For Gen Alpha, learning to read is a privilege, not a right

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It really does have to do with whether a child was taught phonics systematically or not. I have 4 children and all but one were given phonics instruction. The other, poor child, was not and still struggles to decode text and spell properly

The Reading Wars have been going on for decades, swinging back and forth between phonics and whole language (or similar) approaches. This is probably because the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Phonics is a piece of the puzzle, but systematic phonics instruction alone might get you 90% of the way to decoding (because English isn't phonetically regular), but decoding is only a part of reading. Give it a few years, and you'll hear people complaining about how their phonics-instructed kids have no fluency or comprehension, and the pendulum will start swinging back again.

I doubt it.

[Anonymous]

I am a 3rd grade teacher. I am also a parent of 4. All of my children are strong readers and writers. All of my children do not enjoy reading and will not read for fun. All of my children get unlimited amount of screen time. I honestly do not know what I contribute it to. I did not read to them every night. We have never gone to the library. They (2 of my kids) spend k and 1st grade through virtual learning. I could not assist as I was teaching my own class. The science of reading was not popular at that time in the curriculum. Again, what did I or the teachers do that others did not do to make strong readers? Are kids just born this way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-alpha-reading-literacy-crisis-privilege-society-divide-2024-12

It's not the pandemic (although that didn't help). It's screens, tablets and phones. Gen Alpha is not learning to read, and the ones who are good readers still are not very good readers and shy away from longer or complex texts.

That’s not what the article concludes—it was mostly about the way to teach reading and the fact that we need to have evidence-based teaching methods (i.e. phonics).

I’m glad I sent my DD to a preschool that actually taught phonics. She is a voracious reader of physical books in upper elementary. And yes, she gets screen time.

Did your DD go to a Montessori school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a 3rd grade teacher. I am also a parent of 4. All of my children are strong readers and writers. All of my children do not enjoy reading and will not read for fun. All of my children get unlimited amount of screen time. I honestly do not know what I contribute it to. I did not read to them every night. We have never gone to the library. They (2 of my kids) spend k and 1st grade through virtual learning. I could not assist as I was teaching my own class. The science of reading was not popular at that time in the curriculum. Again, what did I or the teachers do that others did not do to make strong readers? Are kids just born this way?

I think to some extent.

If you never read to them or encourage reading most kids are unlikely to pick it up on their own.

But even if you do read to them, take them to the library, etc. some kids will still never love reading. I have a kid who does love reading and a kid who doesn’t.

[Anonymous]

My SIL (ES teacher) and I were just talking about this over the weekend. I was surprised to hear from her that their curriculum doesn't require kids to read books and do book reports. There's no 'time' for it between all the teaching for the test. What??

"Do they read ebooks?"
"No, but they do read passages similar to what will be on the state test."
"Does your school have a library? Do they get library time?"
"Yes, but they aren't required to read there or even check out a book. They can play games quietly or even have a nap."

A NAP?!

My flabbers were gasted. My kids are all older (16-22) but even the 16 yo definitely had book reports in ES.

SIL said even her best & brightest kids are terrible readers, and the weakest section for all grades during the state test is always reading & comprehension.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-alpha-reading-literacy-crisis-privilege-society-divide-2024-12

It's not the pandemic (although that didn't help). It's screens, tablets and phones. Gen Alpha is not learning to read, and the ones who are good readers still are not very good readers and shy away from longer or complex texts.

That’s not what the article concludes—it was mostly about the way to teach reading and the fact that we need to have evidence-based teaching methods (i.e. phonics).

I’m glad I sent my DD to a preschool that actually taught phonics. She is a voracious reader of physical books in upper elementary. And yes, she gets screen time.

I was a strong reader and read the Clan of the Cave Bear series in grade school. My kids learned phonics, are strong readers, but their stamina is just much lower than mine was at their age. Even the strongest readers today do not compare to the strong readers of previous decades.

There's a serious problem and many parents refuse to see it.

[Anonymous]

My neighbors's child is an incredibly strong reader and every time I ask the mom about it, she just shrugs and says "we got lucky." The rest of us in the neighborhood are all struggling to get our elementary age kids to read at all. Meanwhile, this kid reads way above grade level and even did the gospel reading--nearly flawlessly--in church a few weeks ago. Gotta be more than just luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-alpha-reading-literacy-crisis-privilege-society-divide-2024-12

It's not the pandemic (although that didn't help). It's screens, tablets and phones. Gen Alpha is not learning to read, and the ones who are good readers still are not very good readers and shy away from longer or complex texts.

That’s not what the article concludes—it was mostly about the way to teach reading and the fact that we need to have evidence-based teaching methods (i.e. phonics).

I’m glad I sent my DD to a preschool that actually taught phonics. She is a voracious reader of physical books in upper elementary. And yes, she gets screen time.

Did your DD go to a Montessori school?

