40% of 4th graders cannot read in 2026

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think we can blame parents. It’s not fair to expect parents to spend an hour a day tutoring what should be taught in the 7 hours they’re in school daily.

I blame edtech. Get rid of the laptops and force reading from paper books and textbooks. It’s not the same to read on a screen.

Parents who rely totally on the school to teach everything are definitely to blame. But yes, there should be a return to books and textbooks.

I’m sorry but this is a horrible attitude. The schools should be responsible for teaching! That’s not a controversial opinion! It worked well for many decades. Kids learned to read, write, do math, they learned facts, and did science experiments, etc. We need only look at the education statistics in past censuses here: https://educationdata.org/education-attainment-statistics

1950 census: children in school were silent generation. Only 34% of adults had a HS diploma.
1960 census: children in school were baby boomers. 41% of adults had a HS diploma.
1970 census: children in school were the youngest baby boomers and oldest Gen X. 55% of adults had a HS diploma. (Baby boomers were driving a lot of the increase in HS graduation rates and they generally did not have school age children by 1970).
1980 census: children in school were Gen X. 68% of adults had a HS diploma.

The point is we don’t get to relatively high levels of educational attainment in the US until 1980! Do you really think non-HS graduate mom and dad were extensively working with their kids in 1950 to teach them to read? No, because that was the school’s job. The best you were going to get was parents reading simple picture books to their young kids and not every household even had that.

This is to say nothing of the pre-1950s years in educational attainment. Kids in public school often had illiterate parents or parents who could read at a basic level, or immigrant parents still learning English. But they still learned to read in school because the schools actually taught it.

Such a massive chunk of words to excuse yourself from being a garbage parent. Should’ve used precaution instead of impregnation. What a failure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think we can blame parents. It’s not fair to expect parents to spend an hour a day tutoring what should be taught in the 7 hours they’re in school daily.

I blame edtech. Get rid of the laptops and force reading from paper books and textbooks. It’s not the same to read on a screen.

Parents who rely totally on the school to teach everything are definitely to blame. But yes, there should be a return to books and textbooks.

I’m sorry but this is a horrible attitude. The schools should be responsible for teaching! That’s not a controversial opinion! It worked well for many decades. Kids learned to read, write, do math, they learned facts, and did science experiments, etc. We need only look at the education statistics in past censuses here: https://educationdata.org/education-attainment-statistics

1950 census: children in school were silent generation. Only 34% of adults had a HS diploma.
1960 census: children in school were baby boomers. 41% of adults had a HS diploma.
1970 census: children in school were the youngest baby boomers and oldest Gen X. 55% of adults had a HS diploma. (Baby boomers were driving a lot of the increase in HS graduation rates and they generally did not have school age children by 1970).
1980 census: children in school were Gen X. 68% of adults had a HS diploma.

The point is we don’t get to relatively high levels of educational attainment in the US until 1980! Do you really think non-HS graduate mom and dad were extensively working with their kids in 1950 to teach them to read? No, because that was the school’s job. The best you were going to get was parents reading simple picture books to their young kids and not every household even had that.

This is to say nothing of the pre-1950s years in educational attainment. Kids in public school often had illiterate parents or parents who could read at a basic level, or immigrant parents still learning English. But they still learned to read in school because the schools actually taught it.

Such a massive chunk of words to excuse yourself from being a garbage parent. Should’ve used precaution instead of impregnation. What a failure.

Wah Wah Wah, I’m a teacher who hates my job that I chose. Wahhhh. Why can’t we spend all day on low quality TPT worksheets and talking about our feelings. Why do I have to do my actual work that I get paid to do. Why do I have to read actual data, statistics, history, and well-researched posts and respond with my own facts and logic vs. lashing out emotionally. Wahhhhhh. 😂😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the schools don't want to have any rules or enforce the rules about cellphones then they should not have performance reviews for teachers anymore and the union officials need to start backing teachers and calling out corruption again bc NO ONE wants to teach anymore bc they know it's a shtshw. Lastly, put some gosh dang cameras in the classrooms to protect teachers. We do he said she said bs with juvenile delinquents like striving to get the admin to support the teachers instead of manipulative tech addicted doped up tweens tweaking on prescribed uppers and given free passes to disrupt every single class to hide the shame of illiteracy.

Instead of cameras in classrooms, which can be intrusive and invasive of students’ privacy, why not address these situations (which are extremely rare) of outbursts by (as you call them - ‘juvenile delinquents’) with restorative justice and compassion?

