The reading crisis leaving thousands of children 'functionally illiterate' - What You Need To Know

[@jujutrini8412]

I took it as my personal responsibility to teach my kids to read.

[@Goldenchainvlogs]

No point of schools teachers relaxing

[@European-Man-88]

Nooooooooooo you cant be a real parent! Thats fascist!

[@Mpz3cat]

If you were reading with your child at home then you’d know she’s not at the level she should be and could’ve taken action

[@IshtarNike]

This is true. He easy provision of iPads and electronic entertainment have destroyed these basic forms of home education. Why read them a story book when their only interest is playing on the iPad. They're addicted to it by the time they can even start to think about reading.

[@mrnumba154]

Exactly what I thought.

[@denicelee6760]

yes it's the family's responsibilities as well.

[@vickyrichardson7468]

Obviously time reading at home is essential. But I did that from my child being a toddler and she is still very behind

[@denicelee6760]

@@vickyrichardson7468 maybe get someone to evaluate if there is any reasons eg reading dyslexia? don't give up.

[@sunray83b]

Bigger class sizes, budget cuts, lack of discipline, many (but not all) , low income households not being as well run, parents needing to work more, many (but not all) children having bad sleep hygiene and poorer nutrition, lack of courses freely available for parents, videos on streaming services replacing books often times. It's a perfect storm.

[@RDCFemmes]

Class size has nothing to do with it. Where I was from, somewhere in Africa, the average class size is 25 children and we still learn to read. It is a French country, some schools now are bilingual so children in a developing country in a big class can read in two languages (French and English) in a French speaking country and children in a first world country, can't read the only language they know.

[@kidscrocs]

​@@RDCFemmes25 IS a small.class size!

[@mrnumba154]

​@@RDCFemmes25 is quite small for the UK. 30 is pretty standard.

[@Heidi123]

Teachers are using sight words method and working out words based on context neither of which works for young children. Phonics is established as the best method but often not used. Scotland is pretty bad too.

[@Coetzeefamilystead]

​@RDCFemmes in South Africa most average class size is 40 kids...I've been in a school where they squeeze in 50 per class...each kid actually needs individual attention no child learns on the same level at the same speed as all the others...

[@ibRebecca]

I remember when we had to read out loud in class when I was 15 and I was shocked at how slowly people read, not fluently at all. This was mostly boys too.

[@frcluc]

What do you mean? That doesn't happen presently?

[@lindafarnes486]

Giving children tablets/computers as babysitters and walking away. Reading starts at home. The internet is instant gratification. Kids don't develop their imagination, patience or any creative writing and plotting and analytical skills. It's very likely this is a multi generational problem by now.

[@ukuserful]

So Welsh schools use, and the Welsh Ofsted support, a teaching method which has been proven to be ineffective and is not used in the other parts of the UK???

[@LeoWolfish]

Basically, yes.

[@snsn7251]

This is not new. It's been going on since as far back as 20 years ago

[@theukeconomist6518]

Why aren't the parents helping their own kids to read, surely the parents should read with their kids at home, too?

[@celticcheetah6371]

Not all parents can read fluently themselves.

[@TheQuietGuyAtTheBack]

Absolutely. It starts at home. I don’t understand why the parents aren’t more engaged with their children’s education? Lazy parenting?

[@claudiamayer-g9h]

Parents are busier earning money mostly in lower income with 10-12 hours/day (particularly health professionals)

[@theukeconomist6518]

@@celticcheetah6371 Then they should reconsider having children if they can't give that child the support they need to thrive in life.

[@SpocksCat]

@@theukeconomist6518 So the poor shouldn't have children? And decrease the surplus population, hm?

[@lunaskye621]

I’m honestly confused how the parents weren’t monitoring their children and not helping them with their education. Parents need to understand that the way the education system is, you MUST help your children with their education or they will fail unless they are incredibly gifted which most children aren’t.

[@ChaplinLoli]

Because most parents, especially in poor families are not familiar with teaching methods and may not know HOW to teach kids to read. If the parents were educated using the same methods, why do you think parents know a different way to teach their kids and have a different results?

[@esthermarcen7587]

My Finnish nephew who is 11 can read and understand English quite well, he has had English as a second language for the last 4 years, what is Wales doing? that is crazy to me.

