Children are severely behind in reading.

Kanky

Well-Known Member

It’s ‘Alarming’: Children Are Severely Behind in Reading​

The fallout from the pandemic is just being felt. “We’re in new territory,” educators say.​

March 8, 2022
Children are behind, and teachers trained in phonics, like Garensha John, are in short supply. Ms. John leads a first-grade class at Capital Preparatory Harbor Lower School in Bridgeport, Conn.

Children are behind, and teachers trained in phonics, like Garensha John, are in short supply. Ms. John leads a first-grade class at Capital Preparatory Harbor Lower School in Bridgeport, Conn.Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The kindergarten crisis of last year, when millions of 5-year-olds spent months outside of classrooms, has become this year’s reading emergency.
As the pandemic enters its third year, a cluster of new studies now show that about a third of children in the youngest grades are missing reading benchmarks, up significantly from before the pandemic.
In Virginia, one study found that early reading skills were at a 20-year low this fall, which the researchers described as “alarming.”
In the Boston region, 60 percent of students at some high-poverty schools have been identified as at high risk for reading problems — twice the number of students as before the pandemic, according to Tiffany P. Hogan, director of the Speech and Language Literacy Lab at the MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston.
Children in every demographic group have been affected, but Black and Hispanic children, as well as those from low-income families, those with disabilities and those who are not fluent in English, have fallen the furthest behind.
“We’re in new territory,” Dr. Hogan said about the pandemic’s toll on reading. If children do not become competent readers by the end of elementary school, the risks are “pretty dramatic,” she said. Poor readers are more likely to drop out of high school, earn less money as adults and become involved in the criminal justice system.
The literacy crisis did not start with the pandemic. In 2019, results on nationaland international exams showed stagnant or declining American performance in reading, and widening gaps between high and low performers. The causes are multifaceted, but many experts point to a shortage of educators trained in phonics and phonemic awareness — the foundational skills of linking the sounds of spoken English to the letters that appear on the page.
The pandemic has compounded those issues.
Garensha John, a first-grade teacher at Capital Preparatory Harbor Lower School, helping students with a reading exercise. Given many students’ struggles with reading, the work has taken on “a level of urgency,” she said.Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times
Children spent months out of the classroom, where they were supposed to learn the basics of reading — the ABCs, what sound a “b” or “ch” makes. Many first and second graders returned to classrooms needing to review parts of the kindergarten curriculum. But nearly half of public schools have teaching vacancies, especially in special education and the elementary grades, according to a federal survey conducted in December and January.
Even students with well-trained teachers have had far fewer hands-on hours with them than before the pandemic, which has been defined by closures, uneven access to online instruction, quarantine periods and — even on the best days — virus-related interruptions to regular classroom routines. Now, schools are under pressure to boost literacy as quickly as possible so students gain the reading skills they need to learn the rest of the curriculum, from math word problems to civics lessons. Billions of federal stimulus dollars are flowing to districts for tutoring and other supports, but their effect may be limited if schools cannot find quality staff members to hire.
At Capital Preparatory Harbor Lower School, a charter elementary school in the working-class coastal city of Bridgeport, Conn., about half of the first graders did not set foot inside a classroom during their crucial kindergarten year. Though the school building reopened in January 2021 on a hybrid schedule, many families, concerned about the virus, opted to continue full-time remote learning.
At the beginning of this school year, when all students returned to in-person learning, more than twice as many first graders as before the pandemic tested at kindergarten levels or below in their literacy skills, according to the administration.
Teachers started with the basics: how to orient and hold a book, and where the names of the author and illustrator could be found. The school is using federal stimulus dollars to create classroom libraries filled with titles that appeal to the largely Black and Hispanic students there, like “Firebird,” about a young, Black dancer by the ballerina Misty Copeland, and “Hair Love,” about a Black father styling his daughter’s hair.
The stimulus money is also paying for a new structured phonics curriculum called Fundations. Given the depth of many students’ struggles with reading, the work has taken on “a level of urgency,” said Garensha John, a first-grade teacher at the school. “Let’s get it done. As soon as they know this, they’ll excel.”
From the start of the pandemic, when schools abruptly shuttered in March 2020, math skills were clearly affected, while some early research suggested that students’ reading skills were holding steady, perhaps because more parents read with their children at home than practiced math.
But now, “What we’re seeing is that there are a lot of children who didn’t get the stimulation they need” during the pandemic to adequately develop early speech and reading skills, which are closely linked, Dr. Hogan said.
On a Wednesday morning in February, Mrs. John arrayed 13 6- and 7-year-olds on a rug in front of her, and led them through a series of well-rehearsed exercises sounding out simple written letter combinations and words. The children, clad in uniforms, chanted and clapped as they read in unison. The word of the day was a difficult one for many children to read and pronounce: “ships.”
Cameron Segui, 7, wearing a blue surgical mask and black glasses, placed his hand under his chin, a strategy students use to check if their mouths are positioned correctly. The sound “puh” should be made with the jaw relatively high up, for example, with the cheeks puffing out. “Zh” makes the jaw vibrate, but the “sh” and “s” sounds in “ships” should not.
Cameron Segui, 7, and the other students in Mrs. John’s class are learning to read with masks on.Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times
Some parents and educators have argued that masks are partially responsible for language and literacy deficits. But researchers say that unlike the well-documented connection between school closures and decreased achievement, there is not yet strong evidence that masking has hindered the development of reading skills.
Such conclusions “would just be conjecture at this point,” said Nathan Clemens, a dyslexia expert at the University of Texas, Austin.
Later that day in Mrs. John’s class, students broke into small groups to practice writing and segmenting words into different sounds. Cameron, in one of the more advanced groups, was working on full sentences, and pointed proudly to his writing: “Ben had a red and tan hat,” he read.
The biggest problem for Capital Prep, and many other schools, is a shortage of educators like Mrs. John, 30, a Tufts University graduate who received formal training in phonics instruction in a previous job. Many graduates of teacher-preparation programs lack this skill set, and some of the nation’s most popular reading curriculums do not emphasize it, despite a large body of research showing it is crucial.
States like Mississippi, Alabama and Massachusetts have begun retraining teachers in phonics and decommissioning outdated curriculum materials. But some efforts were interrupted or slowed by the pandemic.
At Capital Prep, Mrs. John’s students have made big leaps since September. She serves as a model for colleagues, and the school is providing professional development. Still, in February, there were seven open teaching jobs out of 23 at the school, with some students being taught by inexperienced substitutes. Steve Perry, the founder of the Capital Prep charter school network, which has schools in both Connecticut and New York, recently took a trip to Puerto Rico to recruit educators.
Dr. Hogan, the Boston researcher, has a federal grant to provide intensive, small-group tutoring to children at high-poverty schools who are behind on early reading skills. She, too, has struggled to fill open positions, despite pushing the pay to up to $40 per hour from $15 per hour.
“I’m running on fumes,” she said.
It does not help that there is surging demand for private reading and speech therapy for children from affluent families. Fees can run up to $200 per hour, allowing some educators to leave the classroom entirely.
Tamara Cella, a phonics specialist who holds a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University, left the New York City public school system in 2016, frustrated by the strain of principal turnover. In addition to a job at a New Jersey private school, she now moonlights as a phonics tutor for Brooklyn Letters, a company that provides in-home sessions.
“Tutoring pays extremely well,” Dr. Cella acknowledged.
She tutors children facing some of the same challenges as those at Capital Prep — missing core phonics skills, and difficulty transitioning from simple reading exercises to comprehending books. But Dr. Cella worries more about the students she no longer sees.
“That feeling of guilt comes over me,” she said. “What about the kids in the Bronx?”

