I am from a family of readers. My husband is not. 20 years and 3 kids in... I have a family of readers. My husband is now never without a book. He reads at a higher level now than when we got married.
We put in the work and read together as a family for a decade. Every.single.night.
Do not tell your kids what and what not to read. My 17yo reads, I kid you not, Warhammer 40K fanfic. He got Meditations for Christmas and now every day I get to hear how Warhammer characters relate to the Stoics. It is... quite something.
We know why kids don't read and we know how to get them to read:
Read to them. Have them read to you. Read fun things and read recipes. Read history and read Bill Bryson. Read Rick Riordan and Laura Ingalls Wilder. JUST READ.
As the joke goes, young adult fiction can be divided into three categories: having problems with one's friends, having problems with one's boyfriend, or the problem is that one's boyfriend is a vampire.
Not much room for teen males to read something.
Also, the method of teaching literature in middle/high school is for the teacher and students to do an autopsy on a novel. Break the story down for its parts and analyze each part separately. Not exactly a way to develop life long readers. There are also many examples of academics and educators trying to read themes, ideas, or issues into a novel that the author probably did not intend.
Jackie Doyle-Price to chair Sub-Committee of MPs from the WOMEN AND EQUALITIES COMMITTEE to will meet in addition to usual Committee meetings to FOCUS EXCLUSIVELY ON THE TOPIC OF ATTITUDES TO WOMEN AND GIRLS IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS
Thanks, as always, for your very helpful analysis on boys' reading scores. But, editor and former English teacher that I am, I am pained by what appears to be a sad lack of proofreading in this particular issue. Please look it over and [gently] rap the knuckles of your proofreader.
Educational ambition is formed long before high school. It's not just grades or coursework, but experience that shapes whether school is enjoyable (or enjoyable enough to voluntarily pursue it after high school). One thing to note, GPA and elementary school grades are consistently biased to reflect classroom behavior and executive functioning rather than academic competency alone. If boy behavior is not conducive to school environments (especially early on) and executive functioning skills are not taught and reinforced explicitly (how to organize a notebook, how to study at home, how to take notes), not only will boys experience school negatively, their grades will reflect this reality.
It is so strange to me how learning for joy in a classroom seems to have been replaced with behavioral box-checking. I did get a taste of this transferring to a public school at the end of 4th grade, but I guess by then I was already reading for pleasure and doing any extra math I could, so it didn’t deter me academically (my grades, due to “behavior”, were mediocre). My son is in second grade at what is supposed to be an excellent public school, but he gets marked on his “behavior chart” for speaking without raising his hand. What was he trying to say? Was he trying to contribute? I think the whole “behavior chart” thing sends the wrong message; just remind him to raise his hand first!
So per this article, the predictors of success in college are:
- GPA
- Reading Score
- Taking challenging classes
My thought with reading score is that the amount of reading, and the demand for greater comprehension of the material in class, could be a greater increase than in math. Additionally, math builds more linearly than reading: You need to understand addition before you understand multiplication, for example. Expanding one’s vocabulary isn’t as narrow; neither is reading comprehension. Math is also not emphasized in Core courses, either you test out or you get an “Math For Trees” course.
GPA is interesting: It could be that students who “play the game” better in high school continue to play it well in college. Kelsey Piper has covered some of this over at The Argument.
I was thinking about this as well. I am very thankful my son was born right after the age cut off so he can be a bit older and mature for his grade level. He also has autism so that already creates some difficulties for him. I don't want him compared to girls. I want him to be taught so he can excel at his best.
In HILLBILLY ELEGY, Vance makes one cogent point: that universities shouldn't reach out to poor/rural smart kids when they're 16 because those kids already know whether they want to go to college. You have to get to these kids instead when they are 10 to show them college is a possibility. This struck me (and my memory should be checked and not by an AI) because it reminded me of what I read at some point about gangs in Los Angeles: you can't interdict potential membership when kids are 16, you have to get to them when they are 10. How many 10yo boys, already behind academically and told by their parents and community that being book smart is bad, unmanly, and even insulting--that is, "better"--give up then, having their will and future drained out of them, thinking they're making the right choice? Be interesting to see these findings sorted by location too.
