Times Advocate, 1994-03-30, Page 28Page 28 Times -Advocate, March 30, 1994
Tutors help students get past learn/ng roadblocks
ELIMVILLE - For the past seven years re-
tired Elimville resident Esther Wilson has
spent a few days a week helping neighbour-
hood children, mainly with reading and
writing.
Right now there are five children she sees
regularly on a voluntary basis.
"The system in elementary schools is rot-
ten and that's across Canada," Wilson said.
"It's sad and I want the government to
know the kids aren't being taught," she said.
"I want to help the children."
That's why Wilson also spends time visit-
ing classrooms to see first-hand how chil-
dren are being taught and to see what she
can do to make a difference.
"I feel sorry for the teachers. They're told
what to do. But they're the ones who know
the problems kids are having. They should
have more power to set the curriculum, not
someone in the ministry," Wilson said.
"There's too much bureaucracy."
Wilson also makes a point of clipping
newspaper articles dealing with education.
She has friends from across Canada that
send her articles they find on the subject.
As well, she makes a point of writing to
both provincial and federal governments to
make them aware of her conceks.
"I have been .a touch with Dave Cooke,"
she said. In the letter to Cooke, the minister
of education, Wilson told him children need
to be exposed to phonics, grammar and sen-
tence structure. "It's fun to learn these
things and nec-
essary," she
said.
"Once chil-
dren know the
basics, they will
love to learn."
But first they
must sit down
and absorb the
basics. And
Wilson said this
is tough for
children who
have difficulty
reading.
"I try to create
a desire in them
to read. It's an
asset to all kids.
It builds their
confidence and
sets them on a
road of discov-
ery_ for the rest
of their lives,"
Wilson said.
Esther Wilson
The Grand
goes
Hollywood
LONDON - London goes Holly-
wood as Neil Simon's I Ought to
be in Pictures takes to the stage at
The Grand and opens March 25.
Starring in this touching comedy
are Ken James, Laurie Paton and
Liza Balkan. The production is di-
rected by Marti Maraden and is de-
signed by Phillip Silver.
When a Brooklyn kid drops into
Hollywood to see the Dad she nev-
er heard from and doesn't remem-
ber, can trouble be far behind?
Libby (Liza Balkan) is a bright,
disarming teenager with aspira-
tions of becoming an actress. She
also happens to discuss everything
with her dead grandmother. Lib-
hy's father, Herb (Ken James) is a
burned -out screenwriter who,
years ago, walked out on his wife
and two kids. He now grapples
with parenthood and a daughter he
never knew. Libby, in turn, must
learn what it is to love and be
loved. Caught in the crossfire be-
tween the two is Herb's girlfriend,
Steffy (Laurie Paton). Experience
for yourself the play that the New
York Post calls, "a mature, touch-
ing, memorable play that brings
great joy...".
I Ought to he in Pictures marks
the return of Ken James (Girls in
the Gang, Glengarry Glen Ross)
and Liza Balkan (Pal Joey) to The
Grand. They are joined by Laurie
Patron. who is making her Grand
Theatre debut. Marti Maraden
marks her Grand Theatre directori-
al debut with this production.
For ticket information, please
visit The Grand Theatre Box Of-
fice at 471 Richmond Street or call
519-672-8800.
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Kif By Catherine O'Brien
T -A staff >,Y.-..
There is a lot of debate go-
ing on right now about how
well the education system is
working; as the provincial
government attempts to re-
vamp the system and local
boards attempt to deliver
quality programs on a limited
budget.
And in the ;midst of all the
discussion there are many
people working on the fring-
es of the education system to
give some children a bit of
extra help.
Two such people are Esther
Wilson and Judy Scochinski
who are involved in tutoring.
Neither of these women .are
strangers to tie education
system:
Scochinski i4 a resource
teacher herself while Wilson
fan be considered an advo-
cate for better education.
While both are working to-
wards the sam$ goal of help-
ing children learn, they reach
this goal using different ap-
proaches.
EXETER - Building confidence in chil-
dren is one area of learning that Judy Sco-
chinski also emphasizes. But Scochinski is
not so sure the system is failing students,
rather she thinks it's just different from
what many parents are familiar with.
She said the system has shifted from indi-
vidual courses such as English, science and
math. Instead many areas of study are inte-
grated into one lesson. So a child learning
history may also learn new words and per-
haps a bit of math.
Scochinski said this makes learning a
more active process while older methods
where children just read and memorize was
passive. "There are more methods to teach
with now," she said.
"A lot of teachers still have spelling tests,"
she said. But there may not be standard exer-
cise sheets or books that students learn from.
She became interested in tutoring after
moving to Exeter from Guelph just over a
year ago. It seemed the perfect job as she
makes her way back into teaching now that
her children are a bit older. "I was looking
for a way to utilize my abilities," she said.
Scochinski works with elementary stu-
dents emphasizing reading and writing.
Since she also fills in as a supply teacher,
Scochinski is only working with one student
right now.
Having worked as a resource teacher, Sco-
chinski said she knows how difficult it can
be for a teacher to spend the time with indi-
vidual students that is occasionally needed.
The key to helping a student that may be
falling behind, she said, is to
build confidence.
The main goal of tutoring,
she said, is not to have stu-
dents for a number of years,
rather to help them get past a
temporary road block they are
experiencing.
This can be done by reinforc-
ing the basics of spelling, gram-
mar and sentence structure.
And while Scochinski feels
the system is working in favour
of children she would Wee to
s� education more standard-
ized across the country.
"Families are moving
around a lot more and the
system is different in each
province," she said. This
can make it difficult for chil-
dren as they have to adapt to
different standards of testing
each time they settle into a
new school.
Judy Skochlnskl
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