We have all heard that the technological advances that we live with daily are bad for us.
There are plenty of articles written, even online, which tell us that depending on technology as much as we do is going to ruin our society.
I disagree, to an extent.
Our entire world is benefitting from the advancements being made almost daily. The technology we use today will be obsolete in a decade, but with every year, we are advancing technologically and it is making connections around the world. There are things we do every day that were inconceivable even thirty years ago.
With that being said, the old skills of reading, writing and ‘rithmetic are still needed, even in a society as technologically advanced as ours.
And this has brought up a question.
How are our children going to learn the basic three “R”s that the older generation had to learn in school, if the schools are not able to teach that stuff anymore because of all the technological advancements that they have to teach now?
READING
Problem: A month ago, I asked my daughter if she was ready to go to the library to get a book. She told me she just doesn’t have time to read at this time.
She also told me that most of her friends have little time to read either. There is very little inclination for reading except for certain classes at school and the kids aren’t that much interested in books when a television show or video game will be just as entertaining and be less work.
We don’t have the latest gadgets, but we do have some stuff like cell phones and computers that allow us to keep up with our neighbors. And I have been lax about keeping my girl from depending on these easier entertainment devices.
We have used the library for years for a variety of reasons. The books that we borrow from the library permit us to read a number of different books for age-appropriateness and genre. Using the library for this has been the main reason for libraries since Benjamin Franklin founded the first public library. We are able to find books that interest and challenge her and we don’t have to pay even discount prices or find storage space for books she doesn’t want to read a second time. Another reason to use the library is because some print books are no longer available for retail sale.
Solution: Lately, I have been writing down chores and activities I would like for my daughter to complete, before she will be allowed to use any of our entertainment devices. She is not only doing things that help her learn better responsibility skills, but she is reading the list. It may seem dumb to write a chore list when I am usually right there with her, but I have to find ways of keeping her reading.
There are many things we can ask our children to read “for us.” You can ask your child to read a recipe or directions for you when you are busy. Another way parents can involve their children in reading skills is to suggest the child read a section of the newspaper, or a magazine article, and then ask him or her questions about what was read.
There are also pre-reading things that can be used for the pre-school children we love so much. One thing I did was obtain a list of “sight” words and write them down on individual index cards. Every day we would go over one word so that by the time she went to bed at night, she knew what that word looked like. There are forty words that kindergarten teachers hope and expect children to recognize at the beginning of school.
As Northrup Frye, a Canadian literary critic, once said, “The most technologically efficient machine that man has ever invented is the book.” As parents it is our responsibility to make sure our children are learning the skills necessary to remain competent in their world.