Furthermore, you do realize these children (and they are still children!) come almost entirely from under-resourced communities, don’t you? Viewing the situation through that lens should make it obvious to anyone that cameras in classrooms are the wrong approach (especially from a civil liberties perspective).

Deregulated children don't care about compassion. They will smile and laugh in your face as the guidance counselor tells them that they are only acting this way "because they are bored." Meanwhile the non-disruptive kids start joining in because why not? They aren't learning anyway and now they get free snacks.

I am a parent and have no issues with cameras. Perhaps it would help people like you understand what is actually happening in classrooms today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think we can blame parents. It’s not fair to expect parents to spend an hour a day tutoring what should be taught in the 7 hours they’re in school daily.

I blame edtech. Get rid of the laptops and force reading from paper books and textbooks. It’s not the same to read on a screen.

Parents who rely totally on the school to teach everything are definitely to blame. But yes, there should be a return to books and textbooks.

I’m sorry but this is a horrible attitude. The schools should be responsible for teaching! That’s not a controversial opinion! It worked well for many decades. Kids learned to read, write, do math, they learned facts, and did science experiments, etc. We need only look at the education statistics in past censuses here: https://educationdata.org/education-attainment-statistics

1950 census: children in school were silent generation. Only 34% of adults had a HS diploma.
1960 census: children in school were baby boomers. 41% of adults had a HS diploma.
1970 census: children in school were the youngest baby boomers and oldest Gen X. 55% of adults had a HS diploma. (Baby boomers were driving a lot of the increase in HS graduation rates and they generally did not have school age children by 1970).
1980 census: children in school were Gen X. 68% of adults had a HS diploma.

The point is we don’t get to relatively high levels of educational attainment in the US until 1980! Do you really think non-HS graduate mom and dad were extensively working with their kids in 1950 to teach them to read? No, because that was the school’s job. The best you were going to get was parents reading simple picture books to their young kids and not every household even had that.

This is to say nothing of the pre-1950s years in educational attainment. Kids in public school often had illiterate parents or parents who could read at a basic level, or immigrant parents still learning English. But they still learned to read in school because the schools actually taught it.

Such a massive chunk of words to excuse yourself from being a garbage parent. Should’ve used precaution instead of impregnation. What a failure.

DP. Nope. Kids are at school 7 hrs every day. Even if the parents do zero supplementing, that is more than ample time to make majority of kids meet grade level proficiency for math and reading- and that is far from happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think we can blame parents. It’s not fair to expect parents to spend an hour a day tutoring what should be taught in the 7 hours they’re in school daily.

I blame edtech. Get rid of the laptops and force reading from paper books and textbooks. It’s not the same to read on a screen.

Parents who rely totally on the school to teach everything are definitely to blame. But yes, there should be a return to books and textbooks.

I’m sorry but this is a horrible attitude. The schools should be responsible for teaching! That’s not a controversial opinion! It worked well for many decades. Kids learned to read, write, do math, they learned facts, and did science experiments, etc. We need only look at the education statistics in past censuses here: https://educationdata.org/education-attainment-statistics

1950 census: children in school were silent generation. Only 34% of adults had a HS diploma.
1960 census: children in school were baby boomers. 41% of adults had a HS diploma.
1970 census: children in school were the youngest baby boomers and oldest Gen X. 55% of adults had a HS diploma. (Baby boomers were driving a lot of the increase in HS graduation rates and they generally did not have school age children by 1970).
1980 census: children in school were Gen X. 68% of adults had a HS diploma.

The point is we don’t get to relatively high levels of educational attainment in the US until 1980! Do you really think non-HS graduate mom and dad were extensively working with their kids in 1950 to teach them to read? No, because that was the school’s job. The best you were going to get was parents reading simple picture books to their young kids and not every household even had that.

This is to say nothing of the pre-1950s years in educational attainment. Kids in public school often had illiterate parents or parents who could read at a basic level, or immigrant parents still learning English. But they still learned to read in school because the schools actually taught it.

Such a massive chunk of words to excuse yourself from being a garbage parent. Should’ve used precaution instead of impregnation. What a failure.

DP. Nope. Kids are at school 7 hrs every day. Even if the parents do zero supplementing, that is more than ample time to make majority of kids meet grade level proficiency for math and reading- and that is far from happening.

