Video Activities

One of the activities my students enjoyed over the past 2 years was writing scripts for mysteries after reading one. Students work in groups and each group produces its own myster. Then students act out their mysteries on the school stage or make it into a movie. Some of the plays and movies turn out to be great with well- integrated visual and sound effects.
I couldn't upload all movies to You Tube because of their sizes. But this is a link to one of the movies that I could upload:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DVvYyNKh0o

اللّغة في سنوات الطفل الأولى

مقالة نشرت في مجلة "القبس" آذار 2010

     يؤكّد علماء النّفس والاجتماع والتّربية على الأهمية البالغة للسّنوات الأولى من حياة الإنسان بالنسبة لتكوينه النفسي والاجتماعي والذهني. ويولي هؤلاء أهمية خاصة للنمو اللغوي الذي له الدور الأعظم في تحديد المصيـر الدراسي للطفل. فاللغة، كما يرى أستاذ علم الاجتماع اللغوي "برنشتاين" المهتم بعملية التنشئة الاجتماعية، نمطان : نمط متبلور ونمط محدود. ونمط اللغة عند الطفل يحدّده محيطه المباشر(العائلة) منذ صغره. 

     يتميّز النّمط المتبلور بوجود قاموس لغوي غني في محيط الطّفل، يكثر فيه استعمال الرّوابط الكلامية، حيث تعتمد فيه العائلة على الإكثار من كلمات الوصف والجمل الطويلة المتنوعة التراكيب، وهو محيط يتداول أفراده الكتاب والصحيفة والمجلة والـCDs ويستعملون الكمبيوتر ويتحدّثون بأصوات لا ضجيج فيها، بينما تكون الل غة في بيئات الن مط المحدود ضعيفة قليلة الاستعمال، جملها قصيـرة وتراكيبها بسيطة والوصف فيها نادر والشرح فيها قليل، مع أفكار مشوَّشة وتعابـر غيـر واضحة الدّلالة، مترافقة مع الإكثار من حركة الجسد والإشارات اليدوية الّتي تنمّ عن فقر المعجم اللّغوي لديهم.

     أما ربط النّمو اللّغوي عند الطّفل بتحديد مصيـره الدراسي فيعود إلى أن لغة الصّف هي اللّغة المتبلورة، فمن كان رصيده اللّغوي متبلوراً في بيته، يجد صفه مكاناً مريحاً له، حيث يستطيع التّواصل مع معلّميه وزملائه بشكل تلقائي، وبذلك يعطي صورة إيجابية عن نفسه، الأمر الذي ينعكس على نظرة معلّميه إليه في جعلهم أكثر اهتماماً به كما أظهرت الدّراسات.

     وعلى النّقيض من ذلك من كان رصيده اللغوي محدوداً في بيته، يجد نفسه غريباً في صفّه، غيـر قادرٍ على التّأقلم والتّواصل مع معلّميه ورفاقه بالشّكل الّذي يُتوقّع منه. ويعود ذلك إلى أن اللّغة الّتي أتى بـها من بيته غيـر لغة معلّميه ولغة كتبه أو حتى لغة الكثيـرين أقرانه. وبتعبيـر آخر، لغته مختلفة عن لغة بيئته الجديدة: الصف. ولذلك كان من الطّبيعي أن ينظر إليه معلّموه على أنّه "خجول"،" لا يشارك"، "ضعيف"، "دون مستوى الصف" إلى ما هناك من تصنيفات لـها دلالات ضمنيّة موضحة أنّ هناك ضعفاً في قدراته التعلُّمية، الأمر الذي قد لا يكون صحيحاً على الإطلاق.

     هذا مع العلم أنَّ صاحب اللّغة المحدودة لا يُعطى في معظم الأحيان الفرصة ليظهر ما عنده من قدرات ذهنية ومهارات لغوية، وما يملك من استعدادات وقابليّة لتطوير لغته وتعلُّم المزيد، وبذلك يُحرم هذا التلميذ من الكثيـر من الفرص الّتي قد تتيح له التقدُّم ليصبح مستبعداً عن مجموعة التّلاميذ الّتي تحصل على الاهتمام. كلُّ ذلك سببه الصّورة السّلبية الّتي يرسمها المعلّم عن التّلميذ، مما يؤدي إلى صورة سلبيّة يرسمها التلميذ ذاته عن نفسه، حتى يصل إلى التعثّر الدراسي والفشل الحياتي.

