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Reading Room:  Illiterate America  |
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La Patite Ferme
True Blue Farmgirl
623 Posts
Jenn
CA
USA
623 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 25 2008 : 10:14:00 PM
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I was watching World News tonight and there was a segment about people not being able to take their medication properly because they can't read the directions. Then they talked about a town where almost all the residents can't read.
How is it that a country as great as ours with all the educational opportunities and free assistance still has millions of illiterate people? These were not immigrants either.
Do people not understand the need for reading skills? Do parents not read to their little ones? What's happening?
Maybe I'm not living in the "real world".
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Feb 25 2008 : 10:21:24 PM
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That is the saddest thing I have heard in a long time.
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
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Farmtopia
True Blue Farmgirl
1465 Posts
Zan
New York
New York
USA
1465 Posts |
Posted - Feb 25 2008 : 10:37:04 PM
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Well, Jennifer, that is opening a whole can of worms, and I don't want to go that deep into it, but in my own opinion, there are any number of things that concern me with this country, and education is one of them. I live in one of the "biggest" cities in the world, but for all of it's cultural institutions, educational opportunities, and vast resources at hand (libraries, internet cafes, free tutoring programs), some of the stuff I hear young people talk about (and the words they use), and the way they SPELL, is...umm, scary, quite frankly.
The US is ranked 25th in the world as far as education is concerned. Also quite scary!
~*~Dream all you dreamers~*~
View my work:
www.bigtownfarmer.com
www.pumpkinpatchparlor.etsy.com
And Blogs:
agriculture: www.bigtownfarmer.blogspot.com
art: www.queenofcrows.blogspot.com
animals: www.big-luv.blogspot.com |
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PlumCreekMama
True Blue Farmgirl
730 Posts
Heather
Iowa
USA
730 Posts |
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Marcy
True Blue Farmgirl
2701 Posts
Marcy
Tiverton
Rhode Island
USA
2701 Posts |
Posted - Feb 26 2008 : 05:35:49 AM
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| I volunteered for Literacy Of America for a few years and I was amazed at the number of people who could not read or write. I so love to do both and cannot imagine not knowing how to do either. Volunteering was something that I was thinking about doing again. Maybe after hearing this I will. |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Feb 26 2008 : 5:29:46 PM
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Actually, I was talking with a co-worker who has a 14 year old daughter, and she said that the teachers at school are seeing SUCH a diminished ability in spelling, that they (teachers) are literally going back to the basics. They feel it's all because of texting.
I tutored elderly people a few years ago, and I found that, most of my students were gentleman. Had to work the farm, or go to work in factories at an early age, quitting school at 12-14 to take care of the family. It was very rewarding...like Marcy, I think I may look into tutoring again, but I think this time, I'd like to do it in the program that you take your dog to read with children. They read books to the dog, and it's a non-judgemental audience who doesn't laugh when you miss a word or whatever. My Finn would be a great one for that!!!!
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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sewgirlie
True Blue Farmgirl
1894 Posts
Sheryl-lyn
Calverton
NY
USA
1894 Posts |
Posted - Feb 28 2008 : 4:25:50 PM
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I teach 7th and 8th grade English and I can tell you that most of my kids (middle class and above) have never been read to. The parents are so busy trying to make ends meet and get ahead, that the kids are missing out on family time and reading. They will take the kids to soccer, music lessons, shopping, trips all over the place, but cannot schedule homework time or reading time when they were younger. Some of them have never even seen most of the old Disney cartoons like "Lady and the Tramp," so you cannot mention these stories anymore and expect the kids to know them.
My quilting and life blog!!
http://downtoearthliving.blogspot.com/ |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Feb 28 2008 : 5:27:50 PM
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I feel so bad for these kids. Childhood is no time to be pressured and pushed in every which way. I can't imagine my childhood without the time I had to daydream, run, play, learn, and have my parents read to me. No one in my household will ever be illiterate! LOL I love books way too much!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
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Reading Room: Illiterate America |
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Illiterate America
