Kids shift from “learning to read” → “reading to learn” by ~5th grade. Require 4th-grade reading level or repeat? I’m talking a nationwide scheme, normalize it, do it!
It’s just another in a long line of cute but failed leftist policies. My two oldest daughters are now approaching 40 and still can’t spell because the idiot teachers in California told the kids that they should not worry about spelling, just express themselves.
Stop the flavor of the month unproven new age plans. They don’t work.
Im not 100% sure what you're asking, but I also just woke up so maybe im running a little slow. Are you asking whether to hold students back for not meeting that progression timeframe?
One week in 3rd grade I went home on Friday as the acknowledged worst reader in my class. I was embarrassed by that. My elder brother had just finished a Hardy Boys book and was raving about how fun it was. I asked if I could read it. He let me. The next Tuesday we had a reading test. I tested as the best reader in class.
What happened? Reading went from an unfun chore to lots of fun. Reading that Hardy Boys book I could get to the clues and solve the mystery faster if I read better and faster. So I did. In one weekend.
Make education fun and rewarding and kids will do better. "Read to learn" works, but only if you making the learning fun.
The problem needs to be solved, but I don’t think it’s practical to keep the student in the same grade until they reach 5th grade reading level. That may take multiple years in the same grade for significant numbers of students. Intensive and extensive remediation is possible, though. My mom was an elementary reading specialist. She took kids who were underachieving and worked with individuals and small groups to try to reach grade level. Some form of specialized emphasis on kids who are suffering in all academic areas due to inability to read at a necessary level has to be made. The academic and societal ramifications down the road can’t be ignored.
I can relate, morgan. I was reading before kindergarten, so my parents stuck me in kindergarten a year early. I could read, but I was not close to ready for school either socially or physically. Given what I know now, I see that their decision really impacted me in sports and social life. I learned the lesson and didn’t make the same mistake with my kids.
I recently ran across a college professor beside himself, reading a college student’s essay. If he hasn’t said it was written by a college student, I would have thought it was written by a second grader. It was that bad.
So we have a serious problem in this country. I’m not sure how to best handle it, but I’m quite certain that passing illiterate children along to the next grade is not the answer.
Sure ignore the research, we always do.
One of the worse things you can do to a kid educationally is hold them back, and the later the worse. That doesn’t pass them and ignore them. What it means is if a kid is having problems reading they need extra help, not repeating what didn’t work. State legislators that mandate repeating a grade are engaging in educational malpractice and should suffer consequences.
I generally agree with that, yet failures to meet such a fundamental requirement will result in cascaded failures, seriously undermining the student's self confidence. While repeating the grade may be overkill in many instances, some drastic corrective action has to take place. What would you suggest? Mandatory summer reading classes, perhaps?
Yep, rinse and repeat = get same result. Obviously the solution would be multi faceted. Remember you are hearing the reaction/opinion of a fairly well educated, but LAY person w/o the academic background to support my ideas. I hope you understand the average Americans deep concern and disappointment in our educational system. I have many, many more ideas, but some might get me put in jail…..joking, but….
I’m a super reader but I assumed that reading to learn happened simultaneously with learning to read. Guess people are different. But reading is one of the great pleasures in life.
Passing kids along no matter what is a huge problem. In 15 years of teaching I’ve only seen a few kids repeat a year and every single one of them were kids repeating kindergarten with parent permission.
Yep. Normalizing it would do some to reduce the stigma. If 25% of a class was held back I think the stigma could be reduced to the point where the skill gain would eclipse the negative aspects.
I agree. What a blow to their psyche to hold them back. Do kids really ever get over that? Hopefully the parents and/or teachers take care of that before they get to 5th grade. But why would you hold kids back at kindergarten? Did they not color inside the lines?
We skipped my son a grade coming out of a homeschool environment. In retrospect, not the best choice. Held grandson back in kindergarten. Very complicated. Cognitive ability = at or above grade level. Speech = significant delay, hard to understand. Stature = small, as he is a VACTERL child. Emotional maturity = delayed 2ndry to extended hospital stays. So this worked very well. It also separated him from his fraternal twin, very very bright, brother . Yep good decision. My point is it’s complicated.
Pam. How did home schooling work out for the little ones. I have an idea that if you can swing it, you should use the homeschool material to educate your child quickly in reading and writing. They will be so far ahead in life if they can get those early. It just makes the rest of learning so much easier.
My homeschooling past: 4th grade ish. Got pissed at the schools. My kids are/were mathematically talented. They were going to eliminate the low/med/high groups and teach everyone at the same level. My reaction? HELL NO. We homeschooled 4/5/6 grade. It was amazing frustrating and rewarding. Now the boys…COVID = death sentence for the VACTERL child. We isolated the whole family in the extreme. We lived in multi-generational house. I taught the boys from what. 3/4 to 1st grade. It was beyond amazing. I could write a book. Glad you asked? lol
If they can’t read, they can’t learn anything else. That’s the bottleneck. —FULL STOP HERE - you want folks that and reason, think, make decent choices? Start here.
People must learn to read or they can’t learn anything else. Social promotion is a crime, dooming the child to a life of poverty.
Excuses are just that. If a child has dyslexia, provide assistance. If a child needs glasses, get them. If the child’s parents thwart learning, Work with the parents. Videos and audio materials can not substitute for reading.
Slynin has a point though... Perhaps avoid repeating what does not work and investigate the reasons why it failed in the first place. It could be on the teachers... You took a major step to reframe the teaching encironment and adapt it to your kids' needs by choosing homeschooling. This is not necessarily practical for everyone. I'd have the students in need follow extra, specialized classes in a different setting, taught by highly qualified teachers for the summer for example, and avoid the mere class repeat as much as possible.
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