should a child have to pass reading to advance in school?

[ColdFront77]

Wow Steve! I have the Weather Companion by Gary Lockhart right here in my room. One of my aunts gave it to me... Christmas 1990.

[Guest]

This sure is a very intresting topic for sure..................I do feel that everyone should be taught how to read............However like shannon said thier are those who can do it better other ways and i do happen to be one of them.......................My reading abilities is great but when it comes to putting it down in the way i see it is another whole different story.................Like Shannon said i am much better at having it verbally explained to me and vise versa then trying to figure it out from a book and the such even though i am a excellent reader................Which i guess this applies to test as well....................I happend to be that kid that got terrible grades in school for these written test however when other types of test were applied i did very well.................It really baffled my teachers that i got such terrible marks on thier test but when i was tested in the same subject but in another way i did great...............Ask me and i think it starts with writing skills which as you can see by this post and others is terrible...lol..................Even with this i know that the point im trying to get across wont because of the way i wrote it...................Either way it shows my problem in relation to this issue and more or less i agree with Shannon's statements......................And for a good example of the confusion these sort of things cause think about this....................How does a C & D Student manage to get the 3rd highest score in the State (MD) and in the top (5% Country) on those test that every kid gets across the country every so many years? I was that kid by the way and had that happen on more then one occasin untill the 9th grade when i had to drop out for reasons beyond my control..................And yes i did go back and get my GED which is a joke as well seeing how i hardly did any studying for it and only got 2 answers wrong in the whole test...............Either way something isnt being done right..........What it is i really dont know hopefully someone can answer this for me and maybe the rest of the country...................Have a good one everyone...

[David]

Everyone needs to learn to read. Even those who have a tough time. Later in life, you will need this skill, no matter what. If it's just a road sign, to an important paper for your work, you will always need it. You don't want to be the one that screws up. You may lose your job, or in the other case, possibly lose your life, because you din't know it was a 1-way street.

Anyway, if you can't real, you won't pass school now-and-days because of all the tests Bush has passed. But, it's just as valuable as math.

just my 2 cents.

[mf_dolphin]

I have to agree that reading is one of the school's most critical responsibilities. My youngest daughter has struggled with reading in the past so I share some of the frustration here. Other than that she is a straight A student. We have worked with her on her reading as well as her teachers and now she finds reading fun! Fortunately, we made the committment financially to keep her in a private school for her early school years. Next year (8th grade) will be her last in private school and then she will be back in the public school system. That's when our scholastic challenges will really begin. At least we have gotten her on the right path with good fundamentals!

[Miss Mary]

Very interesting topic indeed! Steve, you had some good comments there. Shannon, I can understand where you're coming from too. I have 2 girls, as you all must know by now, that went thru the same Elem. In our school district when Nina started in 93, Whole Language Theory was implemented. Subjects flowed from one to the other, which was supposed to get the kids writing, writing, and writing some more. Inventive Spelling (putting a word down on paper the way you *think* it was spelled) was encouraged from K into First and Second Grades. By Third you were expected to turn it around by then, if you hadn't already - e.g. spelling cat as *cat* not kat. Well, Nina's Reading Light Bulb (as her First Grade teacher referred to it) came on near the end of First Grade. She was devouring books by then.....reading and writing all the time. We read all of the Little House and Anne of Green Gables' books together. We have very fond memories of those days. Alright compare Laura to Nina and Laura has always - repeat always - struggled. I curse the day she was allowed to spell words *inventively*. Ugh. I used to say she would have learned to spell and write well if she had been taught the way I was - phonics, by a very strict nun with a stick, rapped many, many times on the blackboard - but of course I'd never welcome that type of learning today. Laura's Reading Light Bulb didn't come on until 7th Grade, if you can believe that! Yes I highly credit her Reading teacher this past year for nurturing that love for reading. All thru Elem years she was in every Reading Recovery program offered, received extra help, etc. Summer school too. On vacations/trips both girls have gathered their car things - Sony walkmans, Gameboys, books, but Laura always wanted Comic Books - it's a book Moooooommmmm. That look I got. Meanwhile Nina's reading "Tuesday's with Morrie", for one example. You don't know how many times I've wondered what did I do wrong.......did I read more to Nina and skip Laura? Of course I should add Laura was diagnosed with ADD mid 6th Grade year. So that was the missing piece to the puzzle. She is well on her way now and is doing wonderfully, GPA was over 3.5. And oh, our school district has thrown out the Whole Language Theory/Inventive Spelling - Thank God I say!!!! Phonics is implemented again - as if they just realized hey this really does work! The old theory was to get the K'ers writing right away, not hung up on spelling a word correctly, for fear of punishment. Good theory, worked well for one of my kids, not the other!

To wrap up my experiences with 2 daughters, I'd say now Reading is of the utmost importance. IMHO, they must be reading by the start of K year. Laura wasn't and I clearly remember the day her K teacher said - oh, she'll pick it up in no time. Ha! That didn't quite work out well.......I'd recommend to anyone with children 2 - 4 1/2, read, read, and read some more to your kids.

_______________

PS - I'd like to add that both my girls started K at the traditional age. Nina - 5.2 years of age by August. Laura, slightly older - 5.3 years. I never noticed this in Nina's class but by the time Laura hit First Grade I noticed over 50% of the students, if not 75%, were a full year older than she was. One girl I was reading with I thought for sure was gifted and the teacher said after a long sigh, no she's just a year older than your daughter. And so thru the years I've watched and observed. Laura's again the age she should be but among many students in ELO - extended learning opportunities. In other words, advanced classes. My theory, and just a mom-type one, I think grade levels are now teaching to the older students. And I swear I just didn't realize how prevalent it's become to start your child in K at age 6, or just about to turn 6. Laura would have struggled far less had she been older, in academics and social settings. I also clearly remember her pre-school teacher (after 2 full years) saying she was ready for K. Well, my opinion now is there is a huge gap between PreSchool and K curriculums. Both Administrations should sit down and compare notes. The Preschool teachers are all about fun and learning numbers/ABC's. Some sight words. K's all about knowing how to read already (even though the K teacher wasn't concerned Laura wasn't reading by then, if she had been she would have struggled less).

[j]

Shannon....I can't tell you the last book I read...oh yes I can..It was "The Final Days". I only read books that interest me, and that totals no more than 1/2 dozen since college. I hate to read basically...so it has to be really good to get my attention. I'm the same way with e-mails....I read the first couple of lines and if it doesn't grab me...it gets deleted. But....as far as school reading goes?...I think it's imperative to know how to read, and read well before entering the big bad world. Reading and writing go hand in hand. I do not think you can do one well, without having a handle on the other. Writing well, and getting your thoughts across as you intend to, are imperative in the workforce today. The average American spends 1 1/2 hours a day reading and writing e-mail at work (read this somewhere). Therefore, these skills are critical.

[ColdFront77]

I can see how reading and writing go hand and hand. However, some of us here say we don't read too often and we are "writing" to communicate with each other via this message board very well.