     ونحن عندما نمعن النظر نلاحظ أن التلاميذ الذي يعانون من التأخُّر الدراسي في صفوفهم الابتدائية نجد أنّ معظمهم من التلاميذ الخجولين، قليلي الكلام، حيث لا يجيدون من اللّعب الجماعي إلا ما كان قاسياًً، مع لجوئهم إلى الضّرب والعنف الجسدي بدلاً من الكلمة والحوار للتعبيـر عن أنفسهم عند أيِّ موقفٍ أو مشكلة، ومردّ ذلك كلِّه إلى عدم تأمين النّمط اللّغوي المتبلور في بيئة الطّفل وبيته، ولو أن الأهل انتبهوا إلى أهميّة الاستخدام العالي للّغة في حياة أبنائهم ، لتجاوز ابنهم هذه المشكلة، ولأصبح أكثر قدرة على التكيّف مع بيئة المدرسة.

     إنّ دور الأهل هو الأكثر أهمية في إكساب الأبناء نمطاً لغوياً يساعدهم على التقدّم الدّراسي الطّبيعي الّذي يستحقّونه، وتأمين المخزون اللّغوي والثّقافي الذي يحقِّق للطفل التكيُّف المدرسي ويبعده عن الاستبعاد الدراسي والتعثُّر التعلّمي، ومن هنا وجب على الأهل أن يحرصوا على تأمين الجوّ الثقافي المناسب، والإكثار من استخدام اللّغة في التّعامل اليومي، فمن شأن ذلك المساهمة في نجاح التلميذ وإكسابه المعارف والمهارات والثّقة بالنّفس وتقدير المعلّمين وإعجاب الزّملاء.

Integrating Sustainable Development Concepts into the Lebanese Educational Curriculum

“In the end we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, we will understand only what we are taught.”


Baba Dioum, Senegal Poet



There is on-going increasing awareness of the need to incorporate development and environment concepts into formal education. Academic learning units in the different disciplines may be designed to achieve the intended outcomes by increasing students’ knowledge of sustainability principles, knowledge which in turn, will modify their life-long behaviors as responsible citizens. This is of special importance today with the world‘s resources being put in danger due to human irresponsible or uninformed behaviors. The ultimate goal of all this is to raise future citizens who will be able to deal with the world’s resources in a way to insure that the maximum needs of individuals are fulfilled at the minimum cost of the world’s resources. As a result, they live happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives.
The Lebanese English language curriculum, being a content-based curriculum, lends itself easily to topics related to sustainability with its three dimensions: Environment sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability.
In choosing the concepts to be integrated into the English language program, we can put the following points into mind:

• In Cycle I (CI: Age group 6 - 10), the curriculum can aim at concepts that relate to the “here and now” because it is more meaningful for young students to deal with what they have a better schemata (background knowledge) about and with what they encounter in their daily lives. Thus, concepts relating to the systems components are easily taught to CI students. Here, we can start with the components of the social, economic and environmental systems that emerge from the children’s lives such as the family, supermarket and different kinds of animals all of which are related directly to children’s lives. Similarly, concepts relating to cultural diversity and local cultures can be easily introduced since children at very young ages can relate to in the open and diverse Lebanese society. Other concepts related to the common types of pollution, water and air, farming and gardening are suitable for C1 students.

• English language is not the subject that should dwell on concepts students have not encountered before or that need in-depth studying and/ or building. Even if sustainability concepts are incorporated into the English language curriculum, the main aim of this discipline is to build language skills. Therefore, concepts that are not common and that are new to students and need in-depth studying need to be addressed in closely related subjects in more detail; i.e., environmental sustainability concepts in the science discipline and social and economic sustainability concepts in the sociology and economics disciplines. Therefore, concepts relating to the importance of biological diversity, economy and scarcity, humanizing the geographical domain, sources of diversity, mass destructive weapons and of sustainable farming concepts might not find their way in the English language curriculum. Saying this, I keep in mind that all subject matters are interdisciplinary and not one should be taught in complete isolation of the others.