 

naturalgyrl5199

Well-Known Member
I'm gonna read this later but its so true. You really had a growing issue pre-pandemic due to the advent of devices and less and less attention span in general.

For anyone who feels like their child is behind there are some cool apps:

EPIC is awesome. We sprang for the annual fee for full access. My baby girl (8YO) is a not a food/candy incentive driven kid but stickers, awards, acheivments are her thing. So as she reads more and more books (we are at 300 since 2020 virtual year) she loves the rewards she gets. She has been doing 20 mins a day M-F since last school year. You can do limited access for free but the hours and amount of time spent daily is restricted. Your school may be linked. 1st grade teacher was, but 2nd grade teacher currently isn't. However, 2nd grade teacher provided us with a log to fill out daily that she checks to ensure each child read 20 minutes, the book title AND the # pages. Expectations matter.

Our local library also has an app. WE "loan books" that way. So many books are in demand all the time. So there is a waiting period. Which is interesting. Find out which one your local library is using. Its free.

We downloaded apps that have access to books for free:
LIBBY
READER
AXIS360

Not to mention we ask all their gifts be books. So we have a ton. A ton.
 

naturalgyrl5199

Well-Known Member
I'm gonna read this later but its so true. You really had a growing issue pre-pandemic due to the advent of devices and less and less attention span in general.

