful uni-verse God made for us. The very wordscience means “to know.” We could sayscience is a human effort to get to knowGod’s universe better. There is anartistry about the way in which weexperiment. I was not satisfied with onetrial when investigating the cat’s abilityto land on her feet. I pushed my experi-ment to cruelty. I was not satisfied totake my teacher’s word for the fact thatwater expanded when it froze. I had tobreak a bottle to satisfy my curiosity.Human experiments are often trial anderror. They are the many attempts tounderstand what is unknown. Writingpoetry or music and painting mayrequire many attempts and errorsbefore we are satisfied with the results.Other people may try to duplicate ourexperiments. They may even come upwith new experiments or better ideasthan we. Nobel prizes worth millions ofdollars are awarded each year for medi-cal advances, new ideas in physics andchemistry, and also for literature andpeace.

God is not an experimenter. Goddoes not need to investigate what he hascreated. He really knows. When Godcreated the universe he did not tinker.He made everything we see about us injust six days. He had a definite purposein mind. He did not “experiment” withthis or that type of animal or land form.He knew what he wanted and it wasaccomplished. He said it was very good(Genesis 1:31). After humans fell intosin, God devised a plan to redeem us bysending his Son into the world. He didnot try several other ideas first. The

Holy Spirit brings us to faith. He worksfaith and goodness within our heartsthrough his Word and the sacraments.He did not make several attempts atsanctification to first see how they wouldwork. God is not an experimenter.

The Bible is our canon, or rule fordoctrine. Some liberal theologians try totell us that this book is the result ofmany “experiments” over the years.They would have us believe the Bible isonly literature or a gathering of humanthoughts or even a collection of fables.This is not true. The Bible is God’sWord (1 Peter 1:21). “The Scripturecannot be broken” (John 10:35). It wasnot written as a part of some divineexperiment. When the Dead Sea Scrollswere discovered these same liberal Biblescholars thought they would be able toshow believers how much the Bible hadchanged over the thousand yearsbetween the oldest Hebrew manuscriptsand the Dead Sea Scrolls of about 250BC. It was discovered there are no doctri-nal differences during this long interval.God’s word is not an experimentbecause God is not an experimenter.He does not change. “Jesus Christ is thesame yesterday, today and forever”(Hebrews 13:8). He is not experiment-ing. Humans experiment. God doesnot.

I believe teachers should keep thisdistinction in mind as we instruct Jesus’lambs in the truths of God’s Word andin the science of our modern age. Yes,science is wonderful. Medical wonderssaved the lives of two of my children.Science is a way humans can use logic tosolve puzzling difficulties. Science is a

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Willems

gift of God. Communication technolo-gy, transportation devices, medicines,synthetic fibers, and other blessingsfrom God through science enable us tolive the complex and bountiful lives wedo today. Our lives have changed fromthe ways our fathers lived their lives.However, God’s Word does not change.He still loves us as he did before the cre-ation of the world. He continues to saveus through the foolishness of preachingChrist crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23).These clear gospel teachings found inScripture do not change. God is not anexperimenter. We should not act asthough he were.

We must keep separate the divine andthe human. We must guard againstcombining science with doctrine. It is amistake to use the logic of science todefend our faith. Using human reasonin predestination makes God a liarwhen he says he wants all to be saved (1Timothy 2:4). We must be always wary ofchanging science. The scientific “truths”of today will become the foolishness oftomorrow. At a Lutheran teachers con-ference some years ago a teacher saidhe believed what God created on thefirst day, light, was really the spectrumof electromagnetic waves of which visi-ble light is only a small “octave.”Another wiser teacher said we cannotascribe our science to explain Scripture.Science is not a tool of the gospel min-istry of the church. Today science doesnot even speak of light using the wavemodel. It describes light as particlescalled photons. What now of God’s cre-ation on the first day? He still createdlight. We really don’t know what light is,

but when we claim our science canexplain Scripture, we are soon in trou-ble. Luther accepted the science of astationary earth, but was not foolishenough to incorporate it into theology.Job failed at understanding science toanswer God’s questions about wind,rain, hail, and lightning (Job 38:22-25).However, Job knew his Redeemer lived.He knew he was saved. These men keptscience and Scripture separate. Soshould we. We must not attach God’sname to our favorite scientific theories.We do not know God’s science. If sci-ence is only the attempts of humans tounderstand God’s creation there can beno true science. To attach God’s nameto any science dishonors God’s name(Ezekiel 43:8).

Science and Scripture are in two dif-ferent spheres. If we try to unite themwe will always have to reinterpret God’sunchangeable Word to match the ever-changing theories of science. Godreveals himself in the Bible. Study hisWord. God is not an experimenter. Hiswisdom is far above human wisdom. Histhoughts are the standard by whichhumans are measured. Human reason isnot the standard by which we measureGod. If we try to do this, we discardScripture and seek in vain for a reason-able theology; one without original sin,without a Triune God, and without thegrace of Jesus Christ found in his cross.❧

Paul Willems teaches at Minnesota ValleyLutheran High School, New Ulm, Minnesota.


Willems

ONE CHILD can readthrough the story

without making hardly anyerrors, but can’t tell you whathappened to the character inthat story. The second childlistens to the story and knows theanswers to any questions you ask orallyabout the story, but can’t read the storyor the questions written on the test byhim or herself. Yet a third child under-stands and can read most of the story,and can figure out what the questionsask on the test, but she can’t spell andwrite her answers correctly for anyoneto understand. All three children havereading and writing concerns that ham-per them from achieving their fullpotential. It’s because of these concernsthat this reading program came about.

Background

Lindamood-Bell is an organizationfounded in 1986 by Nanci Bell, PatriciaLindamood, and Phyllis Lindamood,the authors of critically acclaimed pro-grams that teach children and adults toread, spell, comprehend, and expresslanguage.1

Lindamood-Bell’s programs stimulate

basic sensory functions relat-ed to learning and are basedon educational research inthe fields of psychology,speech pathology, behavioralstatistics, neurology, linguis-tics, and physiology.2

Once just one center, there are now40 Lindamood-Bell Learning Centersnationwide and one in London,England. Due to the interest of felloweducators in rural Minnesota, theLindamood-Bell Association approvedthird-party workshops to train area edu-cators in the Lindamood-Bell tech-niques. Third-party training was held tolearn the techniques for three pro-grams: Lindamood PhonemeSequencing (LiPS), Visualizing &Verbalizing for LanguageComprehension and Thinking (V/V),and Seeing Stars: Symbol Imagery forPhonemic Awareness, Sight Words, andSpelling.

The Lindamood-Bell Association hassince offered School Services includingworkshops and conferences. If youwould like more information on thoseSchool Services visit www.lindamood-bell.com/about.shtml. Third-party train-ing in the Lindamood-Bell techniquesstill occurs in rural Minnesota. Please

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Lindamood-Bell Reading Therapies

Sandra Whited

contact me if interested in informationfrom the third-party trainer.