Come in and work with the kids I work with. Kids who don't speak English (and probably don't speak Spanish anywhere near their age), kids with low IQs, kids who miss 30, 40, 50+ days of school every year, kids who have never seen a book until they start school (they often hold them upside down at first), kids who are screen addicts because that's all they do in the cheap daycare they go to for years and years. Kids whose teeth are rotting out of their mouths, kids whose parents see them for an hour or two a day, kids who move around a lot because they are evicted, kids whose parents are deported and they are sent to live with relatives they might not even know. I could go on.

[Anonymous]

Good people of Mississippi are not. Contributing to those statistics. Can’t read by third grade no promotion for you. Just extensive remediation until you can read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think we can blame parents. It’s not fair to expect parents to spend an hour a day tutoring what should be taught in the 7 hours they’re in school daily.

I blame edtech. Get rid of the laptops and force reading from paper books and textbooks. It’s not the same to read on a screen.

Parents who rely totally on the school to teach everything are definitely to blame. But yes, there should be a return to books and textbooks.

I’m sorry but this is a horrible attitude. The schools should be responsible for teaching! That’s not a controversial opinion! It worked well for many decades. Kids learned to read, write, do math, they learned facts, and did science experiments, etc. We need only look at the education statistics in past censuses here: https://educationdata.org/education-attainment-statistics

1950 census: children in school were silent generation. Only 34% of adults had a HS diploma.
1960 census: children in school were baby boomers. 41% of adults had a HS diploma.
1970 census: children in school were the youngest baby boomers and oldest Gen X. 55% of adults had a HS diploma. (Baby boomers were driving a lot of the increase in HS graduation rates and they generally did not have school age children by 1970).
1980 census: children in school were Gen X. 68% of adults had a HS diploma.

The point is we don’t get to relatively high levels of educational attainment in the US until 1980! Do you really think non-HS graduate mom and dad were extensively working with their kids in 1950 to teach them to read? No, because that was the school’s job. The best you were going to get was parents reading simple picture books to their young kids and not every household even had that.

This is to say nothing of the pre-1950s years in educational attainment. Kids in public school often had illiterate parents or parents who could read at a basic level, or immigrant parents still learning English. But they still learned to read in school because the schools actually taught it.

Such a massive chunk of words to excuse yourself from being a garbage parent. Should’ve used precaution instead of impregnation. What a failure.

DP. Nope. Kids are at school 7 hrs every day. Even if the parents do zero supplementing, that is more than ample time to make majority of kids meet grade level proficiency for math and reading- and that is far from happening.

Come in and work with the kids I work with. Kids who don't speak English (and probably don't speak Spanish anywhere near their age), kids with low IQs, kids who miss 30, 40, 50+ days of school every year, kids who have never seen a book until they start school (they often hold them upside down at first), kids who are screen addicts because that's all they do in the cheap daycare they go to for years and years. Kids whose teeth are rotting out of their mouths, kids whose parents see them for an hour or two a day, kids who move around a lot because they are evicted, kids whose parents are deported and they are sent to live with relatives they might not even know. I could go on.

This is the entire premise for public education. Regardless of a child’s parents and upbringing, the public education, that has kids 7 hrs a days since kindergarten, should be able to develop them to reading proficiency and basic math by 3rd grade. Public education is literally meant for kids whose parents don’t have the ability to educate them. The statistics are so bad, you cannot blame parents, sorry.

[Anonymous]

100% can tiktok 90% of the day 95% of the year and the teacher has 2% control over it and admin make teachers work 180% of their contracted hours to make 20% of what other masters degree professionals make.
I don't recommend teaching because it's a trap to get a babysitter to blame!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think we can blame parents. It’s not fair to expect parents to spend an hour a day tutoring what should be taught in the 7 hours they’re in school daily.

I blame edtech. Get rid of the laptops and force reading from paper books and textbooks. It’s not the same to read on a screen.

Parents who rely totally on the school to teach everything are definitely to blame. But yes, there should be a return to books and textbooks.

I’m sorry but this is a horrible attitude. The schools should be responsible for teaching! That’s not a controversial opinion! It worked well for many decades. Kids learned to read, write, do math, they learned facts, and did science experiments, etc. We need only look at the education statistics in past censuses here: https://educationdata.org/education-attainment-statistics

1950 census: children in school were silent generation. Only 34% of adults had a HS diploma.
1960 census: children in school were baby boomers. 41% of adults had a HS diploma.
1970 census: children in school were the youngest baby boomers and oldest Gen X. 55% of adults had a HS diploma. (Baby boomers were driving a lot of the increase in HS graduation rates and they generally did not have school age children by 1970).
1980 census: children in school were Gen X. 68% of adults had a HS diploma.