• Integrating some concepts should be delayed to Cycle 2 (C2: Age group 11 – 13) or Cycle 3 (C3: Age group 14 – 18) when the students are ready for them either cognitively or until the concepts are introduced in other subject matters. This ensures that in the English language curriculum, students do not have to deal much with understanding the concepts, but rather to have the concepts reinforced, built upon and be studied from a language learning perspective. For example, there is no need to introduce concepts relating to renewable and non- renewable resources at the C1 since students at this age lack any schemata for such concepts and are not cognitively ready for them. Thus, it is more reasonable to delay integrating them until the students are ready for them. The same applies to other concepts I propose delaying such as the imbalance in biological diversity, sound and electronic pollution, dimensions of investment, economic sustainability, and so on.

In diffusing the concepts into the curriculum, there should be a shift from the tight teacher control on what the teacher teaches students to allowing students to learn by actively participating in the learning process. Thus the teacher should shift from the lecturing and demonstration methods of teaching to allowing students to carry out group discussions, role playing, seminars, case studies, and finally do self study. The latter methods are best fit for C3 students.

Teacher to Teacher 4

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Holding Students Accountable for Their Achievement

In every performance where students will be evaluated, it is the students’ right to be informed of the basis on which they will be evaluated. One way the teacher can do this is by explicitly informing the students of the criteria on which they’ll be evaluated or of the exact skills that are required on a specific test. Thus before a test, it is always helpful to remind the students of the skills already studied in class before a test. Further, the teacher can conduct a trial test covering the required skills. This serves in acquainting students with test type and question format and proves especially useful at the beginning of the year when students are still unaware of teacher’s expectations. The result of which is often, lower first term marks.
Informing students of the evaluation criteria could prove useful also in classroom presentations. Often during presentations, students are unaware of important presentation skills. As a result, many students neglect eye contact, using visuals, proper posture, stating presentation objectives, all of which contribute to a successful presentation. To avoid this, students can be explicitly told of the skills that would improve their presentations ahead of presentation due date so students have the opportunity to practice before coming to class.
Another instance where it is helpful to inform students of what is required of them is before a writing task. For example, before students write an argumentative essay, students can be told that their essays need to include a thesis statement, three arguments to support their thesis statement and at least two counterarguments with their refutations. Also the students can be told to correct any run on sentences and sentence fragments before handing in their final written product.
Doing this, making students aware of the teacher’s expectations, is of great importance since it holds the students responsible for their performance. Thus, it is no longer only the teacher who is responsible for the students’ attainment of what is taught in class but students are functionally involved in improving their skills, abilities and performance.

Sena’s Acquisition of English- Comprehension Vs. Production

According to Krashen, in order for language acquisition to take place, the language input has to be comprehensible. That is why for a child to acquire the language of the parents, the fact that he hears his parents speaking is not enough. The parents have to make their language (the input) comprehensible for their child. This means that they should not merely talk or converse with him, but rather communicate, and comprehension should be the focus.

In an attempt to teach, Sena, my 20-month old daughter, English, I began speaking to her in pure English 45 days ago, at 18.5 months of age. Sena, who has been spoken to in Arabic by all of those around her, including me, since her birth, exposure to English was completely new and unfamiliar. To aid her comprehension of this new language, I simplified the language input to promote comprehension on her part. The characteristics of my simplified language were, as Hatch (1979) has put them (cited in Krashen, P. 64):

1. Slow rate and clear articulation to make it easy to identify word boundaries and allow more processing time,
2. Use of high frequency vocabulary, and
3. Use of short sentences; syntactic simplification.

Above all, use of realia and pictures were very common when communicating with Sena, especially since her age requires most communication to be about the “here and now”.

Thus far, I have mentioned points that would aid Sena in acquiring a second language, English in her case. But there are numerous factors that could delay her acquisition of the new language. They may be put as follows:

First of all, Sena receives English only from me. No one besides me communicates with her in English. Besides that, she is not exposed to others communicating among each other as the case is in her Arabic. Thus, the discourse types are narrowed down to just one, which is mine.

Another hindrance for her acquisition of English is that the quantity of English she receives is not sufficient for initial readiness to speak. I, her mother, being a full-time teacher and a full-time student at the faculty of education have, little time to communicate with her. Not to forget that I am her only source of English, with the exception for my parents whom she spends two days a week with but use only isolated English words put in an Arabic context.