For anyone who feels like their child is behind there are some cool apps:

EPIC is awesome. We sprang for the annual fee for full access. My baby girl (8YO) is a not a food/candy incentive driven kid but stickers, awards, acheivments are her thing. So as she reads more and more books (we are at 300 since 2020 virtual year) she loves the rewards she gets. She has been doing 20 mins a day M-F since last school year. You can do limited access for free but the hours and amount of time spent daily is restricted. Your school may be linked. 1st grade teacher was, but 2nd grade teacher currently isn't. However, 2nd grade teacher provided us with a log to fill out daily that she checks to ensure each child read 20 minutes, the book title AND the # pages. Expectations matter.

Our local library also has an app. WE "loan books" that way. So many books are in demand all the time. So there is a waiting period. Which is interesting. Find out which one your local library is using. Its free.

We downloaded apps that have access to books for free:
LIBBY
READER
AXIS360

Not to mention we ask all their gifts be books. So we have a ton. A ton.
And lets be honest--this is on mechanism of the further divide of the Haves and Have Nots based on how politics are moving and this pandemic.

Education or lack thereof drives the ability to make money--or HOW MUCH you are able to make. A generation of kids are already less likely to earn as much or more than their parents. (read the article about the billionaire driving a Hyundai in the Career thread)....It was way easier to become a billionaire in the 60's and 70's when college was $24/semester. This results in the divide because all these less than literate soon to be adults will need jobs, and they won't pay much. Especially as technology moves to robotics for fast food, groceries, transportation and factory/mechanics...where will they work? where will they live?

Parents are on the hook for pushing the literacy issue. We figured out (just now) why my daughter seemed to have reading comprehension issues and were failing those parts of the language arts tests...she wasn't going BACK to the passage to re-read. Something so simple. So we figured it out, she easily got a 98 on reading comprehension when 7 days earlier she got a 65 and 14 days prior she got a 50.
Parents HAVE to lean all the way in and leave NO CRUMBS when it comes to getting these kids to read AND COMPREHEND.

As it stands...only 47% of ADULTS TODAY can comprehend what they read. And we wonder why work emails, texts, FB posts trigger everyone. Misunderstanding.

My last rant....some people are struggling with the loan forgiveness stuff (see the post on Loan forgiveness that popped up yesterday in Career) due not taking the time to navigate. My attention span is short and I needed a lot of help from hubby. It IS a minefield and it shouldn't be that hard. But for those who made it through, it was simpler than we previously thought. This is related to attention span.
 

Everything Zen

Well-Known Member
I see it with my stepdaughter- who is number 4 in her class. Bringing home all kinds of 104, 107, 97, 99, etc. kind of grades and in all the AP classes but doesn’t understand basic vocabulary words. I was all sorts of confused with her teacher when she was an A student in AP English but scored a 2 on the actually AP Exam. I can’t l help her at all because she doesn’t respond to feedback with those types of grades.Talking about some she doesn’t like to read but wants to be a teacher or go into psychology. When I showed her MY AP English papers that I saved from HS (hand written in ink multiple pages and all the red letter feedback - my teachers gave me glowing reviews on the critical thinking, use of vocabulary, rhetorical reasoning, etc. and tore me up of I didn’t make the cut on occasion, the difference is night and day and I was absolutely a top tier student and always got 3-5 on all my AP class exams.

Her school is talking about a full ride to an Ivy League but she can’t write her way out of a paper bag and her reading skills are deplorable. She uses this math app that scans a problem and tells you where you went wrong solving it and the answer and Google translate for Spanish. I asked my friends with kids if they ever heard of this app and they said no or it was blocked on their kids phones and laptops.

She thinks she’s going to Harvard or Northwestern with an SAT score of 950 with a school that has core SAT prep classes and multiple attempts but I got into Purdue on a PSAT score of 1160 on a single attempt. I’ll eat my shoe before I support this financially.
 
Last edited:

MamaBear2012

Well-Known Member
The Pandemic has nothing to do with it. Reading and math scores have been below standards for years.
True, but this is a whole new level.

DS is in Kindergarten. The majority of his classmates can't sound out words. It's March, they get out of school in May. These kids are going into 1st grade without knowing the sounds letters make. He and his best friend were the only two kids in his class who got a certificate of achievement on Monday for completing this reading app in school. I didn't even know they were doing the app, but it was just the two of them.

