Anyone know anything about "Balanced Literacy" curriculum?

[eepster]

DS is going to be K aged next year, and I'm trying to figure out where he will be going.  The local public kindergarten's literature says they use the "Balanced Literacy Curriculum."  

Is anybody familiar with it?

[eepster]

hasn't anyone had any experience with this?  Did the school just make it up?

[madskye]

We're in NJ, too, but I haven't heard of it.  When DD started kindy last year we got a TON of handouts and paperwork that were ultimately not very informative.

[muttmom92]

My understanding of a balanced literacy program is one that uses a comprehensive approach: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. It's how I want my children taught. :)

[ramama]

I think that the balanced literacy curriculum is an attempt to get away from the age old debate between phonetics and whole language. DDs school uses a balanced literacy model.  When I was in school we had sustained silent reading and that was pretty much it.  We had reading class, everything was separated, if that makes sense.  The balanced literacy approach ties reading and writing into everything, recognizing that reading isn't simply about knowing the sounds letters make and memorizing words and spellings (although that's part of it, obviously).  In DDs school, for instance, they each have an individualized book bin with books that are both appropriate for their reading level, and are specifically interesting to them.  One of their "workshop stations" is to read these books to themselves.  About twice a week (or more) they read one-on-one with the teacher and she swaps all or some of the books out for new ones.  The students also read aloud in circle time to each other (the student picks a book they are comfortable with), and the teacher reads chapter books aloud to them as well (Boxcar Children, Charlotte's Web, Mr. Popper's Penguins, etc.).  Additionally, the kids each have a book folder that goes home to either be read aloud to the child, shared reading with the child, or read to a parent depending on the child's reading level.  The parent is to ask questions about the characters, plot, etc.  If it's a non-fiction book, the child is to relay facts they learned that are new to them.  After the student reads the book three times (to build fluency), the book is returned to the school and the teacher sends home a new one (DD sometimes gets 3-4 at a time because she absolutely devours them).  This is the guided reading portion.  The teacher sends a little 1/4 piece of paper to record words that the child struggled with, how we felt they comprehended the book, if they enjoyed the book, etc.  Of course, they still do phonetics, different vowel sounds, and all those drills.

I don't have any experience with the theory behind balanced literacy, but can only speak to how my DDs school uses it, which may be drastically different from how your DSs school would use it.  From what I have observed (I also volunteer in the classroom quite a bit, so I see a lot) it allows the child to progress naturally in a classroom full of varied reading abilities.  The more advanced readers are not "held back" by emerging readers, and those who struggle don't feel inadequate or brushed off.  In short, in my experience, balanced literacy is heavily individualized and heavily integrated into the whole curriculum.  There's no "reading class," it's everywhere in everything.

All in all, I think DDs school can make this work because of very very involved parents and a lot of parent volunteers and small class sizes.  I can see balanced literacy being a massive fail if those things aren't present (or if they don't have teaching assistants, etc.)  I am constantly in awe of how individualized DDs education is.  Parent volunteers conduct workshop stations with small groups of rotating students while the teacher does one-on-one work with each child.  I would have a hard time seeing balanced literacy working this well if there weren't an abundance of parent volunteers!

ETA:  DD is in first grade, so I'm not sure how it would be used in kindy.

ETA again:  I am not in NJ, so it may differ from state to state.  I'm in Maine.

[Llyra]

I was a first and second grade teacher, and am now a reading specialist, so I have experience with this as a professional. I also have experience with it as a parent. My DD1 is in a Balanced Literacy school, and I feel that it's the best possible program for her and for most children, if it's taught by skilled and organized teachers. When it's taught badly, often the first thing you'll see is a neglect of the "working with words" aspect of the approach-- you won't notice explicit phonics being taught. A kindergartener in a balanced literacy classroom should be being taught letters and letter sounds, and how to blend those letters into words. Phonemic awareness skills such as rhyming should be taught in a playful way. Students should be hearing quality children's books read aloud, and having opportunities to engage with real books in a guided small-group setting and independently, at the appropriate level for the child's reading development. They should have opportunities to talk about books in small and large group settings. They should have opportunities to see the teacher write for different purposes, have the chance to participate in group writing, and have plenty of time to "write" or write independently as their skills develop.

Typically you'll see that the instruction is based around sets of children's books that have been "leveled," and the teacher will be able to talk about which level of books your child is currently able to read independently, and able to handle with guidance-- the "instructional" reading level.

http://www.csdarchives.com/teachers/rstewart/k2002/Teachers/Balanced_Literacy/balancedliteracy.htm

What you won't see is basal readers and workbooks, or lockstep progress through a packaged curriculum. Teachers may use worksheets to supplement instruction, when there seems to be a need for practice of a skill, but the instruction shouldn't be driven by worksheets. Grouping should be flexible, with some activities being done in the large group, some in small groups, and some one-on-one or independently. Children should be regularly re-assessed and groups re-formed, as their development progresses and their needs change. I would want to see children, and the grouping, being assessed at least four times a year, in the ideal situation. So children are not "tracked" into one group for long periods of time.

FWIW, I am in New Jersey. I have also worked in four districts in NJ. "Balanced literacy" is the standard in most of the better school districts in the state. This is a very good thing, in my opinion.

[staceychev]

Balanced literacy is not just NJ: I first heard of it while teaching high school in NYC. It was being introduced in middle schools and early high school ages to address flagging literacy levels. 

As far as I understand (as a high school teacher) is that balanced literacy is related to the reader's and writer's workshops espoused by Lucy Calkins, Nancy Atwell, and the like. 

But, it's definitely not something the district made up!