Vacuosity

Short Books

Yesterday, Dave Paige, who runs a literacy program at Frontier College, and helped establish our reading circle, came back with his cameraman to film our little group. They are making a video about the reading circle program and wanted to use us as an example of a corporate partnership. I was happy to experience my fifteen minutes as I read aloud to the entire group. For those of you who don't know it, each week about ten of us from the IOF go over to our local public school to read with a small group of children.

It's both satisfying and disturbing. I truly believe that it has a positive effect on these kids, that they are developing their reading skills and, more important, growing a keen interest in books and reading. But it's worrysome, too, to witness the state of our public schools. These kids are all in grade one. They are neither the best, nor the worst readers, merely the ones thought most likely to benefit from such a program. And most of them can't read! Some of them at all, while others struggle, and only a few can read well. But these kids are not deficient in any way, they are bright and attentive; they simply haven't been taught.

It reminds me of my first parent/teacher interview with Jordan's Kindergarten teacher when she informed me that he was doing very well and knew all of his letters. I had looked at her sideways and asked, very slowly, in disbelief: "You do know he can read, don't you?" The look of surprise on her face was all the answer I needed to pull him from the class at Christmas and send him to a Montesorri school. It's got its own issues too, but at least the work Jordan's Senior Prep (aka Sr. Kindy Garden) class is doing now is challenging and stimulating. It compares roughly to grade two in a public school.

I'm not going to rant about social causes, or try to rally the public or the government to bandage the deplorable public education system. I don't think that's the answer. What we need is an attitude of personal responsibility from both teachers and especially parents so they commit themselves to the education of their children. Because, you know what? It's not someone else's job.

That's partly the reason that I expect Jordan will be going here next year. It's not fancy, it's not private, but the teachers care, and parents are intimately involved with their own (and other's) children's instruction.

As they should be.

posted by David @ 9:58 p.m.