[@Aththadha]

Sri Lankans read amazingly without the resources and media to help them hear fluent English around em daily even in impoverished households. Reading is about synaptic activity and a cultural disposition to 'learning by reading' and that is a sad symptom of how dumbed down the UK has become. I am alarmed and saddened by a neighbour - white English telling me at aged 9 that he 'cannot read a book' - it was an extra copy of Harry Potter! The Iranian 2nd gen kid said softly 'I read.... Roald Dahl....' Now at aged 15 the English kid is diagnosed with ADHD and is full of teen rage and what not and is struggling. There are multiple mental health and poverty issues in his life map and the schools do not take these kids and parents into a disciplined reading relationship as a natural part of schooling and learning.

[@ChaplinLoli]

Finnish elementary schools are ranked the best in the world

[@rhyfelwrDuw]

I love education so much I home educated my two children - one went to ICL to study aerospace engineering! Schools are failing so home educate, folks!

[@LittleDoris]

This journalist is brilliant-he's been very thorough and has challenged the Welsh government for answers. Their lack of response/passing the buck says it all really!

[@jdlotus8253]

I've been teaching children to read for 50 years. It is really simple, I could teach anyone how to do it in less than 1 hour. It really isn't rocket science. The biggest problem schools have, is that every child learns to read one-on-one, and teachers are trained how to teach a whole class at once. This only reaches a minority of pupils. Even the SENCO teaches in small groups of 4 or 6. The botton 1/3 of the class need 1 to 1 tuition. 5 or 10 minutes a ray. Back in the 60s, there would be a weekly class of quiet reading where each child would go one by one to read with the teacher while the rest of the class read. Or you ccould have one hour every morning where one table gets 5 minutes each to read alone to teacher. Combine that with phonics and we would have very high literacy.

[@noramaddy4409]

Many parents in low socioeconomic areas are in dire need of education. Fancy spending a few thousand on tattoos instead of picking up a few educational activities and reading books for your child? Many parents allow their child to watch TV or a tablet right up to before bedtime-wait for it-10 pm! What happened to children being in bed by 8 pm sharp?

[@lilbabydoodoo]

yes let's blame these marginal cases and not the fact single parents are forced to work multiple jobs to afford to care for the child and they don't have as much time to educate them. it's a purposeful ploy from the govt to keep people undereducated

[@mrnumba154]

Half of em are picking tats over paying bills and buying food.

[@PoetriiseStanzafyah]

It's enough to be general in the criticism, and how parenting has changed overall. No one knows when she even got those tattoos lol, we're not flies on the walls in other people's homes but a general understanding of parenting and education and the negative changes that have occurred is quite obvious.

[@Tenebris8444]

​@@lilbabydoodoowell you need to ask yourself why the family structure is dysfunctional and broken apart. This is also a problem caused by people just as much as it is from the government.

[@lilbabydoodoo]

@@Tenebris8444 im 50k in student debt working 3 jobs. we r not the prob.

[@sanders2378]

Before my boys started school, I taught them the Letterland phonics system, so they could recognise letters. When they brought home their first school books, it was the Oxford Learning Tree - the first book has no words whatsoever and they just had to describe the illustrations. When I was at school, we learned a system called ita (Initial Teaching Alphabet). It had strange letters to the uninitiated, based on phonics. Some thought it terrible, but for me it was very successful and I fast became a very fluent reader at a young age.

[@samanthageorge4531]

The problem is that some parents leave reading and other academics to the teachers. Not all parents are active in their children's education. Parents need to ensure we are working with our children to develop their academic level by reading with them as home, practising spelling and handwriting.

[@ChaplinLoli]

are you a parent? What method did your teacher use to teach you to read? Did you teach your kids to read using the same method or whatever you wrote was just a rhetoric?

[@WelshChapman]

This may be an unpopular opinion in our woke world: It all starts at home. As parents, it's your duty to help develop your child ready for the adult world and if they fail, you've failed Fat lazy parenting makes my skin crawl

[@risetv1]

Parents need to start taking responsibility for their child's education. What happened to the days of interactive board games such as scrabble for reading and spelling and Monopoly for maths? Even reading bedtime stories? How can a child reach 11 and a parent not know that their child can't read?!

