School of the Now
Why functional illiteracy seems to have reached such a high level in the United States.
Schools today brag about how advanced education has become. Head start and kindergarten students learn phonics on computers through a program called Fast Forward. Some high school students were given PDAs for school use last year. Yet, with all these technological advancements 59 percent of high school graduates in between the ages of 16 and 25 are functionally illiterate. I believe I have the answer to the problem: teachers are no longer teaching, and parents, unfortunately, are not either.
I often sit back pondering over the downward spiral of our nation when books are becoming as archaic as LPs. Now, is this the fault of schools turning to computers as guides for our children or is this the result of humans forgetting where we came from? Before the written word pictures and other symbols were used to tell stories about what had happened. Today we send an email or text message and there goes hours of taking pen to paper. But what is the cost? Is it okay for us to take from our children the joy of going to the library, the smell of a new book just being opened, and the thrill of a new adventure that unfolds in your mind not before your eyes?
Recently, both the national and state governments have taken a more active interest in literacy. However, I feel the damage is already done. My son’s school has the Fast Forward program that I mentioned above. This program basically teaches phonics through a game. I have a problem with this program because any student who is good at video games can quickly figure out how to beat it, so to speak, without learning anything from it.
My son has struggled with his verbal skills from the beginning. He was slow to start speaking and has a speech impediment. After numerous attempts to receive help from the school’s speech therapist, I was left to struggle through teaching him myself. Granted, I am an advanced reader and have fully developed verbal skills, but I am not properly trained in speech therapy. Needless to say without the school’s help he still struggles today. You may wonder what this has to do with reading…everything. Without being able to properly pronounce letters you can not sound out words, hence, reading is then impossibile. What if I were a parent who struggled with verbal skills myself? What if I were illiterate, how then could I have helped my child that the school neglected?
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Post CommentMichael
On September 20, 2008 at 1:18 pm
I agree, some things are meant to be unchanged.
slink
On September 20, 2008 at 2:40 pm
i agree we should still use the old way when it comes to teaching our children to read and write like the old saying goes if it aint broke than dont fix it
Kat
On September 21, 2008 at 12:31 am
You know I like it. I read it when you 1st finished it and agreed then like I do now.
Brenda
On September 21, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I have always felt that a child needs to learn to read and that reading a book is a wonderful adventure for a child’s imagination! Schools today need to stick with the basics for teaching our children how to read. I had problems with the new system the school brought in for my youngest daughter. She still cannot spell as well as her sisters because of it. I agree we need to stick to the basics!