How do the three reading programswork?

It is estimated that up to 20% of the stu-dents per grade level will benefit fromLindamood-Bell learning programs.The whole focus of the program is tochange the current paths of the brainand create new paths using feeling, visu-alization, and other tactile methods in aunique, sequential system. The therapyand its training are very intense and

require concentration on the part of theteacher and the students.

Remedially, the techniques work ide-ally with a one-to-one student-to-teacherratio, having no more than three stu-dents to one teacher. Lindamood-Belltechniques and vocabulary can also bepart of the classroom language arts cur-riculum.

With the first program, LiPS, thefocus is on phonemes in a word for flu-ent decoding and encoding to “crackthe reading code.” Students learn allthe phonemes and how to discriminatethem, and then how to manipulate

phonemes in imaginary words.Imaginary words are not recorded orrehearsed by one’s brain. The secondchild in the opening scenario wouldbenefit from this therapy.

In the V/V program, visualizationand verbalizing the Gestalt of the storyis taught. Students gradually learn howto create a “movie image” in their mindas they read. The first child in the open-ing scenario would benefit from thistherapy.

Third, Seeing Stars focuses on lettersymbol imagery and the concept of sightwords. Here students are taught to holdletters in their mind to form words,change the order of the letters to makenew words, or spell words backwards. Inthe scenario, both child two and childthree would benefit from this therapy.In fact, the third child might well bene-fit from both LiPS and Seeing Starswhich are often done simultaneously.

How Lindamood-Bell is used locally

First, a teacher or parent observes someform of reading or writing need thatconcerns him or her. Parents and teach-ers normally discuss these concerns. Achecklist is used for teachers to look forareas that a child struggles with. Thesechecklist areas include sounding out aword from left to right, spelling a word,repeating a story in order, and readingbeginnings and endings of words. Thenthe child can be screened to see whatareas of reading are strongest and weak-est for him or her. Testing should beadministered by trained Lindamood-Bell staff. Testing includes aptitude tests


Whited

The whole focus ofthe program is to

change the currentpaths of the brain.

and other informal testing such as theLindamood LAC test. The testing data isgathered, recorded, and analyzed in theareas of reading, phonemic awareness,spelling, imagery, reading comprehen-sion, and listening comprehension.

Based on the testing data, staff cansee what weaker areas a child has andwhat therapy would help the child thebest. Then there are many steps to orga-nize a Lindamood-Bell pull-out remedi-al program, like the oneused in the school dis-trict. Student data needsto be looked at to deter-mine learning groups.Schedules are developedwith the Lindamoodstaff, children, and theteachers.

Students start the program andprogress through it based on their indi-vidual needs. Some students can com-plete the program in one year, and oth-ers take much longer. Some studentscomplete one therapy such as LiPS andthen need to move through anotherprogram such as V/V.

Besides having a pull-out program,some teachers in the district are trainedin Lindamood-Bell techniques. Theteachers can use the vocabulary andtechniques in the whole classroom.Informal assessments can be done, ifneeded, to see the weaker areas in theclassroom. If the whole class struggleswith comprehension, then the teachercould use some V/V techniques with allthe students.

Some parents have also privately paidfor Lindamood-Bell therapy through

the trained staff, but separate from theschool district time.

Effects

Teacher training can take up to sevendays, depending on what programs youtrain in. The training is intense, and aperson needs to be able to have thatskill herself in order to teach it. It canbe difficult to organize and schedule

remedial programs.There are, of course,dollar figures to con-sider, especially if youpaid for the trainingdirectly from theLindamood-Bell asso-ciation. Teachers can

have difficulty integrating Lindamood-Bell techniques with the rest of the cur-riculum.

Statistics are kept annually to showprogress of students’ learning as theywork through therapy. One statistic thatcontinues to show up is that studentsgain skills in comprehension even whenthe student is just working on thephonemic therapy. The correlation isphenomenal!

Parents have commented to me thatthey are open enrolling their child inthis district due to the Lindamood-Bellthat the child receives here. Studentsthemselves say such things as: “I wishsomeone would have told me this soon-er… in first grade” as he finally learneda spelling rule, or “I love to read now. Iactually know all the words on thepage.” Or “Now I know what you mean.I can see it in my mind.”

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Whited

Staff come running up to me saying,“I used the word popper, and as soon asI said that, George could spell thatword.” or “You can’t believe what foursyllable word Jane attacked today.”Lindamood-Bell staff members tell meof letters received from students whohave since gone on to high school butwant to tell them thanks for all theirreading help. It’s these testimonials thatprove to me that Lindamood-Bell works.

I have used this therapy and seen itwork on a first grader with a substantialspeech impediment. At first, the onlysound he could make was ‘sss’ and theonly letter he wrote was ‘x’. I used thistherapy with an eighth grader who justcouldn’t recall anything he read. Hestruggled to answer any questions andlacked any visual imagery. By the timehis therapy was done, I had to look upthe answers to the questions I asked dueto the level of reading and the visualiz-ing required. He is now well into his col-lege career. I have used these tech-niques in my classroom as well, basingwhat therapy I used on the needs ofeach year’s students. Lindamood-Bell isthe one program that I thought wasmissing from the curriculum.Lindamood-Bell is a perfect supplementto a core reading curriculum, both forpull-out needs and in the whole class-room.

Should anyone be interested in know-ing more about this therapy, contact meat [email protected]. I willdo my best to service your questions andneeds. ❧

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Meyer, Sue. Speech Pathologist. Notesfrom training. Prinsburg, Willmar:July, 1997,1998.

Teacher Manuals for Lindamood BellPhoneme Sequencing, Visualizing &Verbalizing for LanguageComprehension and Thinking,Seeing Stars: Symbol Imagery forPhonemic Awareness, Sight Words,and Spelling. Gander Publishing.

1www.lindamood-bell.com/ about.shtml2www.lindamood-bell.com/research

/research.shtml

Sandra Whited is a graduate of SouthwestMinnesota State University, Marshall Minnesotaand has a BS degree in Elementary Education. Shereceived training in the Lindamood-Belltechniques of LiPS, V/V, and Seeing Stars. She ispresently a third grade teacher and Lindamood-Bell Coordinator at Reede Gray Elementary School,Redwood Falls, Minnesota.


