What came first, the chicken or perhaps the egg? Actually, does it matter? However, this is my sentiment to listening to educational reformers who often think the sky is plummeting on our educational system. It's the old Chicken Little scenario.
Guess what? The sky is not falling. When adjusted for low income levels, the United States outforms all the other nations, which educational reformers prefer to compare us to (i. E Finland, South Korea, etc.) Even so, if people want to see children further excel in the global market, beyond solving the United State's extreme poverty crisis, I have a much simpler solution. Get a book in every child's hand and then:
-read it aloud with them
-encourage the child to read by themselves
-continue this process with increasingly more books
Without a doubt, reading is the most important academic skill to master; or become at least profitable.
As the corporate world continues to get their hands into the educative world, too many people are getting spoiled by iPads in your classroom, more computers, more intelligent phones, an application for each occasion, etc. Overall, all of the bells and whistles mean nothing if a child can not read. Keep in mind, the true essence is the "skill" of reading; not just the process. By truly developing a child's reading skill, they will be able to handle and comprehend any content put before them (ie math, scientific discipline, history, etc.) Furthermore, as the world continues to race into mass technical overload, the fact of the matter is that nearly all the information provided on the internet is in the written word. The subsidiary skills reading offers, such as writing, speaking, conjecture, and critical thinking cross obstacles into all academic regions.
One example is billionaire Bill Gates. Mr. Gates believes all children should understand how to code computer language. That's great but without literacy development, no HTML course on the planet is going to work, nor matter. So, as education reformers continuously spout that we must have our children college and career ready for the everchanging job market, good old reading should be at the top of everyone's priority list.
Conversely, I'm sure one of the many counterpoints to reading being the top academic priority is the almighty Mr. Math. While I agree that mathematics is really important, with the ability to comprehend and read numbers, symbols, and words … it's very much a moot point. Furthermore, standardized testing, such as the ACT, count heavily on mathematical story problems; his reading is still the big dog. In addition, reading brings the abstract to life. By enhancing one's reading skills, it increases their ability to work through abstract mathematical principles.
Rathermore, what about mighty math's step-brother, Sir science? Yes, science can be an imperfect academic skill, as well. Yet again, though, reading builds a sense of wonder and a tremendous knowledge base, which allows children to be inquisitive … to be scientific. Any time a youngster asks a question, they're basing that on background information that they've collected at some point in the past. Why do birds fly south for the winter? How come mom snores? Why is breakfast so important? These questions can and do carry on forever. In fact, science applications involve a large amount of written text. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (our nation's report card), phenomenal writers read much more than they write!
Overall, to enable our kids to become the career professionals they will attend to, reading is paramount to their success. As adults, educators, and parents, we owe it to our children every opportunity to figure out how to get them to love the process of reading. If nothing else, reading allows our kids to develop a healthy measure of pragmating thinking … knowing "how to" carry out tasks or agendas. It's no secret that two of the most used words in Google searches are "how to". Therefore, encourage our kids to read often and allow this wonderful concept to be effective in harmony with the science and mathematics applications in the world. Then it becomes an incredibly powerful trio! It's a tough team to top!