Nah, Elegy is great. I'm 8 years older than Vance but grew up on the same street. He endured struggles most of us don't. I had a drug-addicted mother, also. I'd say leftist ideology is skewing your opinion on this great memoir. Vance's opinions were shaped by the demonic and detrimental policies of leftists.
“Vance's opinions were shaped by the demonic and detrimental policies of leftists.” Just to peak further into your deranged worldview, I have to ask: what leftist policies are you referring to here fella?
Claiming that the mean old girls are the problem does that explain differences in SAT or PSAT scores in English. Richard Reeves has learned to discuss this issue. Having a female teacher should have no effect on whether boys turn in their homework.
First of all, this is nothing about mean old girls. Second of all, this has nothing to do with turning in homework. I am just making an assumption that maybe the way a teacher grades is slightly biased based on their genetic makeup of their brain. Men and women think differently. That's a fact. It's something I considered after reading this article. No one is calling out women as being bad.
For a long while, girls generally were not taught or *allowed* to read. Now that they are allowed, they are smoking the boys. Meanwhile, reading has become "girly". Boys and men are so hateful toward femaleness that they will dump off their own education just to try and look "masculine".
Blaming teachers takes the pressure off boys when you should just be questioning them: "Son, why the hell are you not learning to read when you have every opportunity?"
Later, misogynists will cry that these illiterate males can't find mates. No woman wants a dude who can't freaking read.
Boy mom here
Read to your kids
Read to each other
I am from a family of readers. My husband is not. 20 years and 3 kids in... I have a family of readers. My husband is now never without a book. He reads at a higher level now than when we got married.
We put in the work and read together as a family for a decade. Every.single.night.
Do not tell your kids what and what not to read. My 17yo reads, I kid you not, Warhammer 40K fanfic. He got Meditations for Christmas and now every day I get to hear how Warhammer characters relate to the Stoics. It is... quite something.
We know why kids don't read and we know how to get them to read:
Read to them. Have them read to you. Read fun things and read recipes. Read history and read Bill Bryson. Read Rick Riordan and Laura Ingalls Wilder. JUST READ.
As the joke goes, young adult fiction can be divided into three categories: having problems with one's friends, having problems with one's boyfriend, or the problem is that one's boyfriend is a vampire.
Not much room for teen males to read something.
Also, the method of teaching literature in middle/high school is for the teacher and students to do an autopsy on a novel. Break the story down for its parts and analyze each part separately. Not exactly a way to develop life long readers. There are also many examples of academics and educators trying to read themes, ideas, or issues into a novel that the author probably did not intend.
And what is our gynocentric misandrist western societies response to boys falling behind?
BOYS are falling behind so what does gynocentric UK govt. do!
Feminism in action
Appoint new Envoy on Girls’ Education
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-appoints-new-envoy-on-girls-education-16-january-2020
A bit old but REAL feminism i
Jackie Doyle-Price to chair Sub-Committee of MPs from the WOMEN AND EQUALITIES COMMITTEE to will meet in addition to usual Committee meetings to FOCUS EXCLUSIVELY ON THE TOPIC OF ATTITUDES TO WOMEN AND GIRLS IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/328/women-and-equalities-committee/news/171338/mps-to-scrutinise-sexism-in-educational-settings-and-music-industry-as-committee-broadens-work-on-violence-against-women-and-girls/
This is the REAL feminism !
Feminist bureaucrats cover up the boys’ education crisis.
https://bettinaarndt.substack.com/p/selling-out-our-boys?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=448263&post_id=172756510&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=ry7lf&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Thanks, as always, for your very helpful analysis on boys' reading scores. But, editor and former English teacher that I am, I am pained by what appears to be a sad lack of proofreading in this particular issue. Please look it over and [gently] rap the knuckles of your proofreader.
Thank you, Richard. This article was difficult to read due to many grammatical errors. Please proof better. Again, thank you!