Whited

THE USE OF live organ-isms in a classroom

setting can enhance science edu-cation at any level. One of themore interesting organisms toobserve is the honeybee. Theuse of a glass observation hive pro-vides students with an educational expe-rience they will never forget. Withoutdisrupting or irritating the bees, a class-room observation hive will providesome amazing learning opportunities.Students can watch • comb building, nectar and pollen

gathering, honey production andstorage;

• social interaction and communica-tion within the colony;

• queen egg-laying and larvae develop-ment; and

• hatching and raising the young andprotection of the hive by workerbees.The typical observation hive is made

of a wood frame, shaped like a windowand ranges in size from about 18” x 24”to 30” x 45”. Plexiglass® or Lexan® pan-els (a polycarbonate material is pre-ferred over glass for safety reasons) on

both sides contain the hive andallow a full range of observations.Most structures have an upper

chamber for honey activity and alower chamber for queen activity.This mimics an actual beehivearrangement. Observation hives

can be built with basic carpentry skillsand tools or purchased from a variety ofsuppliers.

Although the establishment of a class-room observation hive can be a reward-ing experience, careful planning isrequired. The process is simplified if anexperienced beekeeper is available tooffer guidance and assistance. Don’tavoid tackling the project, however, ifsuch expert assistance is unavailable. Afew basic guidelines can help in gettingyour observation hive ready for use.

Selecting a location

One of the first decisions to be made inestablishing an observation hive isselecting a location. Choose a spot with-in the classroom that is easily observableand close to a wall or window but not indirect sunlight. Too much exposure tosun produces a greenhouse effect that

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Establishing an Observation Bee Hive in the

Classroom

Tim Rambow and Steven Thiesfeldt

will warm the hive and melt the wax. Atemperature of less than 80oF is desir-able; 68-72oF is ideal. The hive shouldbe securely mounted on a counter orwindowsill so it cannot be inadvertentlyknocked over or disturbed. The areashould be well ventilated but not drafty.

Exterior considerations are alsoimportant. The hive entrance should belocated away from high traffic areas. Asecond story entrance is ideal. If thebees must enter near ground level andclose to pedestrian traffic, a fence orhedge four to six feet from the exteriorwall and at least two feet higher thanthe hive entrance will direct the bees toenter and exit within the vertical chan-nel provided by the structure. A naturalwater source near the entrance providescooling for the bees; if none is available,a birdbath or trickling hose will helpwhen the weather is extremely hot.

A flexible, transparent plastic tube isused to connect the observation hivewith the outside world. The tube shouldbe at least 1 inch in diameter, no more

than 3’ in length andas level as possible.The mountingshould be flush atboth ends without alip. Too many bends,barriers or obstaclescan frustrate or con-fuse the bees. If thetube is too long, thebees will find theirway out but not backin. The easiest routefor the tube can be

established through a window by replac-ing the glass panes with polycarbonate,cutting appropriately sized holes andsealing the edges with silicon. Routingthrough wood, brick or metal will posegreater challenges.

Building the observation hive

There are many plans for constructingobservation hives on the Internet. Asimple Google® search for “observationbee hives” will yield a variety of options.One of the most detailed is theUniversity of Florida Institute of Foodand Agriculture Science site located athttp://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG320. Theaccompanying diagram shows a simpledesign provided by Ric Bessin on aUniversity of Kentucky College ofAgriculture website located athttp://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/misc/ef016.htm.While even this plan can be simplified, agood understanding of hive dimensionsand “bee space” is important. Bees willfill wide gaps with additional comb or


Rambow & Thiesfeldt

seal off narrow spaces.The simplest option is to purchase a

commercial kit. A two-frame unit can bepurchased for about $100 and assem-bled in less than an hour. One reliablesource for these kits is B & B HoneyFarm. You can visit their website atwww.bbhoneyfarm.com. The siteincludes a catalog with a navigableindex. A full range of beekeeping kits,supplies, and materials is available alongwith expert assistance.

Whether you are building your owndisplay unit or purchasing a kit, be surethat it contains a provision for a feedingunit. This is often a glass jar that can befilled with syrup and inverted over anopening in the top of the frame (seediagram). During periods when the hiveis not being directly observed, the trans-parent side panels should be blocked tokeep out light.

Equipping the hive

The easiest way to get bees into yourobservation hive is to work with an expe-rienced beekeeper. He can carry theempty observation hive to the locationof an established colony at least twomiles from the school site. Once there,he will select one or two healthy framesfrom the donor hive and introducethem to the observation hive. His expe-rience will tell him to select frames thatare well populated with a mixture ofhoney and honeybee brood. If possible,he will also simultaneously transfer thequeen from the donor hive. Once theframes are carefully inserted into theobservation hive, he will close the hive,

return it to the classroom and reattachthe entrance tube for the bees.

Transfer of the queen from the origi-nal hive has about a 75% success rate. Ifthe queen cannot be transferred fromthe donor hive, a new queen must beintroduced. Typically this new queenwill be enclosed in a small cage at thetime of purchase. An even smaller open-ing is made in the cage before it is intro-

duced to the entrance of the observa-tion hive. The new queen should leavethe cage within a few days to join thehive.

If an experienced beekeeper is notavailable, you can purchase completekits with instructions for starting acolony from the supply company men-tioned earlier. A third option is to cap-ture a stray swarm of bees but this poses

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Rambow & Thiesfeldt

Establishing anobservation beehive

provides anopportunity to discoverfirst hand the wondersof God’s creation and

moves the study ofscience from the

textbook to the realworld.

safety and logistical challenges for thenovice!

Maintaining the hive

Once the bees are in the hive they willneed to be fed. A syrup mixture can beprepared by adding one part sugar toone part hot water. Allow the mixture tocool before introducing it to the hivethrough the feeder. Continue to feedthe bees in this manner until the nectarbegins to flow. Avoid overfeeding; toomuch food will encourage the bees tostore the excess and restrict the queen’segg-laying space.

Examine the hive weekly to monitorcleanliness, food supply, and popula-tion. Accumulated dead bees may becleaned out periodically if the bees donot take care of the task themselves.This is primarily for aesthetic purposes.The transparent side panels can be coat-ed with Vaseline to prevent the beesfrom coating them and blocking viewervisibility. If the hive becomes too crowd-ed, bees will swarm from the hive toestablish a new colony. Sometimes thequeen accompanies the swarm, necessi-tating the establishment of a new queenin the display.

Enjoying the wonders of God’s creation

Establishing an observation beehivepresents some challenges, but the fin-ished product is well worth the effort. Itprovides an opportunity to discover firsthand the wonders of God’s creation andmoves the study of science from thetextbook to the real world. An observa-

tion hive has been established in thebiology laboratory at Martin LutherCollege using guidelines and proce-dures described in this article. Over thepast year students, visitors and staffmembers have been able to observebees carrying brightly colored pollenfrom flowers to the hive. Some viewershave learned to distinguish the queenfrom the drones and the workers. Aswarm leaving the hive was captured onvideo along with a special dance by aworker bee to communicate directionsto a new home. With an observationhive in your own classroom, you canexpect similar experiences. What betterway to learn science and grow in appre-ciation of God’s creative power than toexperience it first hand! ❧

Tim Rambow is Superintendent of Grounds and aprofessional beekeeper. Steven Thiesfeldt teachesand is the Vice President for Administration. Bothserve Martin Luther College, New Ulm, MN.


