Bowsite.com

School has changed

"Middle School Reading Lists 100 Years Ago vs. Today Show How Far Standards Have Declined"

.

"But that’s the whole point. Unless we give our students challenging material to dissect, process, and study, how can we expect them to break out of the current poor proficiency ratings and advance beyond a basic reading level?"

Something like 80% of all the words ever written have been written in the last 20 years (not sure of the actual numbers but you get the idea). There is only so much school time so choosing how to spend it becomes increasingly difficult.

The problem with the modern reading list is that it lacks the depth of language and history of the older list.

My grand daughter just passed to 5th grade in Nashville. They actually teach cursive writing. She also had a Chinese teacher a few classed during the week to keep her up to date with her native language, Mandarin. When my son adopted her in China, She didn't speak a word of English. My son and his wife didn't speak a word of Mandarin. Imagine getting on a plane in China and flying to the USA with a little girl that can't speak English. She now speaks English and my wife Face Times with her all the time and I talk to her on the phone. I think they are lucky in Nashville since she seems to be doing very well. By the way, I am Ya Ya which is Mandarin for grandfather.

Register here to reply to this topic