A lot of it is behavior. The kids can't sit still, they don't listen, they talk back, they have no discipline...And parents know that their kids are behind, but do nothing to try to get their kids to catch up. They will continue to put their kids in sports and dance and every other extracurricular activity, but won't sit down and read with them.

My kids are taking their milestone test this week. When DS took it 9 weeks ago, he scored in the 99th percentile for reading, the 99th percentile for math, and I think his Spanish (he's learning it as a second language) was like 79th percentile. DD's isn't that high, but she's in the mid 80s for both reading and math and her Spanish is also in the high 70s. My kids do one extracurricular activity of their choice and swimming. But every single day they (we) read. Most days DD does Math, but reading 20 minutes a day is our minimum.

I help run a little after-school activity on Wednesdays at the school. I have kids who are 8 through 10. They struggle with reading and spelling. It's not a group that is focused on academics, but if I ask them to write a sentence, it's a STRUGGLE.
 

Evolving78

Well-Known Member
True, but this is a whole new level.

DS is in Kindergarten. The majority of his classmates can't sound out words. It's March, they get out of school in May. These kids are going into 1st grade without knowing the sounds letters make. He and his best friend were the only two kids in his class who got a certificate of achievement on Monday for completing this reading app in school. I didn't even know they were doing the app, but it was just the two of them.

A lot of it is behavior. The kids can't sit still, they don't listen, they talk back, they have no discipline...And parents know that their kids are behind, but do nothing to try to get their kids to catch up. They will continue to put their kids in sports and dance and every other extracurricular activity, but won't sit down and read with them.

My kids are taking their milestone test this week. When DS took it 9 weeks ago, he scored in the 99th percentile for reading, the 99th percentile for math, and I think his Spanish (he's learning it as a second language) was like 79th percentile. DD's isn't that high, but she's in the mid 80s for both reading and math and her Spanish is also in the high 70s. My kids do one extracurricular activity of their choice and swimming. But every single day they (we) read. Most days DD does Math, but reading 20 minutes a day is our minimum.

I help run a little after-school activity on Wednesdays at the school. I have kids who are 8 through 10. They struggle with reading and spelling. It's not a group that is focused on academics, but if I ask them to write a sentence, it's a STRUGGLE.
I don’t agree. I have an elementary, middle school, and high school student. What the pandemic did was expose theses issues and it is being used as a scapegoat. And keep this in mind, most parents feel the educational requirement is met when they send their children to school. A lot of parents are extremely ignorant of the curriculum that is being used, as well as the school/district’s values and goals.
They are unaware of the standards and hiring requirements utilized when hiring administrators and teachers. They may not be aware of how much money the state and district allocate funding to actual teachers, supplies, materials, and equipment for students, etc…
 
Last edited:

fluffyforever

Well-Known Member
True, but this is a whole new level.

DS is in Kindergarten. The majority of his classmates can't sound out words. It's March, they get out of school in May. These kids are going into 1st grade without knowing the sounds letters make. He and his best friend were the only two kids in his class who got a certificate of achievement on Monday for completing this reading app in school. I didn't even know they were doing the app, but it was just the two of them.

A lot of it is behavior. The kids can't sit still, they don't listen, they talk back, they have no discipline...And parents know that their kids are behind, but do nothing to try to get their kids to catch up. They will continue to put their kids in sports and dance and every other extracurricular activity, but won't sit down and read with them.

My kids are taking their milestone test this week. When DS took it 9 weeks ago, he scored in the 99th percentile for reading, the 99th percentile for math, and I think his Spanish (he's learning it as a second language) was like 79th percentile. DD's isn't that high, but she's in the mid 80s for both reading and math and her Spanish is also in the high 70s. My kids do one extracurricular activity of their choice and swimming. But every single day they (we) read. Most days DD does Math, but reading 20 minutes a day is our minimum.

I help run a little after-school activity on Wednesdays at the school. I have kids who are 8 through 10. They struggle with reading and spelling. It's not a group that is focused on academics, but if I ask them to write a sentence, it's a STRUGGLE.
I don’t think it’s a whole new level. I think people are just latching onto the pandemic as an excuse but the problems, huge problems, existed before hand. I audit schools and school districts. Grades have been abysmal for YEARS. Comprehension scores and math scores have been down in the gutter for YEARS. There is a serious culture in this country of passing students on to the next grade level when they don’t even meet the minimum standards for being in their current grade. Maybe the pandemic is just making people more aware of the issues because they are home more, watching their kids struggle or avoiding the work. They are are placing blame on the pandemic when they should be wondering why they didn’t notice it before.