During the period of 45 days, the times which Sena spent with me, apart from her
sleeping time, were Mondays and Thursdays from 11:00 a.m. till 9:00 p.m. (including her three-hour sleep), Saturdays from 6:00 a.m. till 12:00 p.m., Fridays from 7:00 a.m. till 12:00 p.m., and Sundays. This shows that the majority of her time was spent apart from me, her only English source. In the last two weeks of the 45-day period of communication in English with Sena, I had a better chance of spending more time with her because of my holiday from the school I teach at.

The last two points mentioned summarize the quantity of input, which Sena has received and how they could delay her acquisition of English. In fact, they are what Krashen mentions as two characteristics which should not be present for optimal input for acquisition. In addition to those, Sena often refuses the English version for a word she has already established an Arabic word for.

In this article, the quantity of Sena’s comprehension in the target language will be compared to her production in this language. Her comprehension of input will be measured by:

1. her ability to perform activities after being asked to in English,
2. responding to what is spoken to her whether her response is in Arabic or English, and
3. reporting what is said to her in English to others. She often reports what is said to her in Arabic.

The data collected includes the English structures and vocabulary which Sena was able to comprehend and those which she was able to produce. This data was collected in a period of three days while communicating with her, and it will be classified into:

1. General structures of language,
2. Isolated terms, and
3. Songs.

English Comprehended and Produced by Sena

The following is what Sena has come to comprehend after being spoken to in English for a period of 45 days. An asterisk (*) is provided near structures she produces spontaneously. Any other word or phrase that Sena understands could replace what is written between parentheses.

I. General Structures
A. Imperatives

• Wash your (face).
• Dry (your hands).
• Drink (the juice).
• Wipe (Nawal’s hands).
• Lie down/on the bed/on the mattress.
• Go ask (daddy) (to comb your hair/to show you the goats).
• Stop it! *
• Turn the TV on/off.
• Put on (your shoes/shirt).
• Wake up. *
• Wake up Suzy.
• Get up.
• Give (me/Alaa) (a Kleenex).
• Come here. *
• Go to (the Kitchen/bedroom). *
• Smell (the flower/your hand). *
• Sit down/Stand up.
• Walk. *
• Run.
• Have a seat.
• Move, please. *
• Put (your hand) (on your head/on the table).
• Count. [She counts up to ten if there is a group of objects, but she always skips number 4.]
• Blow on (it/your food/the candle].
• Blow (your nose).
• Get me (the cup of water).
• Stay here. /Wait here.
• Draw (a circle/Suzy).
• Take off (your shoes/socks).
• Open the door. *
• Close the door.
• Pick up (the toys).
• Put (the paper) (in the garbage).
• Listen. *
• Look. *
• Clap your hands. *
• Clap with your feet. *
• Throw (the rocks)* (in the water).
• Hug (mommy).
• Give me (a hug/a kiss).
• Tickle (Alaa).
• Hit (Alaa).
• Slap. * Punch. *
• Look up there/down here.
• Put (your baby/Nawal) to sleep.
• Ask (Nawal) (to come/to go/open the door).
• Tell (Nawal) to (look on the TV/look at the goats).
• Leave it.
• Sing. *
• Hands up.
• Show me (your tongue/the paper).
• Brush your hair.
• Get on the bed.

B. Negative Imperatives

• Don’t touch!
• Don’t touch (the curtain).
• Don’t run/walk/cry/move.
• Don’t spit out your food.
• Don’t!!
• “Don’t” with any expression she understands.

C. Present Progressive Tense

• (Daddy) is sleeping. *
• (She) is eating.
• (Ahmad) is brushing his hair.
• Note: Sena understands any sentence in the present progressive if the verb is any of the above mentioned verbs.

D. Future Tense
The most frequently used sentence here is, “I’ll turn the car on,” and of course any verb Sena understands in the simple form, she understands in the future tense.

E. WH Questions
1. Questions Beginning with “What”

• What’s your name? [She replies, “Sena.”]
• Sena what? [She replies, “Sena Khateeb.”]
• What do you want?
• What are you doing?
• What do you say? [After she asks for something without saying “Please”, or after taking it without saying “Thank you”.]

