Surely we can teach people to read

[Jack Richards]

Someone needs to address this. Moving kids on when they cant read is a disgrace & it will limit their future.

The government doesn't want to put money into government education as it is, what makes you think they will address the additional classrooms needed for students coming through Prep/Foundation on top of those staying back (in your eyes).

You also forget those with dyslexia or learning difficulties.

 

[Kwality]

Reading used to be the go-to leisure activity for all. Now there are just so many more choices for kids, first and foremost the ubiquitous devices. The socio-economic implications also can’t be ignored.

Its a must for those who mature at a different rate to the education time frame. Reading is a foundation skill on which to build life skills that allow us to change direction with career choices.
When you cant read (or add up), people are limited in life's choices & that is unacceptable to me, having helped people in that position in the workforce.

 

[Kwality]

The government doesn't want to put money into government education as it is, what makes you think they will address the additional classrooms needed for students coming through Prep/Foundation on top of those staying back (in your eyes).

You also forget those with dyslexia or learning difficulties.

I dont 'forget those with dyslexia or learning difficulties'.
I share your interest in the subject.

We are living in an outsourcing generation & teachers are being expected to be service provider in that respect, taking time & money away from their education role.
My point about reading needs to recognised by Governments as more important than child minding, i.e not a role for a teacher with those skills.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

This is kicking the can down the road from child to adult literacy I realise, but that long-running Adult Reading and Writing Hotline ad seems super-effective. I don't know what their actual usage figures are but their phone number has been jammed into my brain for what seems like decades!!

"one three triple OH six triple fiiiiive oh six"

 

[Kwality]

Very good read in the AFR on the subject:

What’s the point of NAPLAN if schools ignore what it’s telling them?

One in five children leave primary school with only scant literacy and numeracy. But it’s not too late, a new report finds, if proper measures are put in place.

www.afr.com

'Just over half of all secondary teachers and principals say their schools identify and put in place remedial actions for year 7 students who arrive without even basic levels of literacy or numeracy, new research has found.

Worse still, two in five are not confident the support measures they put in place are effective in turning around academic underachievement.'

'One in five Australian children start high school without even basic reading, writing and maths, putting them on a trajectory of disengagement, dropping out and either unemployment or precarious work in poorly paid jobs.

The research says high schools can change this, but it requires early identification of struggling students in year 7 before specific, targeted support measures with highly qualified staff.'

“The problem is that secondary schools are about the curriculum and disciplines. You have a history teacher, a maths teacher, a science teacher, but you don’t have a generalist teacher who is really focused on individual students,” Dr Donovan said.

“We have a systemic problem whereby students who haven’t acquired foundational literacy and numeracy skills before high school are unlikely to get the help that they need.'

The article goes on to outline a practical example of a High School owning the problem & the steps taken to address the problem.
Well worth a read even if it means a trip to your local library to find a copy.

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

My son started prep this year and it's amazing (and sad) how obvious it is that some parents just aren't trying at all. One little girl in his class wasn't sent to kinder - this is the first time she has been away from her stay at home mum. She started school unable to recognise her name, didn't know the alphabet, couldn't count to 20 etc.

The difference between the 'advanced' kids and the 'behind' kids is astronomical.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

My son started prep this year and it's amazing (and sad) how obvious it is that some parents just aren't trying at all. One little girl in his class wasn't sent to kinder - this is the first time she has been away from her stay at home mum. She started school unable to recognise her name, didn't know the alphabet, couldn't count to 20 etc.

The difference between the 'advanced' kids and the 'behind' kids is astronomical.

You wonder how the previous five years have been spent in that home. Maybe she's the youngest of a large family, but then she'd be copying her older siblings. Some little kids are self-starters, pick up a book, or even a pamphlet, and work out what it's about. But some homes don't have any reading material and no one takes an interest. It's child neglect, put simply. In this day and age, inexcusable. You wonder why they have kids.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

Just to add, my nephew has learning difficulties but he learned to read by looking at store catalogues and looking for items he wanted and remembering their names. From there he recognised the words in ads and then got interested in Minecraft and quickly picked up the terminology. He's kept up with the class in reading at least.

 

[kickazz]

A third of Australian students can't read properly, what will it take to get Australia on track? - ABC listen

A major review by the Grattan Institute has found that children are being failed by an education system persisting with discredited theories about how to teach literacy.

www.abc.net.au

Many schools still using methods that are proven to be comparatively ineffective. We seem to be having the same conversation over and over?

We know the remedy (in these cases) but refuse to use it?

 

[mehow2g]

Why read when you can ask siri

 

[mehow2g]

Now we expect schools to do everything. And in doing so they sacrifice the actually important subjects.

This mentality disturbs me, this is parenting failure, no one is going to care for your child as much as you as a parent.

 

[kickazz]

This mentality disturbs me, this is parenting failure, no one is going to care for your child as much as you as a parent.

The problem is that often the teachers seem to care more.

Plenty of kids turn up to school smelly and hungry. Many shit parents in this country.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

The problem is that often the teachers seem to care more.

Plenty of kids turn up to school smelly and hungry. Many s**t parents in this country.

I think it’s underestimated how many parents are disengaged from their children’s education. Whether from being too busy working, being under-educated themselves, or family dysfunction, or failure to recover from the disaster of the Covid restrictions, we are at a seriously low point. Not helped by the prevalence of the ubiquitous devices.

 

[ams4crows]

Naplan or in my day was called the basic skills test, what are the stats like in terms of 20 years ago vs now?

Are we regressing as a society and if so who's fault is it? I don't think you can blame one entity.

Kids these days can barely read or write and maths they are learning simply multiplication equations by drawing lines and counting dots rather than actually learning multiplication tables and memorising them.

 

[ams4crows]

I think people underestimate how much learning is done through writing it down. Hand written information helps you learn in a way typing or using technology doesn't.

I don't think kids should be using iPads and laptop computers until high school and even then it should be limited to building a power point presentation or building a graph with data on excel

AI is destroying so many learning pathways.

Even now at university 80% of students use AI in some way to help them write a paper. That's incredibly alarming.

I also think a year 10 or 11 subject called life skills where you learn basic stuff like changing a tyre, checking oil level, what is superannuation how does tax work, how to write a resume, how to do a job interview.

I just really feel for all these kids coming through school currently that when you ask them what do you want be when you grow up and so many of them are saying "social media influencer" it's really sad. Lawyer Doctor Pilot any career that requires intense concentration and applied work ethic is no longer viewed as desirable by these kids.