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It really does have to do with whether a child was taught phonics systematically or not. I have 4 children and all but one were given phonics instruction. The other, poor child, was not and still struggles to decode text and spell properly

The Reading Wars have been going on for decades, swinging back and forth between phonics and whole language (or similar) approaches. This is probably because the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Phonics is a piece of the puzzle, but systematic phonics instruction alone might get you 90% of the way to decoding (because English isn't phonetically regular), but decoding is only a part of reading. Give it a few years, and you'll hear people complaining about how their phonics-instructed kids have no fluency or comprehension, and the pendulum will start swinging back again.

I doubt it.

The last 4 decades in the history of reading instruction disagree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a 3rd grade teacher. I am also a parent of 4. All of my children are strong readers and writers. All of my children do not enjoy reading and will not read for fun. All of my children get unlimited amount of screen time. I honestly do not know what I contribute it to. I did not read to them every night. We have never gone to the library. They (2 of my kids) spend k and 1st grade through virtual learning. I could not assist as I was teaching my own class. The science of reading was not popular at that time in the curriculum. Again, what did I or the teachers do that others did not do to make strong readers? Are kids just born this way?

About 30% of children will learn to read regardless of method taught.

The other roughly 70% of children will need explicit instruction.

Almost all children learn reading best with a Science of Reading teaching method that puts explicit Phonics instruction front and center.

Kids with dysgraphia or dyslexia will learn best with Orton-Gillingham (which itself is a kind of Phonics instruction).

Please listen to the "Sold a Story" podcast for more on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My neighbors's child is an incredibly strong reader and every time I ask the mom about it, she just shrugs and says "we got lucky." The rest of us in the neighborhood are all struggling to get our elementary age kids to read at all. Meanwhile, this kid reads way above grade level and even did the gospel reading--nearly flawlessly--in church a few weeks ago. Gotta be more than just luck.

Probably not your neighbor, but we say this only to be polite. Our DD reads several grades above grade level and reads chapter books for fun.

We put DD in a Montessori where they were taught letters very explicitly from age 2. By Fall of 3 yr old year, all kids were learning Phonics via explicit instruction. During that year, we taught our DD at home to read using Bob Books (learned about them from DCUM), but honestly her Montessori had all the kids reading well during the 4 yr old year. They all started K as readers with a solid Phonics foundation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My neighbors's child is an incredibly strong reader and every time I ask the mom about it, she just shrugs and says "we got lucky." The rest of us in the neighborhood are all struggling to get our elementary age kids to read at all. Meanwhile, this kid reads way above grade level and even did the gospel reading--nearly flawlessly--in church a few weeks ago. Gotta be more than just luck.

Probably not your neighbor, but we say this only to be polite. Our DD reads several grades above grade level and reads chapter books for fun.

We put DD in a Montessori where they were taught letters very explicitly from age 2. By Fall of 3 yr old year, all kids were learning Phonics via explicit instruction. During that year, we taught our DD at home to read using Bob Books (learned about them from DCUM), but honestly her Montessori had all the kids reading well during the 4 yr old year. They all started K as readers with a solid Phonics foundation.

Hahah yep, pp. That what I came here to say. We sent our kids to schools that taught phonics and worked at home to supplement and support from age zero basically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My neighbors's child is an incredibly strong reader and every time I ask the mom about it, she just shrugs and says "we got lucky." The rest of us in the neighborhood are all struggling to get our elementary age kids to read at all. Meanwhile, this kid reads way above grade level and even did the gospel reading--nearly flawlessly--in church a few weeks ago. Gotta be more than just luck.

Probably not your neighbor, but we say this only to be polite. Our DD reads several grades above grade level and reads chapter books for fun.

We put DD in a Montessori where they were taught letters very explicitly from age 2. By Fall of 3 yr old year, all kids were learning Phonics via explicit instruction. During that year, we taught our DD at home to read using Bob Books (learned about them from DCUM), but honestly her Montessori had all the kids reading well during the 4 yr old year. They all started K as readers with a solid Phonics foundation.

DP. Come back to us when your DC is in 6th grade then 9th grade. The reading stamina won't be there, even if they remain one of the few teens who read for pleasure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a 3rd grade teacher. I am also a parent of 4. All of my children are strong readers and writers. All of my children do not enjoy reading and will not read for fun. All of my children get unlimited amount of screen time. I honestly do not know what I contribute it to. I did not read to them every night. We have never gone to the library. They (2 of my kids) spend k and 1st grade through virtual learning. I could not assist as I was teaching my own class. The science of reading was not popular at that time in the curriculum. Again, what did I or the teachers do that others did not do to make strong readers? Are kids just born this way?

I think to some extent.

If you never read to them or encourage reading most kids are unlikely to pick it up on their own.

But even if you do read to them, take them to the library, etc. some kids will still never love reading. I have a kid who does love reading and a kid who doesn’t.

I loved to read as a kid and begged my parents to take me to the library. They didn't exactly encourage or discourage reading and I have no memories of them reading to me. It was innate.

[Anonymous]

Our kindergarten teacher has been teaching for decades. When she started she said kids were happy with popcorn and movie as a holiday or end of year celebration. Now kids aren’t into it and it’s not special. What kids do find special is actual humans in front of them reading books.

My oldest’s K teacher just had her smart board “read” (it’s a video of someone reading) to the kids. I found it really sad.