2. Who?

• Who is on the phone?
• Who did this [a mess]?
• Who came?
• Who gave you the book?
• Who’s this/that? *

3. Whose?

• Whose this for?
• Whose (book/paper/jacket) is this for?

4. Where?

• Where are you/Where is (daddy)? *
• Where is (your neck)? *
• Where is (the ball)? *
• Where are you going?
• Where? (In the course of speaking.)

F. Prepositional Phrases
Sena understands prepositional phrases used in sentences if the phrases begin with the following prepositions:

• With- Who is with (daddy)?
• On- (It’s) on the table.
• Under- The pen is under the pillow.
• Beside- Put (your toys) beside (the TV).

G. Statements (Beginning with Subjects and Verbs)

• It’s cold. *
• It’s hot. *
• It’s a (hand). *
• This is (a hand). *
• (Suzy) is sleeping. *
• (Daddy) is outside/inside/in the kitchen. *
• (He) went to the (house).
• (We’re) going to (Iman’s house/the bedroom).

H. Singular/Plural *
Sena uses the singular/plural form of all the regular nouns she knows appropriately.

I. Possession

• This is (mommy’s book). *
• It’s (Alaa’s teddy). *
• This is (Sena’s house). *

Note: She usually replies to questions beginning with “whose” in sentences containing possessive nouns. For example, if she is asked, “Whose (car) is this?” she replies, “It’s daddy’s.”
Besides that, Sena shows a good understanding of possessive pronouns.


J. Expressions and Idioms

• Oops! *
• Okay. *
• Hooray! *
• Hi. /Hello. /Bye. *
• Yes/No *
• Please. *
• Thank you. *
• Shame, shame. *
• I love you. *
• Let’s go. *
• Let me see.
• Not this way; the other way.
• This way? *
• Like this. *
• This? *
• That’s enough.
• I’m freezing! [Sena says it when she’s cold.]

K. Yes/No Questions
When Sena is asked a yes/no question, she replies with either a “yes” or a “no” whether she understands the question or not. Such questions are as the following:

• Is it good?
• Can I have me?
• Are you happy?
• Will you come with me?
• But there are yes/no questions which she understands such as:
• “Is this my nose?” Where Sena replies, “No, it’s a hand”, if the speaker is pointing to his hand and not to his nose.

L. Who?
The same case with yes/no questions applies to questions beginning with “who”. When Sena is asked this latter type of questions, she replies by a person’s name whom she knows, whether she understands the question or not. Such questions are as follows:

• Who’s nice?
• Who’s my girl? [Here she always replies by “Sena”, and she is asked, “Who’s your girl?” she replies, “Sally,” her doll.]

M. Songs
Of course, I do not suppose that Sena understands the meaning of the songs she sings often except for some isolated words, but they do contribute to her sense of the language. Only the lines she sings are presented here.

• Jack be nimble/ Jack be quick.
• Twinkle, twinkle, little star/How I wonder what you are.
• Criss, cross, apple sauce/Spiders here, spiders there.
• Rain, rain go away.
• Wake up, wake up.
• Here we are, here we are.
• Incy, wincy spider.
• Sleep baby sleep.

N. Isolated Words
Body Parts Clothes Around the House Food and Related Items

• head* shirt inside*/outside*/house* placemat*/cup*/bottle
• hair* pants home/plant/ fork*/spoon*/
• face* overalls* bedroom*/bathroom*/ milk*/water*/juice*/
• eyes* dress* kitchen*/garage ice*/bread/sadwich*/
• nose* socks* floor/stairs/ soup*/tomatoes*/
• mouth* sleeve crib*/bed*/chair*/ cucumber*/potatoes*/
• tongue* jacket* mattress/sofa/TV*/ fries*/spaghetti*/
• tooth* pocket carrots/meat*/chicken*/
• ears* hat rice*/chips*/chocolate*/
• neck shoes* apple*/banana*/orange*/
• tummy slippers* strawberries*/biscuits/
• (stomach) diaper* coffee/tea
• belly button* towel
• foot*
• leg*
• hand*
• finger*
• toes/nail