I agree that behavior is a big part of it. A lot of behavior is learned, from friends but also family. I truly believe education starts at home and for the majority of people, if families prioritized learning and made it a real daily focus from a young age through junior high, the majority of kids wouldn’t have this problem. I know it’s easier said then done, because many kids have too many hours away from their parents because parents have to work. Parents don’t know there is an issue because their kids are being moved up in grade level each year, or even worse there are a lot of parents that don’t really care in the first place because of their own upbringing without the prioritization of education.

Habits are hard to break and kids nowadays have a habit of watching social media videos and not picking up a book. They are experts at consuming short headlines and tweets but can’t understand a paragraph or write essays.
 
Last edited:

naturalgyrl5199

Well-Known Member
The Pandemic has nothing to do with it. Reading and math scores have been below standards for years.
It didn't cause it for sure.

The article mentioned that in 2019 it was getting worse.
The Pandemic exposed EVERYTHING WE ALREADY KNEW!....it exposed all ALL KINDS of ills with our society. Poverty, hunger, maternal mortality and inadequate access to medical care or healthy foods, housing crisis, employment and wages....all a problem people were JUST starting to discuss in 2018/19.

The Pandemic blew it WIDE OPEN to where it couldn't be hidden. Cuz now WHTE folk hungry with no food and housing..... now WHTE kids are falling behind....oh NOOOOW its a problem.

Sadly, rather than use this as an opportunity, the government is fumbling it. Begging to get back to 2019 status. Which was a mess already. Just want to put their head in the sand.

The article also mentioned that MILLIONS (or billions?) of $$ are available to help. *IF* you know how to access it.
 

MamaBear2012

Well-Known Member
I don’t think it’s a whole new level. I think people are just latching onto the pandemic as an excuse but the problems, huge problems, existed before hand. I audit schools and school districts. Grades have been abysmal for YEARS. Comprehension scores and math scores have been down in the gutter for YEARS. There is a serious culture in this country of passing students on to the next grade level when they don’t even meet the minimum standards for being in their current grade. Maybe the pandemic is just making people more aware of the issues because they are home more, watching their kids struggle or avoiding the work. They are are placing blame on the pandemic when they should be wondering why they didn’t notice it before.

I agree that behavior is a big part of it. A lot of behavior is learned, from friends but also family. I truly believe education starts at home and for the majority of people, if families prioritized learning and made it a real daily focus from a young age through junior high, the majority of kids wouldn’t have this problem. I know it’s easier said then done, because many kids have too many hours away from their parents because parents have to work. Parents don’t know there is an issue because their kids are being moved up in grade level each year, or even worse there are a lot of parents that don’t really care in the first place because of their own upbringing without the prioritization of education.

Habits are hard to break and kids nowadays have a habit of watching social media videos and not picking up a book. They are experts at consuming short headlines and tweets but can’t understand a paragraph or write essays.
The bold was my point. While this country has always been terrible with reading and math, kids spent a lot of time on computers the last two years, not in classrooms, not learning to listen to a teacher, all of the things that come along with not being in a structured environment and learning. This is ADDED ON to issues we've already had. Issues that many of us already saw.
 

Evolving78

Well-Known Member
The bold was my point. While this country has always been terrible with reading and math, kids spent a lot of time on computers the last two years, not in classrooms, not learning to listen to a teacher, all of the things that come along with not being in a structured environment and learning. This is ADDED ON to issues we've already had. Issues that many of us already saw.
The thing is schools that had the technology and devices, were utilizing those things in the classroom daily. Especially in grades 3rd-12th. From personal experience during the pandemic, you could tell which teachers were prepared, able to transition smoothly, and were comfortable/knowledgeable with how to use technology and implement it into to their teaching and lesson plans. You could clearly see certain parents’ lack of involvement, classroom management styles, etc… You could see the different learning styles of the students and the lack of accommodations for those learning styles. Teachers just couldn’t assign busy work anymore, and the structure came from children moving throughout the school during the day. Children can only sit still and take in information for a limited amount of time. The fact they would try to take up 6-8 hours like a normal in-person learning day was ridiculous. They kept that ridiculous for monetary purposes, due to the education/learning minutes states require.
And let’s not even talk about the special education department…

As far as kindergartens not knowing their phonics, some schools and districts may only push learning sight words, and not work enough on phonics, or use a more effective methodology. It’s all about testing too. Teachers are made to teach to prepare for standardized assessments, which makes them unable to teach lessons for mastery.
 