The point is we don’t get to relatively high levels of educational attainment in the US until 1980! Do you really think non-HS graduate mom and dad were extensively working with their kids in 1950 to teach them to read? No, because that was the school’s job. The best you were going to get was parents reading simple picture books to their young kids and not every household even had that.

This is to say nothing of the pre-1950s years in educational attainment. Kids in public school often had illiterate parents or parents who could read at a basic level, or immigrant parents still learning English. But they still learned to read in school because the schools actually taught it.

Such a massive chunk of words to excuse yourself from being a garbage parent. Should’ve used precaution instead of impregnation. What a failure.

DP. Nope. Kids are at school 7 hrs every day. Even if the parents do zero supplementing, that is more than ample time to make majority of kids meet grade level proficiency for math and reading- and that is far from happening.

Come in and work with the kids I work with. Kids who don't speak English (and probably don't speak Spanish anywhere near their age), kids with low IQs, kids who miss 30, 40, 50+ days of school every year, kids who have never seen a book until they start school (they often hold them upside down at first), kids who are screen addicts because that's all they do in the cheap daycare they go to for years and years. Kids whose teeth are rotting out of their mouths, kids whose parents see them for an hour or two a day, kids who move around a lot because they are evicted, kids whose parents are deported and they are sent to live with relatives they might not even know. I could go on.

This is the entire premise for public education. Regardless of a child’s parents and upbringing, the public education, that has kids 7 hrs a days since kindergarten, should be able to develop them to reading proficiency and basic math by 3rd grade. Public education is literally meant for kids whose parents don’t have the ability to educate them. The statistics are so bad, you cannot blame parents, sorry.

These kids could make grade level standards 40 yrs ago but the expectations are much higher. You cannot teach kids who aren’t in school. Kids with cognitive impairments (low IQ) are also unlikely to keep up with standards. Smart ESOL kids can do it but our ESOL kids typically have attendance issues. Many don’t have proficiency in their own language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think we can blame parents. It’s not fair to expect parents to spend an hour a day tutoring what should be taught in the 7 hours they’re in school daily.

I blame edtech. Get rid of the laptops and force reading from paper books and textbooks. It’s not the same to read on a screen.

Parents who rely totally on the school to teach everything are definitely to blame. But yes, there should be a return to books and textbooks.

I’m sorry but this is a horrible attitude. The schools should be responsible for teaching! That’s not a controversial opinion! It worked well for many decades. Kids learned to read, write, do math, they learned facts, and did science experiments, etc. We need only look at the education statistics in past censuses here: https://educationdata.org/education-attainment-statistics

1950 census: children in school were silent generation. Only 34% of adults had a HS diploma.
1960 census: children in school were baby boomers. 41% of adults had a HS diploma.
1970 census: children in school were the youngest baby boomers and oldest Gen X. 55% of adults had a HS diploma. (Baby boomers were driving a lot of the increase in HS graduation rates and they generally did not have school age children by 1970).
1980 census: children in school were Gen X. 68% of adults had a HS diploma.

The point is we don’t get to relatively high levels of educational attainment in the US until 1980! Do you really think non-HS graduate mom and dad were extensively working with their kids in 1950 to teach them to read? No, because that was the school’s job. The best you were going to get was parents reading simple picture books to their young kids and not every household even had that.

This is to say nothing of the pre-1950s years in educational attainment. Kids in public school often had illiterate parents or parents who could read at a basic level, or immigrant parents still learning English. But they still learned to read in school because the schools actually taught it.

Such a massive chunk of words to excuse yourself from being a garbage parent. Should’ve used precaution instead of impregnation. What a failure.

DP. Nope. Kids are at school 7 hrs every day. Even if the parents do zero supplementing, that is more than ample time to make majority of kids meet grade level proficiency for math and reading- and that is far from happening.

Come in and work with the kids I work with. Kids who don't speak English (and probably don't speak Spanish anywhere near their age), kids with low IQs, kids who miss 30, 40, 50+ days of school every year, kids who have never seen a book until they start school (they often hold them upside down at first), kids who are screen addicts because that's all they do in the cheap daycare they go to for years and years. Kids whose teeth are rotting out of their mouths, kids whose parents see them for an hour or two a day, kids who move around a lot because they are evicted, kids whose parents are deported and they are sent to live with relatives they might not even know. I could go on.