Rambow & Thiesfeldt

HOW MANY TIMEs have I heardthese comments: “I want to be

just like Miss Stelter.” Or, “I want toreplace Mr.Schultz.” Or, “I hope that Ican teach just like Mr. Welch.” As theDirector of Admission for Studies inEducational Ministry at Martin LutherCollege, I hear comments such as theseeach day that I am out recruiting youngmen and women for educational min-istry. You teachers in the Lutheran ele-mentary schools, the area Lutheranhigh schools, and the Prep schools aredoing a wonderful job of modelingteaching and encouraging your studentsto think about the teaching ministry.You make recruiting easy to do sinceyou have already set the wheels inmotion for these students to beginthinking about the public ministry. Weat Martin Luther College thank you forbeing these front people. Keep doingwhat you are doing and think aboutother ways to encourage our young peo-ple to consider ministry as their life’svocation.

I think the most important encour-ager from you is a smile. When studentssee that you are happy and excitedabout your ministry, it tells them thatmaybe they too could be happy in min-

istry and that it is something to getexcited about doing. Our actions speakvolumes to our students. Check outwhat you do most often, frown or smile.A smile is easy to put on each day; doingcart wheels isn’t necessary unless youare really good at them. You can’talways determine the conditions of theday but you can control the attitude youhave in handling the conditions. Mayyour attitudes always be like that ofChrist, your role model.

Identifying students who have thegifts and talents for ministry should be ayearly activity. Once named, these stu-dents should be encouraged to thinkabout the teaching ministry as theirlife’s work. A few encouraging words ona paper, a test, an essay all help to instillthe desire of serving the Lord as a pub-lic minister be it in education or thepastoral ministry. Speaking to parentsabout the children’s gifts and talentsand how these gifts are qualifiers forministry is a good practice. Parents needto be aware of this so they can alsoencourage ministry as something fortheir sons and daughters to be thinkingabout early in their education.

Another avenue for encouraging min-istry in your students is to providenumerous opportunities for them to get

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Teachers as Recruiters

Ronald Brutlag

involved in ministry activities. Havethose students you have identified asministry candidates help in the class-room as tutors, correctors, leaders,helpers in Sunday School, or assistantteachers in the VBS program. As theymature and advance to high school,hopefully this encouragement will con-tinue in programs such as Taste ofMinistry, the Titus and Timothy pro-grams, chapel readers, piano/organplayers, or whatever else you can thinkof that gives a feel for what ministry islike.

Tight schedules make getting intothe Lutheran elementary schools diffi-cult for the MLC recruiters, but wewould like to visit your school when weare in the area recruiting, if possible. Ifwe can’t make the visit, ask a studentfrom your congregation or neighboringcongregation to make a ministry presen-tation when he or she is home forbreak. Have these students visit class-rooms, conduct a chapel service, or talkone on one with students who have adesire to study for the public ministry.MLC students are more than happy todo recruiting like this in their ownschool/congregation or other congre-gations. They especially like invitationsto make these presentations duringspring break in the states of Florida,Texas, Arizona, and California.

Finally, when the time is right, bringstudents on the MLC campus. Maybethe first visit is a half day field trip. Thenlater in the high school years bring stu-dents to the MLC Focus on Ministryweekend. While on this type of visit thestudents are involved in activities that

help them understand ministry betterand to get answers to their many ques-tions.

I would like to encourage the LESteachers to make use of the units (PK-K,1-2, 3-4, 5-6) on ministry that were sentto all schools last year. If you haven’tseen these well-prepared units, ask yourprincipal if he received them and thenplan out an entire week of activities thatspeak to the children about ministry.Schools were sent one copy of each unitand they can be copied for multipleusage.

Our Lord has said that the harvest isplentiful and the workers few. That isstill true today even if at this presenttime we might think otherwise. In theWELS we can not afford to have adrought of candidates for the publicministry. Therefore, it is important thatwe continue to recruit young men andwomen for service in the Lord’sKingdom here on earth. Blessings onyour recruiting efforts. ❧

Ronald Brutlag is the Director of Admissions -Studies in Educational Ministry, Martin LutherCollege, New Ulm, MN


Brutlag

PARENTS ARE achild's first and

most important teacher.Throughout history, thefamily has been identified as the prima-ry source for learning. Before the exis-tence of schools, cross-generationallearning within the context of the familywas the norm. Children have learnedvalues and cultural practices from theirfamilies as well as skills needed for dailyliving. Clearly, learning is a part of fami-ly life.

A large and growing body of researchsupports the critical relationshipbetween early childhood experiencesand successful life-long outcomes (MNSchool Readiness Initiative, 2003).Parental involvement is a critical factorin fostering a young child's cognitivegrowth and academic success (Shaver &Walls, 1998). Very early in life, childrentake their first steps toward learning toread and write. Even in the first fewmonths of life children begin to experi-ment with language (IRA & NAEYC,1998). Everything that happens at homeaffects a child's feelings about learninglong before formal education begins.

Family literacy

The term family literacyis a complex concept

(Morrow, 2001). The following is adescription of family literacy as definedby the International ReadingAssociation in a brochure titled FamilyLiteracy: New Perspectives, NewOpportunities (Morrow, Paratore, &Tracey, 1994). • Family literacy encompasses the ways

parents, children, and extended fam-ily members use literacy at home andin their community.

• Family literacy occurs naturally dur-ing the routines of daily living andhelps adults and children “get thingsdone.”

• Examples of family literacy mightinclude using drawings or writing toshare ideas, composing notes or let-ters to communicate messages, keep-ing records, making lists, followingwritten directions, or sharing storiesand ideas through conversation,reading, and writing.

• Family literacy may be initiated pur-posefully by a parent, or may occur

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The Importance of Family Involvement in

Becoming Literate

Cheryl Loomis

spontaneously as parents and chil-dren go about the business of theirdaily lives.

• Family literacy activities also mayreflect the ethnic, racial, or culturalheritage of the families involved.

• Family literacy activities may be initi-ated outside the home in institutionssuch as the school or the publiclibrary. These activities are oftenintended to support the acquisitionand development of school-like liter-acy behaviors of parents, children,and families.

• Family literacy activities by outsideinstitutions may include family story-book reading, completing homeworkassignments, or writing essays andreports.

Why family literacy is essential

Parents, or family members who carefor children, are the children's firstteachers. They remain the child's teach-er for the longest time. Beginning atbirth, children's experiences affect theirsuccess in becoming literate. The suc-cess of the school literacy program fre-quently depends on the literacy environ-ment at home (Morrow, 2001).Learning to read and write can start athome, long before children go toschool. Early experiences with spokenand written language set the stage forchildren to become successful readersand writers (Armbruster, Lehr, &Osborn, 2003). Young children especial-ly need to be engaged in experiencesthat make content meaningful andbuild on prior learning. It is vital for all

children to have literacy experiences inearly childhood programs. Such accessis even more critical for children withlimited home experiences in literacy(IRA & NAEYC, 1998).

