I've seen this happen as I've been in the school business since 1996. The bookrooms used to be filled with classics. It was expected to pass out novels, get book cards filled out, and go through the novel in class and the student do reading at home. I'm in the Bad Neighborhood so the decline has been much faster, but I hear common stories like mine from other districts.
My science teacher had us read a few chapters of "Microbe Hunters" ... in 7th grade. I think of not only what this article discusses, but what is expected in school. The onus is now almost completely on the household if parents want their children to be well read and have good minds.
As Thomas Sowell wrote many years ago, "we replaced what worked with what sounded good" in the school systems.
No wonder Socrates did not like cooks and poets.
I've seen this happen as I've been in the school business since 1996. The bookrooms used to be filled with classics. It was expected to pass out novels, get book cards filled out, and go through the novel in class and the student do reading at home. I'm in the Bad Neighborhood so the decline has been much faster, but I hear common stories like mine from other districts.
My science teacher had us read a few chapters of "Microbe Hunters" ... in 7th grade. I think of not only what this article discusses, but what is expected in school. The onus is now almost completely on the household if parents want their children to be well read and have good minds.
As Thomas Sowell wrote many years ago, "we replaced what worked with what sounded good" in the school systems.