The world needs ditchdiggers too!
Posted on 12/15/2004 3:09:22 AM PST by Stoat
I know, and that got me wondering. So I poked around on google and came up with the CIA-- World Facts Book. It said that the population (est.) of the UK as of 11/04 is 60,270,708.
Are the Brits actually saying...or admitting...that, what? something like 40+% of its population is functionally illiterate??
i think the article is bollocks, though i feel 40% of the posters on this thread my be illiterate....
I have a grandson in 2nd grade and I am impressed with both his reading and math skills. The school district he is in primarily stresses reading skills in the early grades and uses a combination of phonics and what they call "sight words" -- those that do not easily sound out -- to get the kids quickly into reading and making it enjoyable for them. Even his math homework includes word problems to reinforce the reading. The kid enjoys reading and does it on his own for fun.
I'd have to say that my grandson has advanced faster in reading than I did at his age in a parochial school where the nuns taught strictly by the old methods. Whatever this school district is doing seems to work.
BS.
Some children have a natural gift for reading, just as some do for music, sports, etc. I refer to kids like this as having language-friendly minds. They can learn to read with little or no instruction.
Sight reading (the base of whole language) is a problem, in varying degrees, for about 70% of children. Of this 70%, about 40% struggle through, and many will wind up functioning at an acceptable level. None remain purely sight readers, as this cannot be done. They have managed to implicitly pick up spelling patterns and how they work. Most kids need explicit instruction rather than hoping they just figure it out if they see it often enough.
The children I tutor are, of course, in the 30% group who do not have the language-friendly minds. Their little lives completely turn around when someone actually instructs them and they see that they are not stupid after all. A new lease on life...even at such a young age!
Either your grandson received more phonetic teaching than most children, or he has one of those language-friendly minds...or a bit of both. In any case, it is a good thing, and I applaud the school for teaching phonetics.
That's very true. I'm close to getting my masters degree in Intenational Affairs and my math ability is probably on a middle school level. Thank god for reading and writing!
Patton didn't learn to read until he was 14.
Britain has always been the laggard wrt education. Germany has always been the leader. Must be that class system
What is it with the word "maths"? Why can't they just say math like everyone else?
The British class system is so opressive that there is no incentive for self-improvement among the lower middle class etc.
Yep.
So that's how many muslims are in the UK. Oh wait ... add some for the imams, they can actually read.
He also is given homework assignments every night, mostly math, except for Friday. He gets the weekend off. ;~))
BTW. He loves school and loves his teacher. It shows that public schools can do it, if they want to.
Right you are...the system is diabolical AND ingenious.
It all sounds so wonderful and loving and "for the children", but it makes them ignorant wards of the state.
The world needs ditchdiggers too!
The Sun? Whatever it's sources, its obvious that their they're, not hear to night.
Your disclear: the unreaders and unwriters isn't hear to night!
"What is it with the word 'maths' Why can't they just say math like everyone else?"
By "everyone else" you presumably mean Americans. I imagine the British don't say 'math' because they aren't American.
"The British class system is so oppressive that there is no incentive for self-improvement among the lower middle class etc"
Why do you insist on spouting opinions about something that you clearly have absolutely no idea about? What 'oppressive' class system? Where did you get your latest information on this subject from, Charles Dickens?
Jeez.
Decaying narco-leftist amoral gut-choking commie pinko treasonous dumb-ass krypto-fascist neo-socialist conspiracy is taking over my mind!!! Please help me escape to America!!!
Yeah, ya beat me to it. Another 26 million have fewer than half of their teeth.
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