If you really worked with kids you would need to find a new job. You claimed that you teach just so you could go on a hate filled maga spiel. Stay away from kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think we can blame parents. It’s not fair to expect parents to spend an hour a day tutoring what should be taught in the 7 hours they’re in school daily.

I blame edtech. Get rid of the laptops and force reading from paper books and textbooks. It’s not the same to read on a screen.

Parents who rely totally on the school to teach everything are definitely to blame. But yes, there should be a return to books and textbooks.

I’m sorry but this is a horrible attitude. The schools should be responsible for teaching! That’s not a controversial opinion! It worked well for many decades. Kids learned to read, write, do math, they learned facts, and did science experiments, etc. We need only look at the education statistics in past censuses here: https://educationdata.org/education-attainment-statistics

1950 census: children in school were silent generation. Only 34% of adults had a HS diploma.
1960 census: children in school were baby boomers. 41% of adults had a HS diploma.
1970 census: children in school were the youngest baby boomers and oldest Gen X. 55% of adults had a HS diploma. (Baby boomers were driving a lot of the increase in HS graduation rates and they generally did not have school age children by 1970).
1980 census: children in school were Gen X. 68% of adults had a HS diploma.

The point is we don’t get to relatively high levels of educational attainment in the US until 1980! Do you really think non-HS graduate mom and dad were extensively working with their kids in 1950 to teach them to read? No, because that was the school’s job. The best you were going to get was parents reading simple picture books to their young kids and not every household even had that.

This is to say nothing of the pre-1950s years in educational attainment. Kids in public school often had illiterate parents or parents who could read at a basic level, or immigrant parents still learning English. But they still learned to read in school because the schools actually taught it.

Such a massive chunk of words to excuse yourself from being a garbage parent. Should’ve used precaution instead of impregnation. What a failure.

DP. Nope. Kids are at school 7 hrs every day. Even if the parents do zero supplementing, that is more than ample time to make majority of kids meet grade level proficiency for math and reading- and that is far from happening.

Come in and work with the kids I work with. Kids who don't speak English (and probably don't speak Spanish anywhere near their age), kids with low IQs, kids who miss 30, 40, 50+ days of school every year, kids who have never seen a book until they start school (they often hold them upside down at first), kids who are screen addicts because that's all they do in the cheap daycare they go to for years and years. Kids whose teeth are rotting out of their mouths, kids whose parents see them for an hour or two a day, kids who move around a lot because they are evicted, kids whose parents are deported and they are sent to live with relatives they might not even know. I could go on.

This is the entire premise for public education. Regardless of a child’s parents and upbringing, the public education, that has kids 7 hrs a days since kindergarten, should be able to develop them to reading proficiency and basic math by 3rd grade. Public education is literally meant for kids whose parents don’t have the ability to educate them. The statistics are so bad, you cannot blame parents, sorry.

These kids could make grade level standards 40 yrs ago but the expectations are much higher. You cannot teach kids who aren’t in school. Kids with cognitive impairments (low IQ) are also unlikely to keep up with standards. Smart ESOL kids can do it but our ESOL kids typically have attendance issues. Many don’t have proficiency in their own language.

But this isn’t most kids. And most kids are not proficient…only 30-40% of kids are at grade level proficiency. That is even lower in some states, meaning upwards of 70% of kids are below grade level- this is public education problem, not an attendance problem

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think we can blame parents. It’s not fair to expect parents to spend an hour a day tutoring what should be taught in the 7 hours they’re in school daily.

I blame edtech. Get rid of the laptops and force reading from paper books and textbooks. It’s not the same to read on a screen.

Parents who rely totally on the school to teach everything are definitely to blame. But yes, there should be a return to books and textbooks.

I’m sorry but this is a horrible attitude. The schools should be responsible for teaching! That’s not a controversial opinion! It worked well for many decades. Kids learned to read, write, do math, they learned facts, and did science experiments, etc. We need only look at the education statistics in past censuses here: https://educationdata.org/education-attainment-statistics

1950 census: children in school were silent generation. Only 34% of adults had a HS diploma.
1960 census: children in school were baby boomers. 41% of adults had a HS diploma.
1970 census: children in school were the youngest baby boomers and oldest Gen X. 55% of adults had a HS diploma. (Baby boomers were driving a lot of the increase in HS graduation rates and they generally did not have school age children by 1970).
1980 census: children in school were Gen X. 68% of adults had a HS diploma.