Animals Toys Nature Accessories Objects Sena

• Elephant piano* sun* nailpolish* Uses
• Doggy* (dog) board* moon* ring* powder*/cream*
• Horsy (horse) keys tree* necklace babyoil*/Q-tips*
• Pony bicycle plant headband blanket*/pillow*
• Duck toys* flower* book*/paper*
• Birdy rocks* pen*/soap*
• Rabbit water* shampoo*
• Cat
• Turtle
• Penguin
• Dolphin*
• Panda*
• Fish*
• Spider*
• Worm*
• Ant*
• Bunny*
• Goats*
• Sheep
• pig

Other terms

• Music*/songs*/dance*/picture/matches/circle*/fridge/washing machine/door/window/table/chair*/candle*/car*/airplane/helicopter/
• Baby*/man*/boy*/girl*/women*
• Here/there
• Hot*/cold*
• Sleep*/eat
• More*/no more*
• Inside*/outside*
• Nice*/ugly*
• Up*/down*
• Happy face*/sad face*

The rest of this article is missing; I must have saved it on some floppy disk since it was written in 1999😒

عمل المرأة وتعزيز فرص بناء الأسرة وتربية الأولاد

مقالة نشرت في مجلة "جنى" الشهرية 

تكثر الدعوات للمرأة الأم والزوجة بأن تلتزم بيتها لتربية أولادها والاهتمام بزوجها، معلِّلة تلك الدعوات بأن من شأنها لا الحفاظ على الأسرة فحسب، بل على المجتمع ككل. ويرى الكثيرون أن تفرُّغ المرأة الكامل لبيتها وعائلتها له الدور الأول والأساس في صون الأسرة والحفاظ عليها وإبعادها عن مزالق الفساد والانحراف. ولكن قبل إطلاق الأحكام وتعميم مثل هذه الدعوات، ينبغي علينا أن نناقش ما إذا كان هناك إيجابيات لعمل المرأة خارج بيتها قد تعود عليها وعلى أسرتها والمجتمع.

أولاً: نشرت قناة الـ بي بي سي في العام الماضي نتيجة دراسة غربية أظهرت أن الأمهات الموظفات عندهن حرص كبير على تمضية أوقات فراغهن مع عائلاتهن بشكل منتج، هادف، يتَّسم بالتفاعل بين الأم والولد أكثر من اللواتي لا تعملن، أي إنَّ هذا الوقت الذي تقضيه الأم العاملة مع أولادها وإن كان أقل كمَّاً، إلا أنه وقت نوعيٌّ تحرص فيه الأم على التواصل مع أبنائها ومعرفة ميولهم وتنمية مهاراتهم وتنظيم مشاريع هادفة معهم من مثل زيارة أماكن تثقيفية من مكتبات ومعارض ونشاطات. وأكدت الدراسة أن أبناء الأمهات العاملات أكثر حبَّاً للقراءة والمطالعة والبرامج الثقافية، وأكثر تحصيلاً في الجانب الأكاديمي من أبناء الأمهات غير العاملات. .

ثانيا: أظهرت دراسة لمجلس الإنماء والإعمار في لبنان على أفراد الهيئة التعليمية أنَّ ارتقاء المعلمات في سلَّم التعليم يسمح لهنَّ بتحقيق حركية اجتماعية أعلى، ويتيح لهنَّ فرصة الارتباط بأزواج يساهمون في رفع السقف الاجتماعي لهنَّ، وتُستكمل هذه الحركية في قدرة العائلة- حسب الدراسة- على تأمين مستوى تعليمي متوسط أو عالٍ لأولادها، يسمح لهم بتجاوز مستوى الأهل الاجتماعي. وهذه الحركية الاجتماعية بطبيعة الحال كانت، في كثير من الحالات، نتيجة لعمل الأم، الذي ساهم بشكل مباشر في تعزيز الاهتمام بالعلم والتربية، الأمر الذي يترك أثره في سلوك الأولاد الأكاديمي، وكان السبب المباشر لارتباط الأم بأب من مستوى اجتماعي ساهم في تحقيق ما أشرنا إليه.

