A nine-year-old boy, unable to read; showed up for remedial help. Pointing at “bead,” the tutor explained, “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.” The puzzled third-grader looked up and asked: “What’s a vowel?”
He probably meant “what do a vowel be?”
That rule works for "bead", but not for "chief" or "brief" or even "Shiite."
The public schools have never been bastions of educational excellence. Americans were complaining about them from their first day. Obviously, they’re getting worse. In my own case, I was helped by shows like Sesame Street, Zoom, and The Electric Company, as well as my mother teaching me to read. If not for them, I can’t imagine how little I’d know.
What, in Heaven’s name, is a “Dolch” word?
We need more schools like this one:
http://www.ridgeviewclassical.com/
Socialist revolution first (through the minds of the children) - academics later.
This is why the children coming out of the government schools are ignorant and more like untamed animals than humans. No morals, no ethics, no reason, no laws.
“What are these officials afraid of, that American children might actually become literate? “
Honestly, yes.
Back in the 70s, my wife and I went to our daughter’s 9th grade open house at her junior high school. Mr. So-and-so gave all the parents the courtesy of showing up wearing a hunting shirt, jeans, and barefoot except for sandals . . . also unshaven. This slob (that’s exactly what I though he looked like), who was on the taxpayers’ payroll, looked like a he had no respect at all for his job or his students’ parents.
He passed out a 4-page handout to the parents. After a brief review of the handout, I found eight (8) grammar errors. I was furious. I teach English and math at a private school for far less pay and benefits than this ba$tard gets. My wife told me not to bring these errors to Mr. Slob’s attention, or he’d take it out on my daughter. So, I sat there just steaming.
When Mr. Hippie told us about their journals that they had to write and turn in each week (my opinions of journals could be the subject of another post). I asked him if he checked them for grammar and spelling errors before he turned them back to the students. “No,” said Mr. Jackass, “I don’t want to hurt their self-esteem.”
I could have screamed, but my wife was right . . . he’d probably single out my daughter (who, by the way was a straight A student). So I remained mute. To this day, I wish I’d have gone after this high-paid ba$tard who showed up looking like he’d just changed a tire.
And we wonder what’s going wrong with our screw-el systems.
Vowel ? Silly foo. Dat’s where your poo go thru.
I learned to read whole words at four and a half. “look” and “see” were the first words.I learned, in a Dick.& Jane book. It was smooth sailing from there. Any kid who gets to third grade and doesn’t know what a vowel is has illiterate parents, not just a bad school.
"A reading coach in Missouri told me a revealing story."
"[A] puzzled third-grader looked up and asked: 'What’s a vowel?' "
Bruce, suggest that next time you name the school, its location, and its principal.
There is no reason to politely and respectfully keep them anonymous.
If you shame them publicly, then they will change. The media will force them to.
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What process of deliberate non-education allows this?
School districts have elaborate mission statements stating something like “all students will learn at their maximum potential in a changing global society...blah, blah, blah”
But the reality is that they work really hard to ensure that they are in compliance with state and federal regulations. Lots of paperwork and so on to document that they are following the law. When it comes to children like the one described (and yes there are many), many districts put more emphasis in documenting, so they can protect themselves, rather than teaching.
That boy might not be able to read, but his teachers probably have pretty good documentation that the mandated material has been covered in the prescribed manner. Sad but true.
Thanks for posting this. These people are communists, that IS what they are.
And they’ve had great success so far.
They need to be stopped.
The teachers’ unions MUST be broken.
Why I thought the last president had that old now dead lion of the Senate Teddy fix the education problem. Let US NOT forget that the majority of 40 and younger college educated voters, voted for our present ruler.
He's nine years old and in third grade, illiterate in reading and probably math as well. Why should we describe him as 'a smart kid'? Smart how?