Children learn the purposes of litera-cy through daily life in their family.Some families actively draw their chil-dren into literacy experiences by invit-ing them to help with grocery lists, sendmail to a friend or relative, listen to sto-rybooks, or talk about daily events.Other families expose their children toprint in more peripheral ways. Thesechildren may see print being used but itremains in the hands of others.Families' literacy practices, interests,resources, and time, as well as their waysof interacting with their children, have agreat influence on how and what chil-dren come to know about written lan-guage (Owocki, 2001). The wider theexposure, the more comfortable a childwill be with formal school experiences.Literacy learning in school mimicshome experiences.

Reading aloud to children has beencalled the single most important activityfor building the knowledge required forsuccess in reading (Armbruster et al.,2003). The Family Literacy Foundation(2002) states the following reasons forreading aloud to children: • Studies prove that the most impor-

tant thing adults can do in preparingyoung children for success in schooland reading is to read aloud withthem.

• Many doctors believe that a child thathas never had the experience ofbeing read to is not a fully healthy


Loomis

child. The American MedicalAssociation has suggested that alldoctors prescribe “reading to chil-dren.”

• Reading aloud with children regular-ly is an extremely effective mediumto build relationships and communi-cate with children. Often educators see children coming

to school already knowing how to readand write, apparently without formalinstruction. Although it may seem asthough some children acquire theseunderstandings magically or on theirown, studies suggest that they are bene-ficiaries of considerable, though playful

and informal, adult guidance andinstruction (IRA & NAEYC, 1998).Morrow (2001) suggests that this line ofreasoning is beneficial for two reasons.First, it allows educators a chance toexamine home practices that could besuccessful in school settings. Second, itprovides information on the critical rolefamilies play in the development of a

child's literacy. Morrow (2001) reports characteristics

common to children who read andwrite at an early age without directinstruction. The IQ scores of these chil-dren are not consistently high; theyrange from low-average to average.Their parents read to them and areeager to help with reading and writingactivities. The parents themselves read avariety of materials. Reading and writingmaterials are found throughout thehouse. Parents in these homes frequentbookstores and the public library. Thehousehold is organized with scheduledactivities. Books are associated with plea-sure as they provide a setting for posi-tive interactions between adults andchildren. One can argue that it is the lit-eracy-rich environment, not parents'education or socioeconomic status, thatcorrelates with children's early literacyability.

Effects of the media on literacy devel-opment

Children are growing up in a digitalage. The beginning of the 20th centuryprovided a much different environmentfor young children than what they havetoday. Media for young children mostlikely consisted of books and traditionaltoys. Homes were probably quiet placesfor young children. Families providedtheir own entertainment at leisuretimes. Contrast that with the householdsof today. There may be little time whenchildren aren't bombarded with media(Anderson & Evans, 2001). Ninety-ninepercent of families in America own at

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Loomis

Reading aloud tochildren has been called

the single mostimportant activity for

building the knowledgerequired for success in

reading.

least one television set. TVs, VCRs, com-puters, video games, and interactive toysare used in homes on a daily basis.

In the spring of 2003, the KaiserFoundation conducted the first-of-its-kind study of electronic media in thelives of infants, toddlers, and preschool-ers. Many experts have argued that it isespecially critical to understand mediause by the youngest children, notingthat because social and intellectualdevelopment are more malleable inthese early years, media use at this agecould have an especially significantimpact (Rideout, Vandewater &Wartella, 2003). While there is no con-clusive research to date, some theorieshave emerged. Young children learnfrom the experiences and relationshipsthey have in their environment.Background media distract childrenfrom play, the work of exploring andunderstanding their environment.Background language from TV andradio interferes with a child's self-talkand social interaction (Walsh, 2004). Itis important to note that media that arebackground for the young child may beforeground for the parent (Anderson &Evans, 2001). Adults need to considerthis when turning on the TV for “back-ground noise.”

Television watching begins at an earlyage, well before the medical communityrecommends. The American Academyof Pediatricians recommends that chil-dren under the age of two not watchany television (Rideout et al., 2003). Formany parents this is an unreasonableexpectation. The primary concern withelectronic media is that they often take

the place of activities in which a youngchild can be actively involved withadults. Children have a much easiertime learning concepts when they areconnected with the things they experi-ence with all their senses in their every-day lives (Walsh, 2004). Televisionwatching, regardless of content, has alasting effect on learning. Ages two tofive is a critical period in which thebrain is primed to take in informationand make relationships. When childrenwatch TV, they are habituating to alearning state that lacks physical, emo-tional, and even some sensory involve-ment. This habituation will affect life-long learning patterns (Hannaford,1995).

The amount of television watched is apredictor of school performance.Increased TV viewing predicts poorerperformance (Gentile & Walsh, 2002).Children growing up today spend anenormous amount of time glued to theTV screen. They average 35 hours perweek of screen time, either watching TVor playing video games. Before enteringkindergarten they are likely to havespent 4,000 hours watching television -more time than they spent doing any-thing but sleeping, more time even thanthey will spend in school (Levin, 1998).Four- to six-year olds who are “heavy”TV users spend less time reading orplaying outside than other childrentheir age (Rideout et al., 2003).

Many very young children have a TV,VCR, or video game player in the bed-room, and these children spend sub-stantially more time with those media.Thirty-six percent of all children six and


Loomis

under have their own TV in their bed-room; one in four has his own VCR orDVD player, and one in ten has his ownvideo game console in his room(Rideout et al., 2003). It is difficult,especially for a child, to escape the lureof the TV and spend time in other activ-ities when the TV is at such easy dispos-al. Children who have such “bedroom”media watch five hours more TV perweek than children without a TV intheir bedroom (Gentile & Walsh, 2002).

Family media habits predict chil-dren's school performance (Gentile &Walsh, 2002). How much the TV is lefton in the home has a significant rela-tionship to the amount of time childrenspend watching it, and to the time theyspend reading. Two out of three new-borns-to-six year olds live in homeswhere the TV is usually left on at leasthalf the time, even if no one is watch-ing; and one-third live in homes wherethe TV is on “almost all” or “most” ofthe time; and children in the lattergroup of homes appear to read less thanother children and to be slower to learnto read (Rideout et al., 2003). Healy's(1990) premise is that television, videogames, and other elements of our cul-ture compromise children's ability toconcentrate and to absorb and analyzeinformation.