[@Bunfire123]

I wonder if a lack of church attendance has any correlation. Church often encourages reading from a early age. (Sunday school material, verses, hymns, breaking down long names etc).

[@mlady8137]

That's interesting....

[@ravens-crypt]

True but that wasn’t always the view of the church Which is another way that the church adapted to the society of the day I’m sorry for going a little bit off topic

[@Heidi123]

Toe by Toe book is useful. Also Read,Write Inc Fresh Start programme is also useful. Both are phonics based.

[@Fashionmadebyhand]

My child is exceptionally intelligent, however isn't interested in studying. As he didn't like studying , I left it to the school to teach him. He was about to go to year 2 and still didn't know some of the alphabet letters and couldn't read at all. Fortunately I started as a TA job in January in a different school and realised that in year 4 /5 some kids couldn't read. I was shocked and realised this is what's happening to my child. I started teaching him at home 10mins first then increased it to 20 to 30mins daily, and started tuition one hour a week.. Within 8 months he is reading year 3 books, and he just started year 2. So if your child isn't interested in studying, schools don't bother! This is my experience and some of the other mums I know. Parents are teaching them themselves or sending children to tuition! Schools are for children who want to study, for rest it's merely for funding reasons!

[@PoetriiseStanzafyah]

Thank you for this comment. I think people need to stop leaving nasty comments directed at parents and just be more helpful instead. Many parents, misguidedly leave education purely up to teachers and have forgotten the importance of genuinely and actively checking in and keeping up with their children's learning. Parents are the first school, always have been and always will be - whether we're directly teaching or facilitating (within our means) what's best for our children

[@aeh323]

I think you did fantastic in helping your child learn to read. I couldn't read until I was about 8 years old - I'm dyslexic and had whole word teaching (useless for a dyslexic like me!). A teacher helped teach me in her free time - she taught me phonics and I never looked back. My daughter (also dyslexic) has always struggled with literacy but the right teaching (phonics) really helped.

[@Fashionmadebyhand]

@@PoetriiseStanzafyah totally 👍

[@Fashionmadebyhand]

@aeh323 I did some research on dyslexia few years ago, and was completely shocked to learn about it. So I have a little more awareness that how hard it must have been for you, and you conquered it😊 you are amazing!💓

[@Katz.Der.Kommandant]

It's happening due to poor parenting. Specifically speaking, careless mothers and weirdly animous society members.

[@marcmeinzer8859]

As a former reading teacher circa the 1980s I find that it needs to be stated that a substantial number of school kids have always been not only allergic to reading but also to arithmetic, with as many as one/third getting socially promoted all the way up to high school who had perhaps third or fourth grade reading levels and similar levels of ineptitude in arithmetic much less geometry or anything more abstract. Then also fully one/third of adults are functionally illiterate to the point where they cannot read the labels on prescription medication bottles. After all, the average adult only has a sixth grade reading level. So the notion that there is anything new about this phenomenon is clearly nonsense. But yes, those intellectual giants known as grade school teachers have forgotten how to teach kids to read since they abandoned phonics. A competent teacher knows enough to do whatever works, and not what they are told by incompetent higher staff such as department chairmen or principals or headmasters or what not. But apparently this quality of independence and rebelliousness is lacking in these drones they hire to teach nowadays.

[@Autumn1988]

I could read before school. Reading is a parents responsibility as well as the schools

[@WolfsburgWarehouse]

👂💨No child left unarmed.

[@hx4zx]

Thankfully had a reading age of 18, when I was tested in year 7.

[@22Too]

Since English is so seldom phonetic, HOW can reading English be taught phonetically? I am a print journalist, and I learned to read at home, by my mother reading children's books to me when I was very young. I definitely did not learn to read through phonetic pronunciation.

[@missnlahi]

The US is having the same problem. Parents discovered their kids couldn't read during COVID smh.

[@katejackson7432]

my kid cud read b4 infant school. we need things like sure start back t help new perents learn how fast small children can learn t read. even if u only spend an hr a day at bedtime.

[@benu_bird]

Just looking at your writing, I seriously doubt that.