Last edited:

MamaBear2012

Well-Known Member
The thing is schools that had the technology and devices, were utilizing those things in the classroom daily. Especially in grades 3rd-12th. From personal experience during the pandemic, you could tell which teachers were prepared, able to transition smoothly, and were comfortable/knowledgeable with how to use technology and implement it into to their teaching and lesson plans. You could clearly see certain parents’ lack of involvement, classroom management styles, etc… You could see the different learning styles of the students and the lack of accommodations for those learning styles. Teachers just couldn’t assign busy work anymore, and the structure came from children moving throughout the school during the day. Children can only sit still and take in information for a limited amount of time. The fact they would try to take up 6-8 hours like a normal in-person learning day was ridiculous. They kept that ridiculous for monetary purposes, due to the education/learning minutes states require.
And let’s not even talk about the special education department…

As far as kindergartens not knowing their phonics, some schools and districts may only push learning sight words, and not work enough on phonics, or use a more effective methodology. It’s all about testing too. Teachers are made to teach to prepare for standardized assessments, which makes them unable to teach lessons for mastery.
Again, the bold was my point. I'm not sure where the disagreement is.

DH is a teacher. For the last 17 years. In the district where both of my kids are learning. My daughter went through the same classes as DS. He'll have the same teachers because they are both in the same language program. The curriculum is the same. I've listened to it during the many times that DS' class was quarantined this year and doing virtual learning. They learn phonics. Most kids don't know their letter sounds.

We can say that this exposed what was already there. Ok. In the end, kids are still severely behind in reading.
 

Evolving78

Well-Known Member
Again, the bold was my point. I'm not sure where the disagreement is.

DH is a teacher. For the last 17 years. In the district where both of my kids are learning. My daughter went through the same classes as DS. He'll have the same teachers because they are both in the same language program. The curriculum is the same. I've listened to it during the many times that DS' class was quarantined this year and doing virtual learning. They learn phonics. Most kids don't know their letter sounds.

We can say that this exposed what was already there. Ok. In the end, kids are still severely behind in reading.
I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you, but all of those problems were there and it’s basically the chickens are coming home to roost.
See that’s what’s wrong and has nothing to do with the pandemic. Kids are tested for kindergarten readiness, so why is it that it’s almost close to the end of the year and that is an issue? That’s a red flag. If you don’t know your phonics by at least 80%, you will struggle with early reading. Why is mastery not the focus? Why move on if the majority of the class can’t get it? Say if your daughter that had no trouble due to her natural abilities, process of learning, and external factors have mastered her phonics skills, she should be bumped up to do more challenging work, like in a smaller group setting, but what teacher or school has time and resources for that? And generally, most American parents don’t do what you or your husband do with your children. That’s what homework is for..

This pandemic exposed a lot of middle class and upper middle class parents too… You saw who was screaming and fighting at the tops of their lungs to get their kids back into school, because they couldn’t handle it period. School is utilized for childcare, it is what it is..

Now the schools out here are based on the child’s scores and abilities, so there is a school that is for the advanced and gifted, one for instructional education, pre-k/general Ed, and general Ed. Not a lot of districts have the funding or resources to even pull something like that off. Those schools are meeting the standards, but the middle school is struggling.. and it’s been that way, and the school isn’t old or ill- equipped.

And I don’t agree with it being 15-20 students in a classroom with no aides, especially for the lower grade levels. I feel kids sitting at a desk and not having enough play and movement is not appropriate, or suitable. Kids moving for lunch, recess, library, gym, music, etc transitioning throughout the day is not ideal. Each time, a teacher has to get them back in order, before they can actually start a lesson.

But again, why is it that most of those children are struggling with phonics? I have a child that struggles with that, but that child is developmentally delayed. Once I put all of the pieces together and saw that under the school system’s watch my child was going to be stuck at a k-1 level, and they told me he would be a good warehouse worker, since he showed signs of having a workforce skill, (told me that pre-pandemic) I decided to pull him out and provide private education. He needs a tremendous amount of 1 on 1.
 
Last edited:

CarefreeinChicago

Well-Known Member
We know that there is a problem.. What are some things that we can do as parents to help our kids and ensure that they don't get left behind?
I am so scared for my niece every time I talk to her I ABC, numbers colors anything I can think of. When she comes to my house I read to her. I don’t want her to be behind but since I don’t see her everyday I don’t know what to do.
 

