If you can read this ...
You are more literate than 2/3 of adults in the U.S. according to National Adult Literacy Survey. Their way of making this point is to say:
"One in three adults cannot read this sentence."
It is even worse in Texas, at least for English, where 52% of adults are functionally illiterate in English. Not too surprising, though, since in 36% of homes in Harris County (the Houston area), a language other than English is spoken. That would include our home, though we speak two languages here. And for sure Ping and Cici can read the sentence above, as well as this entire post.
But we defy the odds in other respects. The most significant predictor of a child's literacy level is the literacy level of the mother (U.S. Dept. of Education). Ping and Cici and I were laughing about this statistic, and agreed that in our home the burden, and hence the predictive factor, might be on the father. A father who is himself 85% likely to be illiterate because he is a high school dropout.
So when Ping returns from China, she and I will get involved in Literacy Advance of Houston, the mission of which is to teach adults to read, write, and communicate in English so they can achieve their full potential as parents, workers, citizens, and community members. We will participate as student and tutor, as Cici needs much less of my time as a tutor these days, and Ping wants to get serious about improving her English skills.
I have a difficult time remembering when I could not read, though I didn't attend preschool or even kindergarten. I can remember distinctly, though, sitting in class in the first grade taking my turn reading aloud with a couple of other students who could read. One of my classmates and I would argue about the proper pronunciation of the word "the." Linda Sue could also read, and she would give it the softer sound as in "ee," and I insisted it should sound like "uh." She was to be a life long friend, though her life was cut short in a car accident at age 42.
But for today, the test that one of us faces is vocabulary words in algebra. I worked on them with Cici yesterday, and they are mind-boggling in their complexity. She may still have difficulty pronouncing some of the words, but she still knows them cold. I expect she will do fine. Not just fine. I expect she will set the curve for her class.
"One in three adults cannot read this sentence."
It is even worse in Texas, at least for English, where 52% of adults are functionally illiterate in English. Not too surprising, though, since in 36% of homes in Harris County (the Houston area), a language other than English is spoken. That would include our home, though we speak two languages here. And for sure Ping and Cici can read the sentence above, as well as this entire post.
But we defy the odds in other respects. The most significant predictor of a child's literacy level is the literacy level of the mother (U.S. Dept. of Education). Ping and Cici and I were laughing about this statistic, and agreed that in our home the burden, and hence the predictive factor, might be on the father. A father who is himself 85% likely to be illiterate because he is a high school dropout.
So when Ping returns from China, she and I will get involved in Literacy Advance of Houston, the mission of which is to teach adults to read, write, and communicate in English so they can achieve their full potential as parents, workers, citizens, and community members. We will participate as student and tutor, as Cici needs much less of my time as a tutor these days, and Ping wants to get serious about improving her English skills.
I have a difficult time remembering when I could not read, though I didn't attend preschool or even kindergarten. I can remember distinctly, though, sitting in class in the first grade taking my turn reading aloud with a couple of other students who could read. One of my classmates and I would argue about the proper pronunciation of the word "the." Linda Sue could also read, and she would give it the softer sound as in "ee," and I insisted it should sound like "uh." She was to be a life long friend, though her life was cut short in a car accident at age 42.
But for today, the test that one of us faces is vocabulary words in algebra. I worked on them with Cici yesterday, and they are mind-boggling in their complexity. She may still have difficulty pronouncing some of the words, but she still knows them cold. I expect she will do fine. Not just fine. I expect she will set the curve for her class.
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