Reading and Literacy

The other day, at a meeting at school, the literacy specialist shared with us an interesting tid-bit. The Nevada Department of Corrections contacted the Clark County School District and wanted to know the number of 2nd grade students who exited 2nd grade without being on grade level in Reading. The school district was happy to share, but wanted to know why, of course. So, apparently, the correlation between inmates and literacy is staggering. Persons in prison have a very high rate of illiteracy. Supposedly, if a 2nd grader leaves the grade and goes onto third grade, not on reading level, they are more likely to become illiterate. The type of reader an 8 year old is, is the type of reader they will always be. The early years are the most important. The Department of Corrections was trying to estimate the number of inmates they will be having in the next twenty years by the numbers of illiterate 2nd graders. There aren't very many people who can make it far in this world if they can't read. This is not something we haven't always been aware of, but it might be something we forget or expect will be fixed on it's own. I guess Tom Cruise was one of the lucky illiterates to escape the prison system because his hyper-activity was channeled by his mother into acting instead. What a good mother. If you think I'm kidding, you're wrong. His mother had to read him his script until the movie Top Gun. During Top Gun, he wanted to read so bad because of he could learn to read, he could fly one of the planes. Unfortunately, he didn't succeed, and therefore (thank goodness) never was able to fly the planes.

So next time you're little one needs to be read to or is just watching the "tube" as my dad used to call it, pull out a book and read with them or start planning your trips out to the State Pen.