Quote:
Originally Posted by mrscoach
I work in a school, and some of our students are so low income that we fear that they do not get adequate food at home, and we know they don't have proper clothing. When the students talk among themselves about what they watched the night before these particular students do not participate, because they not only do not have cable, they might not have electricity. I've even run across a few in years past that had no running water at times.
So, saying they can just read cereal boxes or dictionaries? What a way to turn them off of reading permanently.
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And cable has to do with reading...how? Seems to me that no TV means more time to read - if you want to.
Hundreds of years ago, when I lived in a small (3000 people) town in the South, kids at my school came in off the farms with shoes and no socks - and learned to read. Some still used outhouses - and learned to read. Some - I was one of them - had heat on winter mornings provided by coal fired Ben Franklin stoves - and learned to read. We all ate the school provided lunches - and learned to read.
Of course, we lived in a culture that respected learning - and reading. And our teachers taught phonics, which seemed to work for everyone. But now days, our schools have other priorities.
You must not have books at your school. Nor a school library. Nor a closet with books in it, which is what my schoolroom had - we didn't have a library, although our town did.
Anyone who wants to read can find books. This "poverty low income" stuff is just a bunch of boo-hoo.
I have no doubt that what you say about "no running water" is true. I know of people whose ability to use a kitchen is confined to making baloney sandwiches for their kids. But I also know that it is only since the 1960s that these things have come to be regarded as impediments to learning to read. Things were as bad or worse for people during the depression, particularly in urban areas, yet the kids learned to read.
If kids can't read, it's because schools can't teach, and the parent(s) don't care.