MamaBear2012

Well-Known Member
We know that there is a problem.. What are some things that we can do as parents to help our kids and ensure that they don't get left behind?
One thing is know the standards for their grade, and make sure they reach each standard. I'm in GA. I'd Google "Georgia Kindergarten standards" and they all pop up. And if your kid knows all of those standards, then check out the standards for the next grade level and work with them on that.
 

Everything Zen

Well-Known Member
I don’t understand the sight word reading process. I’m not saying it may not be useful but how do you learn new more complex words without a fundamental basis of utilizing phonetics? I was taught under a private school method that utilized the abeka method of teaching. Yes, it was private Christian school but the quality of education was very high. It allowed me to started kindergarten at age four and I started reading at that age. Otherwise, I would have had to repeat preschool and wait for kindergarten at age five.

https://www.abeka.com/
 

MamaBear2012

Well-Known Member
I don’t understand the sight word reading process. I’m not saying it may not be useful but how do you learn new more complex words without a fundamental basis of utilizing phonetics? I was taught under a private school method that utilized the abeka method of teaching. Yes, it was private Christian school but the quality of education was very high. It allowed me to started kindergarten at age four and I started reading at that age. Otherwise, I would have had to repeat preschool and wait for kindergarten at age five.

https://www.abeka.com/
I've heard great things about the abeka method. My best friend used it when homeschooling her kids. At the end of last year, I bought some math books from one of the Christian bookstores online. I need to look at the curriculum. I bought it to have it for my son when he gets older.

To your point about phonetics, it seems like education has flip flopped. Back in the day, math was a lot of memorization. But the way common core is taught in my district nowadays, it's all about higher order thinking and relating numbers to a "base 10". So it's not so much memorization. Because my son listened when we were teaching my daughter, he understands base 10. Last year when he was 4, I asked him what 14 plus 14 was and he immediately said, "28." I said, "How did you do that?" And he said, "10 plus 10 is 20. And 4 plus 4 is 8. Put those together and you have 28." So he relates numbers to that "base 10". Not memorization.

And I know there are districts here in GA that are more sight word focused. Now it's all about memorization for words rather than knowing sounds and blending. It's all bizarre to me.
 

Everything Zen

Well-Known Member
^^^^ That was the first explanation of common core based math techniques that actually makes sense. :yep: What we did back in the day was old fashioned flash card review with dad. When you asked your son what 14+ 14 is, I had to think about how I knew the answer and I swear it’s not because of memorization. It’s literally doing the problem in my head like setting up a chalkboard in my mind and working the problem out. I think there could be a blend of the two formats that could serve different learning styles really well. I saw a video on LI of the Japanese method of teaching math using colored lines that was fascinating. I’m here for the all above approach.

 

fluffyforever

Well-Known Member
I don’t understand the sight word reading process. I’m not saying it may not be useful but how do you learn new more complex words without a fundamental basis of utilizing phonetics? I was taught under a private school method that utilized the abeka method of teaching. Yes, it was private Christian school but the quality of education was very high. It allowed me to started kindergarten at age four and I started reading at that age. Otherwise, I would have had to repeat preschool and wait for kindergarten at age five.

https://www.abeka.com/
Yes I don’t understand it either. With a phonetic alphabet there’s no reason to start there. Sight reading comes naturally with lots and lots of reading practice. I’m learning another phonetic alphabet based language and the ability to sound out words is so helpful because often I know the word, but I don’t know that I know the word until I sound it out and then it clicks in my head. And then later I see the word again and I recognize it by sight and don’t have to sound it out.
 

dancinstallion

Well-Known Member
I don’t agree. I have an elementary, middle school, and high school student. What the pandemic did was expose theses issues and it is being used as a scapegoat. And keep this in mind, most parents feel the educational requirement is met when they send their children to school. A lot of parents are extremely ignorant of the curriculum that is being used, as well as the school/district’s values and goals.
They are unaware of the standards and hiring requirements utilized when hiring administrators and teachers. They may not be aware of how much money the state and district allocate funding to actual teachers, supplies, materials, and equipment for students, etc…

I agree,

10 years ago we were talking about kids being behind coming into pre-k, kinder and didn't know the basics especially black kids. This has been at least a decade or more in the making.


DD is 14 and I remember clearly when she was in Prek at 4 that she and only one other student knew the alphabet, sounds, colors, shapes, or how to read. While the white and Asian counterparts in the next grade with ds were reading chapter books. I helped tutor and test those kids going into kindergarten and 1st grade and they still lagged behind, they didn't make up the gap. once behind they are usually and more likely always behind.