Some argue that all TV, regardless ofcontent, has negative effects for chil-dren under the age of three. Theseeffects could include shortened atten-tion span, reduced language develop-ment, and intellectual passivity(Anderson & Evans, 2001). As a result,educational television is not spared criti-

cism following Healy's (1990) two-yearresearch of Sesame Street. She states theformat of Sesame Street goes against howchildren will read. Animation and agita-tion give bits and pieces of information.This is in opposition to the active, sus-tained work of connecting ideas that isneeded to understand text. Sensoryoverload causes the brain to “tune out.”This is the nervous system's defense tooverstimulation. Preschoolers whowatched a lot of Sesame Street tended todo poorer in school than children whowatched no TV (Hannaford, 1995).Healy (1990) concludes learning is bestaccomplished through active, hands-onexperiences, imaginative play, listeningwith enjoyment to children's literatureand not from television, which hasmade a science of taking control ofviewers' attention. Reading demandsvoluntary attention from a mind thatcan hold a train of thought longenough to reflect on it. There is noresearch known to date to show thatbrain development can be acceleratedor advanced by any television show orproduct (Walsh, 2004).

Home environments that foster literacydevelopment

Research indicates that children whoare read to regularly by parents, sib-lings, or other individuals in the home,and who have parents who are habitualreaders themselves, become early read-ers and show a natural interest in books(Morrow, 2001). Most parents supporttheir children's becoming literate, somemore effectively than others (Spiegel,

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Loomis

Fitzgerald, & Cunningham, 1993). Theyfound that highly literate parents andless literate ones differ in their opinionsof what is effective. This finding impliesthat teachers should tailor their strate-gies for helping different parents helptheir children.

Spiegel et al. (1993) made the follow-ing observations based on their researchof parental perceptions of emergent lit-eracy. • Parents, in general, considered litera-

cy materials and events importantduring preschool years. Low-literacyparents on average ranked literacymaterials and events as more impor-tant than did high-literacy parents.

• Low-literacy parents and high-literacyparents had different perceptionsabout their roles.

• Low-literacy parents tended to viewparents' roles in preschoolers' litera-cy development as involving a blendof naturalistic activities and instruc-tionally oriented activities.

• High-literacy parents tended to viewtheir roles in the preschoolers' litera-cy development from a naturalisticperspective and explicitly rejectedinstructionally oriented activities.

• Adult role modeling was perceived bylow-literacy parents as less importantto preschoolers' literacy developmentthan child-centered events and litera-cy materials.

• Both low- and high-literacy parentsplaced more importance on readingthan on writing. A relationship exists between expo-

sure to language in early childhood andlater school success. Researchers have

found a very strong relationshipbetween language development duringthe early years and reading ability in theprimary grades (Owocki, 2001). Richlanguage experiences during thepreschool years play an important rolein ensuring that children are able toread with comprehension when theyreach middle school (Dickinson &Tabors, 2002). One of the strongest pre-dictors of later reading ability is theamount of one-to-one conversationbetween adults and children. This con-versation begins at birth, as parents talkto children and read to them longbefore they can hold a book. Reading's

first lessons don't happen in school;they begin in the crib (Walsh, 2004).

Families provide materials for thepurpose of children's entertainmentand education, as well as to help withdaily routines and difficult times(Schickedanz, 1999). Games, toys,books, writing materials all find theirway into a child's play. In play we seechildren explore and further theirunderstanding of print and its functions(Schickedanz, 1999). Literacy is notdefined by reading alone. Parents canencourage their children to make thereading/writing connection by settingup a special writing area that containsmany kinds of paper, markers, pencils,


Loomis

and crayons. Carry along writing materi-als for children to use in the car orwhen waiting for appointments.Celebrate children's writing efforts byprominently displaying their work forall to see (Neumann, 2004).

Individual perspectives

Educators need to respect the individu-ality of families, recognizing culturaland socioeconomic differences. All fam-ilies may not be able to purchase booksfor their children. Some may need helpin using the public library. Perhaps afamily does not speak English or parentsmay have limited ability. In some casesthe parent may be a teenager who hasdropped out of school. Therefore, it isimportant to recognize cross-genera-tional learning when defining family lit-eracy. Morrow (2001) states there is evi-dence that many low-income, minority,and immigrant families cultivate richcontexts for literacy development. Theirefforts, however, may be different fromthe school model many educators areaccustomed to. Educators must learnfrom and respect parents and childrenfrom cultures in which books are notreadily available, although evidence ofliteracy activity, such as storytelling,exists. Berns (2004) contends adultsplay a large role in determining the typeof books read by very young children,whereas this is not necessarily the casewith television watching. Preschool chil-dren are able to use a remote but arenot able to visit the public library ontheir own.

Summary

Family involvement plays a huge factorin the literacy development of youngchildren. Research demonstrates thatreading to a child is the single mostimportant factor in raising a reader.Early exposure to language improves achild's school success. It is vital that edu-cators share information about the neg-ative impact of television watching onthe developing child. Teachers need toshare this message with parents - to raisea reader, turn off the TV. Working withfamilies to find alternatives to “tubetime” will have a positive impact on achild's cognitive and social develop-ment. ❧

WORKS CITED

Anderson, D.R. & Evans, M.K. (2001).Peril and potential of media forinfants and Toddlers. [On-line].Available: http//zerotothree.org

Armbruster, B.B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J.(2003). A child becomes a reader.[On-line]. Available: http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/

Berns, R.M. (2004). Child, family, school,community. Socialization and Support.Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/ThomsonLearning.

Dickinson, D.K. & Tabors, P.O. (2002).Fostering language and literacy inclassrooms and homes. YoungChildren, 57, 10-18.

Family Literacy Foundation. (2002).Why read aloud with children? [On-line]. Available: http://www.read2kids. org 2002

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Author

Gentile, D.A. & Walsh, D.A. (2002). Anormative study of family mediahabits [On-Line]. Available:http://www.mediaand thefamily.org/research/report-g-w2002.pdf

Hannaford, C.M. (1995). Smart Moves.Why learning is not all in your head.Arlington, VA: Great OceanPublishers, Inc.

Healy, J.M. (1990). Endangered Minds:Children learning in today's culture. NewYork, NY: Simon & Schuster.

International Reading Association andNational Association for theEducation of Young ChildrenPosition Statement. Overview of learn-ing to read and write: Developmentallyappropriate practices for young children.(1998). [On-line]. Available:http://www.naeyc.org/ resources/position_statements/psread0.htm

Levin, Diane E. (1998). Remote controlchildhood? Combating the hazards ofmedia culture. Washington, DC:National Association for theEducation of Young Children.

Minnesota school readiness initiative:Developmental assessment at kinder-garten Entrance. (2003). MinnesotaDepartment of Education.

Morrow, L.M. (2001). LiteracyDevelopment in the Early Years: helpingchildren read and write. NeedhamHeights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Morrow, L.M., Paratore, J.R. & Tracey,D.H. (1994). Family literacy: New per-spectives, new opportunities. Newark,DE: International ReadingAssociation.

