Sunday, September 14, 2008

Fairfax County #2?

I was just checking my e-mail and looking at some of the news stories that were showing on Netscape, and one of the stories was a listing of the top 10 richest counties in the country. Five of those 10 counties are in the Washington DC metro area. Prince William County ranked #9, Montgomery #7, Howard #3, Fairfax County, where we live, #2, and Loudoun ranked as the richest county nation wide. Seeing that really hit home how I live in such a well-off community.

For my MUED 1700 class, we are being assigned a reading partner at a local elementary school. We are being assigned a child who is behind where they are supposed to be in reading standards according to a test that they will be taking this week (they would have taken the test last week, but the East Baton Rouge schools had two full weeks off due to Gustav). It will then be my job to help this child improve their reading skills over the course of weekly meetings for about 8 or 9 weeks. When the person in charge of registering us for the program came and talked to our class, she was talking about how much of an impact we will be making in some childs life and how these children really need the help. She cited some statistics, and the one that is most prevalent in my mind right now is that the fact that about 40% of adults in East Baton Rouge parish are illiterate, meaning they have lower than a 3rd grade reading level. I'll say taht again, a third grade reading level. To most of us that seems really easy, but for such a large area, for 40% of adults to not be able to read at that level is truly staggering. That means that a large number of children also do not have parents who are able to help them with reading. For a large number of households, they either have no books or very few, usually being a phone book, maybe a Bible, and maybe a magazine. At my house, everywhere you look you will see books. I would say it would be safe to say that about 1/3-1/2 of the wall space at our house in Fairfax is covered with bookshelves and books or have books piled on the floor in front of it.

Seeing where Fairfax County was earlier just helped me realize even more than I already did, how much of a completly different community I am down here at LSU than I was up in Fairfax. I am truly thankful that I have such a loving and caring family that is there for me and how I have been able to grow up in such great environments for education. It is truly amazing how much a large difference ther is just in our nation alone, I can only imagine what it is like in some other countires in Africa, South and Central America, and the Carribean. There are other big differences between Fairfax and Baton Rouge that I will be writing about in the next couple of days.

5 comments:

Dave said...

I will look forward to your upcoming posts. You are correct about Fairfax being blessed and highly different than other areas. I am confident that you will make a difference in that child's life. Reading enriches one's life, imagination and professional opportunities.

Your mom and I have been thrilled that you and your brother learned to read early, and that you held reading and learning dear to you. When what a young child is reading is fun and fits with their passions of the moment, they will read more and advance further with the right encouragment and opportunity.

Shortly after Jonathan started reading at that age of 4 someone took issue with him reading comics. We disagreed with the person that reading Superman comics would hinder reading. At that age Superman was his favorite story and character. Reading Superman comics fit with his interest and ended up helping him to be far beyond his peers in reading.

Jenn said...

just found your blog! welcome to the world of ranting and nonesense! it's funny because when i was in africa, i remember coming home and looking at the "poor" in and around the city (i was working downtown at the time) and thinking - these people have it so good. i came to the realization that the true definition of "poor" is someone without resources. people in north america are blessed with so many resources to help them. it's a matter of embracing them and being willing to use them.

Catharine said...

Jenn, it's not only embracing them and having the willingness but it is also know how to to use the resources and how to access them. Often the poor, iliterate and immigrants don;t know how the system operates and how to access what they need.

Josh, as a primary teacher whose passion is literacy I am excited knowing you will have an impact on a child's literacy life. Being read to over and over again is the most important thing and adult can do for a child. Through reading to a child a warm, caring environment is created. Books open up a child's world, which is especially important for children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. I cannpt remember the statistic at the moment, but it is something like 200-400 books need to be read to a child (the average child) before he/she begins to read. Now think of a child who comes from a home where there are no books. No wonder those children are so far behind with reading and writing.

I could go on and on but I will end with one last point. Schools are often bandaiding because the causes are not treated properly. Literacy begins at home before children enter school. It's time we as a society get smarter. Rather than dumping oodles of cash at bandaiding maybe we should be spending more money on supporting the early (preschool) years. Teaching parents how to read with their children, providing books, books on tape etc. It begins at birth. Perhaps we should be looking at having parenting and relationship classes in high school so people are more perpared for the awesome responsibility in raising a family and maintaining life relationships. If we could jusy take better care of those early years then maybe, someday we will stamp out iliteracy and do away with the abuses that happen to children that perpetuate and repeat problems. It will take many years to undo the damage we do to each other - perhaps even genrations. I know it is a very complex issue and I have only begun to scratch the surface; however, if we start at birth with the proper support it is doable someday. I think it was Kentucky many years ago that looked at their literacy rates (I think they were 50th place in the country at the time) and put in place soe of the things I have mentioned. They saw a huge rise in their literacy rates. I would like to get my hands on the study they did to know exact figures. I wonder if those children are tracked through the years if there is a lower criminal rate etc....

Evie said...

Josh, this is a great, thoughtful post. The tutoring experience will be a wonderful opportunity for you. I'm looking forward to reading your upcoming posts too.

Barbara said...

You're certainly getting off to a running start in the field of education. Literacy is crucial. I'm sure Aunt Cathy will be more than willing to share her great expertise in the field of literacy and could give you all kinds of pointers and advice. ...afterall, she worked in the board office for two years working on literacy.