ثالثا: عمل المرأة عنصر هام في إحداث تغيير داخل العائلة، فعملها له ارتباط وثيق بالمستوى الثقافي والاجتماعي والدخل المادي للعائلة، وهي أمور لها انعكاساتها الإيجابية على الأسرة، لارتباطها بإيجاد الرأسمال الثقافي وتعزيز المواقف الإيجابية تجاه العلم والتربية في محيط الولد الأساسي، ألا وهو البيت. وهذا ما وصلت إليه دراسة أجرتها شرلي هيث في منطقة "كارولينا بيدمونت" في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية حيث إنها –صاحبة الدراسة- وجدت خلال مراقبتها فترة تسع سنوات لأولاد في مناطق متباينة من عوائل ذات مستويات ثقافية، اجتماعية واقتصادية مختلفة، أنه كلما ارتفع مستوى العائلة الثقافي والاجتماعي والاقتصادي، كان الرصيد اللغوي للأولاد أعلى، مما جعل فهمهم لما يقرؤون أدقّ وأكثر موضوعية، ولاحظت أن هؤلاء الأطفال أكثر قدرة على التمييز بين ما هو واقعي وما هو خيالي فيما يقرؤون من قصص.

هذا الرصيد اللغوي يحمله الأبناء معهم إلى المدرسة. وحسب الدراسة المشار إليها آنفاً، فإن هؤلاء الأولاد ذوو الرصيد اللغوي الأعلى كانوا أكثر قدرة على تلبية المتطلبات الدراسية والاندماج في البيئة المدرسية. وهذا من شأنه تأمين الدفع اللازم للتقدم الدراسي دون تعثر.

وأمر آخر لا يقلُّ أهمية عما سبق هو أن المرأة العاملة تصبح أكثر إدراكاً لحاجات المجتمع وخصوصياته وسلبياته، هذا المجتمع الذي ستضطر الأم أن ترسل ولدها إليه منذ سنواته الأولى من حياته، مما يجعلها أكثر قدرة على التنبؤ بما سيعترض ولدها من مخاطر خارج بيئته الصغرى – البيت- فتحاول تسليحه بالقيم والأفكار والسلوكيات التي سيحتاجها لمواجهة مشكلات المجتمع.

ثمَّ ماذا تعمل الأم التي سهرت ليالٍ طويلة لتحصيل شهادة علمية معينة؟ هل تنقطع عن مجال اختصاصها لتنظِّف وتطبخ وتستقبل وتودع؟ أمور لا عيب فيها، بل هي مطلوبة ومحبَّبة في حياة المرأة، لكن الاقتصار عليها قد يكون قاتلاً للمواهب، داعياً للكسل، مسبِّباً لتراجع فرص الأسرة بتلاشي ما حصَّلته المرأة من علم ومهارات. وهنا يأتي عمل المرأة لا ليعزِّز ما تعلمته المرأة في دراستها الأكاديمية فحسب، بل ليطوِّره وينمِّيه ويوظِّفه، لأن الشهادة الأكاديمية مجرد نقطة انطلاق لا أفق لها ما لم تتبع بالممارسة الحياتية، ولهذا كلِّه المردود الإيجابي على شخصية المرأة عبر مساعدتها في فهم نفسها وبناء ذاتها وإشعارها بالإنتاج والعطاء والتَّطور والنُّمو. أمور كلها لها انعكاساتها على عائلتها، فالأم ذات الاستقرار النفسي والمعنوي أكثر انسجاماً مع نفسها، ومحيطها وأكثر قدرة على التعامل معه.

والمرأة العاملة خارج بيتها تعطي نموذجاً، إلى جانب نموذج الأب، عن الالتزام بالمواعيد وتنظيم الوقت وإدارة البيت، وتكون مضطرة لتعليم أولادها الالتزام بمسؤولياتهم وإعطاء كلٍّ منهم دوراً وواجبات داخل المنزل، مما يجعل كلَّ فرد في الأسرة مسؤولاً عن عمل ما: الأب والأم، والابن والبنت- لا الأم فقط، ومن شأن هذا خلق خلق شعور قوي بمتعة التعاون والمشاركة، فالبيت مؤسسة تنجح وتزدهر بتعاون وتناغم أفرادها، وبهذا التعاون والتناغم يتحقق التوازن في مسيرة الأسرة وتتعزز فرص تنمية شخصيات الأولاد وبناء قدراتهم ومعارفهم ومهاراتهم، ويجيب عن السؤال الذي طالما تمَّ طرحه عن عمل المرأة وكيفية التوفيق بين مسؤلياتها خارج البيت وداخله.