The point is we don’t get to relatively high levels of educational attainment in the US until 1980! Do you really think non-HS graduate mom and dad were extensively working with their kids in 1950 to teach them to read? No, because that was the school’s job. The best you were going to get was parents reading simple picture books to their young kids and not every household even had that.

This is to say nothing of the pre-1950s years in educational attainment. Kids in public school often had illiterate parents or parents who could read at a basic level, or immigrant parents still learning English. But they still learned to read in school because the schools actually taught it.

All of those parents in previous generations who did not get advanced education darn well expected their kids to sit down and do homework, to bring home decent grades, to behave well in class and to use the library, even if they themselves did not provide tutoring to their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think we can blame parents. It’s not fair to expect parents to spend an hour a day tutoring what should be taught in the 7 hours they’re in school daily.

I blame edtech. Get rid of the laptops and force reading from paper books and textbooks. It’s not the same to read on a screen.

It's not fair to ask parents to... parent? Please.

If you can't spend an hour a day reading to or with your kid, asking them what they're reading, reviewing with them what they learned that day in school, and talking to them about your day, you are failing as a parent.

You need to read to your children. Read a lot. It can be in English or in another language. Just read. An hour per day is not a lot to ask. It can be 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night if that's easier. But you, as a parent, should absolutely be spending at least an hour per day "tutoring" (including reading to) your children.

I think most parents do that. They read, play games, watch movies, all helpful. But school is where most of the work should be done.

Parents need to work with their kids at home.

When did this start? My parents never worked with me at home. When did this become a thing that the parents do all the work at home that used to happen in school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think we can blame parents. It’s not fair to expect parents to spend an hour a day tutoring what should be taught in the 7 hours they’re in school daily.

I blame edtech. Get rid of the laptops and force reading from paper books and textbooks. It’s not the same to read on a screen.

Parents who rely totally on the school to teach everything are definitely to blame. But yes, there should be a return to books and textbooks.

I’m sorry but this is a horrible attitude. The schools should be responsible for teaching! That’s not a controversial opinion! It worked well for many decades. Kids learned to read, write, do math, they learned facts, and did science experiments, etc. We need only look at the education statistics in past censuses here: https://educationdata.org/education-attainment-statistics

1950 census: children in school were silent generation. Only 34% of adults had a HS diploma.
1960 census: children in school were baby boomers. 41% of adults had a HS diploma.
1970 census: children in school were the youngest baby boomers and oldest Gen X. 55% of adults had a HS diploma. (Baby boomers were driving a lot of the increase in HS graduation rates and they generally did not have school age children by 1970).
1980 census: children in school were Gen X. 68% of adults had a HS diploma.

The point is we don’t get to relatively high levels of educational attainment in the US until 1980! Do you really think non-HS graduate mom and dad were extensively working with their kids in 1950 to teach them to read? No, because that was the school’s job. The best you were going to get was parents reading simple picture books to their young kids and not every household even had that.

This is to say nothing of the pre-1950s years in educational attainment. Kids in public school often had illiterate parents or parents who could read at a basic level, or immigrant parents still learning English. But they still learned to read in school because the schools actually taught it.

Such a massive chunk of words to excuse yourself from being a garbage parent. Should’ve used precaution instead of impregnation. What a failure.

How old are you? What decaded did you go through school and how did your parents work with you every day after school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents need to get off their phones and get their kids to the libraries and read to their kids. Like, every week. Takes out books and bring them home, and read every single night. Boom, kids will start reading.

Good luck with that. Libraries just don't have the books. My kid loves the popular series and the library will have book 2, book 5 and no others. It just killed her motivation to read and made the library inaccessible for us. I'm not interested in ebooks at her age because school already sticks her on a computer all day. This is super privileged, but the way we got my dd reading last year was that we budgeted $500 and just bought every book she wanted. All the Percy Jacksons, all the Harry Potters, all the who was/what is books, all the series of unfortunate events. We put her to bed at 8pm and said she could read until 8:30, but could do nothing else. At 8:30 she begged for 9pm which of course we granted. On non school nights she can stay up as late as she'd like reading. My dd is in 4th grade and I'm so grateful that she turned it around last year.

My dd could read, it was that she couldn't maintain the attention span to finish a book because she's been trained by schools to be on screens. She's definitely finishing at least 1 book a week now.

And I do like libraries, I play the library game with requesting books for myself, but it's a lot of work for an adult. Kids can't do that and would lose steam when they couldn't get book 2 as fast as they wanted.