Neuman, S.B. (2004). Introducing chil-

dren to the world of writing. EarlyChildhood Today, January/February,2004, 34-39.

Owocki, Gretchen. (2001). Make way forliteracy! Teaching the way young childrenlearn. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Rideout, V.J., Vandewater, E.A., &Wartella, E.A. (2003) Zero to SixElectronic Media in the Lives ofInfants, Toddlers and Preschoolers.[On-line]. Available: http://www.kff.org/entmedia/3378.cfm

Shaver, A., & Walls, R. (1998). Effect oftitle one parent involvement on stu-dent reading and mathematicsachievement. Journal of Research andDevelopment in Education, 2, 90-97.

Schickedanz, J.A. (1999). Much morethan the ABC's: The early stages of read-ing and Writing. Washington,DC:National Association for theEducation of Young Children.

Spiegel, D.L., Fitzgerald, J., &Cunningham, J.W. (1993). ParentalPerceptions of Preschoolers' LiteracyDevelopment: Implication for Home-School Partnerships. Young Children,58, 74-79.

Walsh, D.A. (2004). Electronic media:TV, videos, computers, and more.[On-line]. Available:http://www.zerotothree.org/tips/electronicmedia.html

Cheryl Loomis currently serves in early childhoodeducation at Martin Luther College. This articlewas written to fulfill requirements for a master'sthesis.


Loomis

EITHER YOU LOVE it or you hate it.Those riding the fence are few

and far between. I'm referring to thecelebrated and disdained Saxon Mathprogram, developed by the late JohnSaxon, a former Air Force officer andhigh-school math instructor.

The Saxon philosophy is simple—thatstudents learn by doing and that stu-dents do not master a concept on theday it is introduced. The traditionalistmath educator relies on drills, memo-rization, and practice. To that end,Saxon Math is generally considered tra-ditional. Yet the time-honored idea ofdrill-and-practice is enhanced with con-stant review. Beginning at the fourthgrade level, students complete “MixedPractice Problem Sets,” which provideexercise on previously introduced con-cepts as well as the new concept.Students focus their efforts on practic-ing mathematic skills during class; theteacher acts as tutor and coach.

John Saxon believed that the best wayto teach mathematical ideas is to let thestudent work meticulously designedexercises, which create productivethought patterns that make use of theconcepts. Generally, students do notgrasp concepts quickly. And those thatare rapidly gained are just as hastily lost.

Saxon maintained that long-term prac-tice is required for students to achieve alasting understanding. He cited theresearch of Benjamin Bloom, whichindicates continuing practice is neces-sary to attain what Bloom calls auto-maticity. When automaticity has beenreached, students will then be able toencounter the problem and the conceptor concepts needed to solve it will comealmost involuntarily to mind.

One of the unique features of SaxonMath is that it methodically distributesinstruction and practice as well as assess-ment throughout the year. This isopposed to grouping, or massing, theinstruction, practice, and assessment ofrelated concepts into a short period oftime—within a unit or chapter—as isthe custom with other math texts. Manyeducators have felt the frustration ofpoor results on cumulative assessmentssuch as a unit review. The students sim-ply don't retain well what should havebeen mastered several chapters in thepast. Saxon Math uses a distributedapproach that produces significantlyhigher levels of student retention thanmassed presentations found in pro-grams with a chapter-based approach.

Saxon Math is strikingly free of anylessons that distract from the major top-ics of importance. There is no dilution

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Saxon Math: Fire and IceBrian Maurice

of the vital topics with less importantlessons. Unlike most other books, thisseries has little tendency toward the“inch deep and mile wide” presentationfor which other American textbookshave been criticized. A teacher is verylikely to complete the text within aschool year and give students a highchance of absorbing every concept.There is no need for teachers to pickand choose among lessons. Saxon Mathalso stresses the mental over themechanical and eschews calculators,thus leading to both greater computa-tional competence and to developmentof a deeper “feel” for the conceptsinvolved.

A typical lesson using the upper ele-mentary levels of Saxon Math involvesfour instructional components. First,teachers lead a warm-up activity foreight to ten minutes in which studentstake a quick Facts Practice Test toincrease their proficiency with basicoperations, solve several mental mathproblems, or complete a problem-solv-ing exercise by using such strategies asmaking lists, drawing pictures, workingbackward, and guessing and checking.Second, the teacher will introduce thenew concept. This should take nolonger than fifteen minutes for any les-son, and is often much less than that.Third, the students have the opportuni-ty to complete lesson practice problems.In the earliest editions of Saxon Math,practice problems were not included.This is no longer the case with allrevised editions. Finally, students beginwork on the aforementioned “MixedPractice Problem Sets.” While students

solve problems that provide practice onnearly all previously introduced con-cepts, as well as the new concepts, theteacher moves around the room facili-tating questions. Assessment tests aregiven after every four or five lessonsdepending on the level of the text.

As the Saxon Math series has devel-oped over the years, so also have thesupplemental materials that accompanythe program. Ancillary materials thatare now available for the upper levelsinclude Real-World Applications, whichis a booklet of blackline masters con-taining lesson-specific word problemsdesigned to help students apply theirmathematical knowledge to real-worldcontext. Students are given the opportu-nity to use mathematics in the contextof consumer economics, carpentry, con-struction, travel, investing, profits, ath-letics, physics, chemistry, and other top-ics. Saxon Publications has also aligneditself with Accelerated Math, whichallows schools to provide students withcustom-tailored supplemental practiceactivities and assessment tools. This is anextremely costly option, however. Eachupper level of the program includesTest Masters as well as optional TestGenerators to customize versions ofeach test. Ancillary materials used at theprimary level that are not included inthe Classroom Kits consist of aConnections to Children's Literaturebook, manipulative kits, and additionaloverhead transparencies.

There are some components of theSaxon Math series that some may see asshortcomings. For one, the texts havevery little eye appeal. There are no four-


Maurice

color printed pages with vibrantdesigns, dazzling graphics, and picturesof students enjoying math together. It'sblack on white all the way, reminiscentof your high school geometry book.Another drawback might be thatteacher's editions are little more thananswer keys. You will find no marginsfull of objectives, lesson presentationsuggestions or ready-made exampleproblems. One more point to considermay be the Classroom Kits used at the Kto 3 levels. These kits include a teacher'smanual, an assessment binder, ready-made lesson materials, and laminatedmath center materials to supply a class-room of up to thirty-two students. Allcomponents are sold as an entire unitand carry a rather high price tag, espe-cially for schools with small classes.

