I think that we don't always recognize at risk children early enough.I noticed early on that my child had a reading issue it took me 2years for the school district to finally give him a wilsons program and after 1year they removed it from his I.E.P. it took another 4 mo. to have it reinstated I'm not sure of other countries but I think we lack early intervention and school districts just don't want to spend the money they put more time and money into fighting me then working with me on getting my child the help he needs how do we change this?

American English is a very difficult language. Letters sounds in a word practically mean nothing. For example: In Spanish the letter a is ALWAYS pronounced as AH...E is ALWAYS pronounced as A. I as E, O as O, U as OO.

English is not a pure language but is composed of components of many languages, like French, Anglo, Saxon, German, latin, Spanish, etc...The rules for each of these languages is different. Therefore, Americans are usually confused about words they are unfamiliar with.

Perhaps the language, and its rules needs to be cleaned up. Some letters need to be dropped, other need to be added. And, pronouncation of letters should be more consistent.

Another issue in English is there are many localized speech patterns, pronouncations and rhythms. so, what ends up happening is the students are speaking and reading two different and disconnected languages.

Remember, Snuffy Smith...a hillbilly cartoon? The words were spelled exactly as the speakers spoke. For example: God would be Gawd, For was fer...etc.

If dad is Dahhd then God should be Gad. And a goat should be a got and got should be gat. See what I mean? What is wrong with American Students/teachers? English! English could have fewer exceptions to the rules. And Vowels could be more like Spanish, latin, Italian....consistent Or is it consistant, or is it Consistint?

I guess its time for Americans to move away from England...because we certainly don't speak English the way the English do.

Food for thought:

I would agree with the editors' premise that American students spend no more time reading than their parents do. As Americans, we recognize the importance of attending daily football, baseball, tennis, etc. practice. However, when I require the students to read 1M words a year (20 pages) a day of a book of their choice, I am greeted that they really do not have time to do this homework because of football, baseball, etc. There does seem to be a lack of understanding that in order to do something well, one must practice.

Another problem is in the instructional delivery that is currently in vogue in the United States. A teacher is evaluated by how much collaborative learning is taking place in the classroom. Reading and writing are personal and solitary activities. The students are not provided the time or expected to take the time to read and write in the classroom. So if they are not reading and writing in the classroom, and there is no time for reading in the home, then why should it come as a surprise that our students are lagging behind. Look at the change in our culture for the answer.

In response to the opinion that we should change the language to make it easier. This description is correct and an excellent description of the chaos of another great nation before its demise. Please reflect on the fall of the Roman Empire. As it was built, the official language was Latin. As the people became more affluent, they became lazy. When America was working its way up the ladder to become a world power, English was not too difficult for people to learn to read and write. Now all of a sudden, it has become too difficult and the popular notion that it should be changed has become popular. We as a nation want a quick fix to everything and have acquired a hedonistic attitude that if it is not fun, we don't want to participate.

The same ideas prevailed across the Roman Empire and people decided to make the changes that are being proposed in the previous blog. These dialects became popular and the fall of the Roman Empire was sealed because it could no longer conduct business across its vast territory because people could not communicate with one and another. From this deterioration came the Romance languages (nothing to do with love, but rather Roman). The Gauls and their language (French) could not talk with the Romans, the same with the languages of Hispania and Britannia.The empire weakened economically and became an easy target for its eventual downfall.

English has become the world language because of economic power, just as Latin did because of Roman economic power. Throughout the world student would be learning English because of a desire to participate in commerce, just as our students would be creating a new language. How would you expect them to communicate with the rest of the world who has now become proficient in standard English?

As other countries speak more English, and the United States continues to slide in teaching its students reading and writing, we will go from being an aliterate society as we are today to becoming an illiterate society with no impact on the world scene. We will slide into oblivion.

Language is the cornerstone of a civilization. America was built as people from many cultures blended together using a common language---English. However, we as a nation lack the will to demand that

I've personally seen a diconnect between the state mandated early reading inventory test and the reading curriculum used in many districts. Students are being tested on skills they have not been able to master yet since the curriculum has not introduced them. For example, Harcourt trophies waits until late second semester to introduce "sneaky e", yet first graders need this skill early on in first grade. (Of course, we teachers teach it before the curriculum introduces it). Other examples are "-ies",and the soft sound of c. These are never taught explicitly in Trophies, yet the knowledge is required in the state test (TPRI - Texas Primary Reading Inventory).
I would personally like to see a greater focus on phonics instruction as part of our teaching practices and curriculum. Veteran teachers often speak of the results had with earlier phonics-based programs..but then phonics seems to be a taboo subject these days. Why do we stop doing what works?

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