Educational ambition is formed long before high school. It's not just grades or coursework, but experience that shapes whether school is enjoyable (or enjoyable enough to voluntarily pursue it after high school). One thing to note, GPA and elementary school grades are consistently biased to reflect classroom behavior and executive functioning rather than academic competency alone. If boy behavior is not conducive to school environments (especially early on) and executive functioning skills are not taught and reinforced explicitly (how to organize a notebook, how to study at home, how to take notes), not only will boys experience school negatively, their grades will reflect this reality.
It is so strange to me how learning for joy in a classroom seems to have been replaced with behavioral box-checking. I did get a taste of this transferring to a public school at the end of 4th grade, but I guess by then I was already reading for pleasure and doing any extra math I could, so it didn’t deter me academically (my grades, due to “behavior”, were mediocre). My son is in second grade at what is supposed to be an excellent public school, but he gets marked on his “behavior chart” for speaking without raising his hand. What was he trying to say? Was he trying to contribute? I think the whole “behavior chart” thing sends the wrong message; just remind him to raise his hand first!
So per this article, the predictors of success in college are:
- GPA
- Reading Score
- Taking challenging classes
My thought with reading score is that the amount of reading, and the demand for greater comprehension of the material in class, could be a greater increase than in math. Additionally, math builds more linearly than reading: You need to understand addition before you understand multiplication, for example. Expanding one’s vocabulary isn’t as narrow; neither is reading comprehension. Math is also not emphasized in Core courses, either you test out or you get an “Math For Trees” course.
GPA is interesting: It could be that students who “play the game” better in high school continue to play it well in college. Kelsey Piper has covered some of this over at The Argument.
I was thinking about this as well. I am very thankful my son was born right after the age cut off so he can be a bit older and mature for his grade level. He also has autism so that already creates some difficulties for him. I don't want him compared to girls. I want him to be taught so he can excel at his best.
In HILLBILLY ELEGY, Vance makes one cogent point: that universities shouldn't reach out to poor/rural smart kids when they're 16 because those kids already know whether they want to go to college. You have to get to these kids instead when they are 10 to show them college is a possibility. This struck me (and my memory should be checked and not by an AI) because it reminded me of what I read at some point about gangs in Los Angeles: you can't interdict potential membership when kids are 16, you have to get to them when they are 10. How many 10yo boys, already behind academically and told by their parents and community that being book smart is bad, unmanly, and even insulting--that is, "better"--give up then, having their will and future drained out of them, thinking they're making the right choice? Be interesting to see these findings sorted by location too.
BTW, ELEGY, otherwise, is garbage.
Nah, Elegy is great. I'm 8 years older than Vance but grew up on the same street. He endured struggles most of us don't. I had a drug-addicted mother, also. I'd say leftist ideology is skewing your opinion on this great memoir. Vance's opinions were shaped by the demonic and detrimental policies of leftists.
“Vance's opinions were shaped by the demonic and detrimental policies of leftists.” Just to peak further into your deranged worldview, I have to ask: what leftist policies are you referring to here fella?
Claiming that the mean old girls are the problem does that explain differences in SAT or PSAT scores in English. Richard Reeves has learned to discuss this issue. Having a female teacher should have no effect on whether boys turn in their homework.
First of all, this is nothing about mean old girls. Second of all, this has nothing to do with turning in homework. I am just making an assumption that maybe the way a teacher grades is slightly biased based on their genetic makeup of their brain. Men and women think differently. That's a fact. It's something I considered after reading this article. No one is calling out women as being bad.
Again, this doesn't explain the test scores.
Yes, you are doing the mean old girl thing a bit.
For a long while, girls generally were not taught or *allowed* to read. Now that they are allowed, they are smoking the boys. Meanwhile, reading has become "girly". Boys and men are so hateful toward femaleness that they will dump off their own education just to try and look "masculine".
Blaming teachers takes the pressure off boys when you should just be questioning them: "Son, why the hell are you not learning to read when you have every opportunity?"
Later, misogynists will cry that these illiterate males can't find mates. No woman wants a dude who can't freaking read.
You sound very hateful towards men. You're being the mean old girl right here.