I would correct parents when they said kids are smarter now due to technology. Just because your child can find a game on an iPhone or iPad doesn't mean they are smarter. A speech pathologist agreed with me as she had seen increased speech delay back then. The pandemic made a bad situation 2x worse.

Quoted from members in 2012
"When you have 3rd graders writing and spelling like 1st graders and your boss expects you to teach a 3rd grade lesson plan then there is definitely not enough time to do 2 yrs of catch up plus teach current level work.

They really need to separate kids based on ability and teach them accordingly."


"The bigger disparity is that they are tracking black kids in preschool and they are coming in already at a deficit compared to whites/asians. So how can that gap be closed without parent involvment which is what caused the deficit in the first place.

A few black people I know think it is ok for their child to come into Kindergarten to learn Letters and the sounds when the Whites and Asians kids are already reading! Let kids be kids and let them play is what they tell me!"
 
Last edited:

CarefreeinChicago

Well-Known Member
I agree,

10 years ago we were talking about kids being behind coming into pre-k, kinder and dont know the basics especially black kids. This has been at least a decade or more in the making.


DD is 14 and I remember clearly when she was in Prek at 4 that she and only one other student knew the alphabet, sounds, colors, shapes, or how to read. While the white and Asian counterparts in the next grade with ds were reading chapter books. I helped tutor and test those kids going into kindergarten and 1st grade and they still lagged behind, they didn't make up the gap. once behind they are usually and more likely always behind.


I would correct parents when they said kids are smarter now due to technology. Just because your child can find a game on an iPhone or iPad doesn't mean they are smarter. A speech pathologist agreed with me as she had seen increased speech delay back then. The pandemic made a bad situation 2x worse.

Quoted from members in 2012
"When you have 3rd graders writing and spelling like 1st graders and your boss expects you to teach a 3rd grade lesson plan then there is definitely not enough time to do 2 yrs of catch up plus teach current level work.

They really need to separate kids based on ability and teach them accordingly."


"The bigger disparity is that they are tracking black kids in preschool and they are coming in already at a deficit compared to whites/asians. So how can that gap be closed without parent involvment which is what caused the deficit in the first place.

A few black people I know think it is ok for their child to come into Kindergarten to learn Letters and the sounds when the Whites and Asians kids are already reading! Let kids be kids and let them play is what they tell me!"
I want to say this to my sister but she will probably get defensive! Her competition is not playing around they are getting help at 3 they are not waiting on the state to teach their kids!
 

fluffyforever

Well-Known Member
I want to say this to my sister but she will probably get defensive! Her competition is not playing around they are getting help at 3 they are not waiting on the state to teach their kids!
So what are these white/asian kids doing/learning at age 3?

My white/Asian bff and her hubby were stressed about getting their child enrolled in daycare that had a bilingual education plan before their child was even born. Daycare for when she had to return to work after maternity leave. Not even waiting until kindergarten age, but educational daycare getting babies familiar with basic letters, words, and numbers in two languages. They don’t play around and that is why there is a gap that will continue to grow until more families become more active in their children’s learning plan.
 

qchelle

Well-Known Member
My white/Asian bff and her hubby were stressed about getting their child enrolled in daycare that had a bilingual education plan before their child was even born. Daycare for when she had to return to work after maternity leave. Not even waiting until kindergarten age, but educational daycare getting babies familiar with basic letters, words, and numbers in two languages. They don’t play around and that is why there is a gap that will continue to grow until more families become more active in their children’s learning plan.

Thanks! How old are these babies now? And if they're significantly older, can you see it paying off now?
 

fluffyforever

Well-Known Member
Thanks! How old are these babies now? And if they're significantly older, can you see it paying off now?
Her kid will be 4 in a couple of months and she still goes to the same daycare. It definitely paid off. She already knows her alphabet and spelling and writing of little words. I know they read to her every night too though. My bff complains of the cost of the daycare but she wouldn’t ever think of switching. She is about to have another child and will send to the same daycare if there is a spot available.
 

Leeda.the.Paladin

Well-Known Member
I don’t understand the sight word reading process. I’m not saying it may not be useful but how do you learn new more complex words without a fundamental basis of utilizing phonetics? I was taught under a private school method that utilized the abeka method of teaching. Yes, it was private Christian school but the quality of education was very high. It allowed me to started kindergarten at age four and I started reading at that age. Otherwise, I would have had to repeat preschool and wait for kindergarten at age five.

https://www.abeka.com/
My kiddos do Abeka for early reading and they have all had the capability to read basic words by 4 and sound out more complex words as they got older. Very solid.
 
Top