The New York Times reports that American students' reading scores are going down starting in middle school and continuing through college. Study links decline in test scores to decline in time spent reading. Well duh. Would you be surprised if a decline in baseball batting scores was linked to a decline in time spent playing baseball?
The pontificators muse that teachers and schools need to develop new programs to promote a culture of learning.
Look folks, whether you're an Arab, Chinese, Frenchman, or American, the fix is simple.
Read aloud to your kids. Even if they are old enough to read for themselves.
If you are too poor to buy books and have no access to a library (not a problem in most of the USA, and probably not for anybody who access the internet) then read aloud from your spiritual tradition: Bible, Koran, Bhaghavad Gita, you name it. You don't need to be a believer to get a great cultural and spiritual inheritance from these volumes.
Read them the newspaper. Read them yesterday's newspapers. Are you too proud? Do you want your kids to be dumb, or do you want to look "good" for the neighbors?
If you live in the affluent West you may get a library card for free which will open the door to worlds of learning once available only to archbishops and princelings.
Oh yes, and turn off those damn game boys/xboxes/tvs/cel phones/i-pods. Just throw them all out why don't you? They are poisoning your children's brains.
Easier said than done, I know. But your kids will be better off without them. My children have access to online computer games (carefully screened and time limited) and to broadcast TV with select DVDs. That's it. They don't understand why they don't have an XBox but they accept that somehow that's the way it is. And that's the way it will be for as long as we can hold out.
They spend a lot of time playing with toy figurines, blocks, costumes and swords. They also like to draw, cut out their pictures and write in composition books. They have taken to making me darling cards that say "I love you Mom".
Found your blog via a search for Lubia recipes. Very nice. Thank you for talking about what doesn't get talked about----Reading to kids and taking away some of the gadgets.It is so obvious isn't it? I was listening to Backyardigans while my daughter watched and realized that she is watching animated characters pretend and play cooperatively, outdoors---exactly what she be doing! My fault of course, it is so easy to let things slip. But Reading.... I'll always make time to read to her.
Posted by: Aischa | December 16, 2007 at 03:02 PM