by Kasey Huisman

Created on: May 20, 2008

How can you get through school without knowing how to read? Well some students manage to graduate high school without being able to read at their level or even many grades below their level. How can this happen? What is going on that schools do not catch this before they pass them onto the next year?

It always seemed to me that in my schooling I had to read aloud to my teacher. Does this not happen everywhere? To take a test you have to read the questions. Do teachers not find that causing problems in students who can not read? This is something that completely stumps me. How can a student get through their schooling without being able to read.

Reading has been replaced by watching tv and playing video games. When students start school as a young child they need to be taught that reading is extremely important. Schools should emphasize their curriculum on reading for a large part of the day during the student's elementary years. You need reading in every subject in school, not to mention everyday in life. Elementary teachers need to jump on teaching reading as soon as students begin school. Even in kindergarten it is important for the students to be read to by the teacher. This sparks interest in the students to want to be able to read their own books somebody.

I am not one to say if a student should learn phonics before reading but if that is what the school entitles that the teachers do then I wouldn't disagree. As long as the school has some system of teaching students how to read and how very important it is for them to read. Being able to read is not only going to help the students earn better grades in school but everybody's everyday life consists of reading. What if you get a letter in the mail that is very important and needs to be replied to and you can't read? What if you have a child someday and they ask you to read them a bedtime story? These are just a few examples of the hassles that you could encounter without being taught how to read at a young age.

My final words are that it is in the school's power to get students to read. A child can not learn how to read by just putting a book in front of his or her face. The teacher needs to take the time to teach and talk to the class about why letters sound the way they do and how we connect all of those sounds when we are reading. Schools need to focus on reading. I believe that at least twenty five percent of the day should be dedicated to reading and working on reading skills. They are lifelong skills that need to be encouraged throughout schooling.

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