I started public school when I was six years old. That was in 1941. By the middle of that first year all in the clbutt were reading about privates and Jane and Spot and a ball. Granted, it wasn't a text from the Space Sciences Laboratory at Berkeley, but it was reading none the less. By the end of my second year in school we had all progressed to the point that we could read a local news paper and understand all but a few of the words. We each had a subscription to the "Weekly Ready." (paid for by our far from effluent parents not the school) We were required to read it in its entirety and give a verbal report on a topic there from every week. The story goes on... My question for the readers is this: "Why are we seeing such news as I have pasted below about our public schools today when more than sixty-five years ago kids could read well before they were 9?" ************* THE CRISIS OF CHILD ILLITERACY In Southern California, four out of five third-graders cannot read at grade level. Research shows that children who fail to read by the age of nine rarely catch up later. In many cases, these children may never be able to realize their full potential or contribute and participate fully in our society. In 1998, the Los Angeles Times launched Reading by 9 in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. Reading by 9 is a multi-year campaign aimed at helping kindergarten through third-grade students read at grade level by the age of nine. Working with parents, educators, business and civic leaders and community organizations, The Times is serving as a catalyst to focus public attention on the crisis of child illiteracy. In addition, The Times is using its leadership and influence to promote public-private partnerships to improve children's reading skills.
|