As advocates of basic math skills, ourfaculty chose Saxon Math for our uppergrades because we felt our studentslacked rudimentary proficiencies. Toomany children were reaching uppergrades and graduating without funda-mental math knowledge, thanks in partto a curriculum that was too undemand-ing. Our previous series was too muchoriented to making math amusing orlikeable, and far too low on developingclassic procedures. We were looking fora more structured approach to compu-tation strategies that featured a review-to-remember format. Saxon Math fitthat criterion perfectly.

Quoting standardized test results as ameasure of the success of our math pro-gram can be a slippery slope. Yes, ourstudents score higher since we beganusing Saxon Math than they did in the

past. That was never a target we hadwhen choosing Saxon. Our aim was todramatically increase proficiency onbasic skills. That has unquestionablyhappened. Rather than cite test scores,we like to gauge some of our success onresults after students leave our building.In the past we often got the “what in theworld are you doing (or not doing) tothese kids in math” sense from the threehigh schools our students can attendafter graduation. Real, or simply per-ceived, it was an uncomfortable feelingas an educator. That discomfort nolonger exists. While some of the highschools have expressed concerns aboutour using Saxon, they no longer sendthe vibe that our graduates are unpre-pared to face the rigors of high schoolmath.

Most of those who disregard SaxonMath have never had the opportunity toteach it. Those who have used it seem tomarvel at its conventional and successfulmethodology. It would be worthwhilefor any faculty examining their mathcurriculum to scrutinize both reformedand traditional style texts as an even-handed method of study. If you findyour curriculum needs to be more clas-sical, computational, and structured,then Saxon Math may be the perfectsolution. ❧

Brian Maurice teaches at Trinity-St. Luke's,Watertown, WI

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Maurice

After several years of discussing infor-mally whether Martin Luther Collegeshould offer a two-year associate of artsdegree, the college administrationdecided last fall to send a questionnaireto the congregations of WELS. The sur-vey was intended to see what congrega-tions were planning in the area of earlychildhood education and whom theywould be willing to call to serve in thoseprograms.

A survey was sent out in November2004 to 1050 congregations in WELS.Some 700 surveys were returned. Thesurveys contained a description of theassociate of arts degree program thatMLC could offer. This would be a two-year 65 credit program which wouldinclude some general education, somecourses in religion, and courses in earlychildhood education. Students couldtake most of the program through dis-tance education (online), but theywould be required to attend one sum-mer on campus. The people who com-pleted the survey—pastors, principals ofLutheran elementary schools, directorsof early childhood education pro-grams—were asked how likely their con-gregation would be to call a person withan AA degree and how many personsthey estimated in their congregationwould be interested in enrolling in sucha program. If a congregation did nothave an early childhood program, theywere asked what plans there were foropening an early childhood center. If

they did have an early childhood pro-gram, they were asked about the back-ground and training of staff they cur-rently had, how large the staff was, whatthe budget of their program was, andwhat percentage of the budget camefrom fees that were charged parents.

These were some of the key findings:• Seventy-two congregations are plan-

ning on opening a preschool/ECEcenter in the next five years.

• Eighty-two congregations have long-range plans for opening a preschool/ECE center.

• One-half the teachers in preschools/ECE centers have a college degree.

• One out of four teachers in pre-schools/ECE centers have no collegetraining.

• Half the teachers in preschools/ECEcenters have some training in earlychildhood education.

• Congregations indicated that if theassociate of arts program exists theycould use over 150 graduates of thatprogram.

• Congregations indicated that theythought that there would be over 600persons interested from their congre-gations in such a program.

• Nearly two-thirds of the congrega-tions said they would provide some ofthe costs for persons enrolled in anassociate of arts program.The persons completing the survey

were also invited to write commentsregarding this program. The following


An Associate of Arts Degree in Early Childhood

Education

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Fink, L. Dee. Creating SignificantLearning Experiences: An IntegratedApproach to Designing College Courses.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003. xviii,295 p. Diagrams, appendices, index,bibliography. Hardcover, $35. ISBN0-7879-6055-1. [Also available as an E-book]Much of our traditional teaching con-

sists of little more than an “informationdump,” resulting in little long-termlearning. This is L. Dee Fink’s frankassertion. He directs teachers to aim forsomething deeper, and contends thatthe key to doing so is in the design ofthe course.

Where a standard syllabus outlinestopics to be covered, Fink suggests syl-labi should lay out a more comprehen-sive plan—not merely the content of the

course, but higher, applied aims. A“learning-centered paradigm …includes attention to important content,but drives teachers to incorporate newkinds of learning (rather than new con-tent)” (55). The book makes a strongpush for finding ways to move basic con-tent mastery outside of the classroom(through text readings, web-enhancedinstruction, etc), so that more time isavailable in the classroom for “signifi-cant learning experiences”—getting stu-dents engaged in their own learning,generating high energy levels, payingattention to the process of learning,achieving important outcomes. At atime when content-based standards aregetting strong political backing, Finkargues from the other side of the aisle.Teaching students how to learn is as

are two such comments. I personally think this would be a great

program. An advantage would be to helpensure that ECE staffs are well-trained andwell-grounded in the Scriptures. It wouldalso make “selling” the program easier toprospective parents whoa are wary of sendingchildren to a program without a “document-ed” qualified teacher.

The expense of housing, benefits, etc. for aperson with an associate degree wouldn’t befeasible. We would rather hire someone witha four-year degree if we would take that step.

The college expresses its thanks forthe many persons who took the time tocomplete the survey and the additionalcomments they wrote on both sides ofthe issue. The complete report can befound on the MLC website (www.mlc-wels.edu).

After considering the results of thisneeds assessment, the administrationand the Governing Board resolved topursue the possibility of offering such aprogram. ❧

vital as any amount of content we canget them to remember.

Fink demonstrates what he advocatesby applying his theoretical proposals toconcrete situations. Creating SignificantLearning Experiences is persuasivebecause of numerous case studies of cre-ative teachers who are making use ofthese principles effectively.

Some of the more challenging aspectsof Fink’s work have to do with institu-tional assessment and organizationalchange. Fink hopes to see better net-working between teachers, schools, andprofessional associations to foster coor-dinated strategies for optimal learning.Too often we assume that if student per-formance is weak, the problem must bein the students and not in ourapproach. Rather than blaming all defi-ciencies on the students, Fink asks us to

examine ourselves, the design of ourcourses, our overall programs and insti-tutional methods, and seek to workcooperatively with students’ learningstyles in mind.

Creating Significant Learning Experiencesis written for college instructors, but theprinciples outlined in this book are cer-tainly applicable to high school andupper elementary teaching as well. Itwould be a good book for joint study byfaculties or by departments within aschool, particularly on the high schoollevel.

Note: The author has set up a websiteto “keep the conversation going” con-cerning significant learning: <www.sig-nificantlearning.org> It includes a brief(8-page) description of what Fink callshis “Taxonomy of Significant Learning.”

David Sellnow

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Sellnow


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