[@katejackson7432]

@@benu_bird i have arthritis so i cant read?

[@katejackson7432]

@@benu_bird there are many perents who honestly believe that its schools job. often they dont have faith in thier ability t teach the basics. i know this to be the case and have on multipul occasions had friends tell me as much when they wud comment on my son reading for fun as a toddler. places like sure start did a great job of empowering perents and teaching them skills to increase learning in early years and stats are there to show it

[@benu_bird]

@@katejackson7432 I didn't say you didn't know how to read. I questioned your ability to teach a child to read considering your writing.

[@katejackson7432]

@@benu_bird right coz no1 uses shortened words on small keyboards. oddly enuf im not fussed if u believe me. my son was accepted via bursury to the best public school in the area and has enjoyed a huge amount of books and storys from around the world wich does matter to me

[@mlady8137]

Theres no contradtion here with reading methods he discussed. Both phonics and contextual reading menthods can be uses simultaneously. We teach children to prioritise their phonic knowledge first and then if they are still stuck to think about context, read on or look at a graphic for help. Sometimes good old fashioned guessing is encouraged too. It all works together.

[@LeoWolfish]

To be fair I think what he was referring too was the act of using contextual alongside, before the phonics are learnt. Which is something they tried to do while I was at school years ago. Running before they can walk basically.

[@AstronomicalLearners]

Guessing is the problem.

[@jonwalker2319]

I saw on a podcast recently that Welsh kids spend a lot of time learning both English and Welsh simultaneously ? Perhaps this contributes to poor English levels if the kids have the 'burden' of taking on two languages at once where English kids don't have that same requirement ?

[@AdnanDanipagieh-gl8hh]

I thought is only happened in indonesia, children are difficult in reading

[@AppleAndPear18]

Don’t get it why this should be a very professional domain issue but needed to be taken to parliament to discuss?

[@gabrielajonczyk5663]

It is a behavioral issue - children aren't with words, paper and books but with images. As a dyslectic person that is not native English speaker I would advise children to just be bored with the text that is on paper in the calm environment. Children that don't see their parents read won't read either.

[@Tenebris8444]

They don't have to see their parents reading. Parents need to replace ipads with books or interactive learning. Some kids however, just naturally are curious so seeing books are just a relative trigger of interest.

[@siewheilou399]

How about their reading skill level in Welsh and Scottish?

[@boroto2boroto]

Because Welsh is spelt quite logically compared to English, apparently Welsh kids learn to read Welsh much faster than English kids learn to read English - once you know what letter makes what sound, you're good to go in Welsh! English is much more difficult.

[@apemoon1731]

Why would they spend time teaching little used languages when they can't even teach English effectively?

[@siewheilou399]

@@apemoon1731 For Indepence, to join EU.

[@apemoon1731]

@@siewheilou399 😅😅😅😅😅🤦🏻‍♂️

[@edmundprice5276]

Perhaps we need to pressure tech companies to have a text based user interface, minimal use of symbols. I learned to read at the same time as i learned to use a PC. I was born in 2000

[@ashleyyoungs6252]

You should see the angry Facebook mum's. Their poor grammar is hilariously atrocious.

[@jackpotbear4559]

A nice Welsh lady

[@enochbaffour3153]

Where are these kids parents? At some point you got to take control of the issue yourself

[@williama-d6]

my dad was telling me we got taught phoenix in primary school

[@dog79-p5l]

Itv doesn't telling the whole truth ask as well how many Welsh children are in these classrooms? 10-20%? Here's your problem

[@ninjac8866]

The irony is that there are some free kids reading apps available. They're not always perfect but can help motivation. My kid was a very reluctant reader as he couldn't be bothered. I tried everything - LeapPad, books, bedtime reading, and free apps to encourage him so that he could read at age 4. The apps really helped.

[@AstronomicalLearners]

Blame whole language

[@StratsRUs]

As Planned

[@FreudsSlipper]

Dear Wales, your damp,cold&misty, murky&grey-skies neighbour here 👋🙂🇮🇪 Welsh students, firstly, shouldn't be obliged to learn English at all until they get to Secondary School anyway. It should be taught as a "Second Language", which is what it is to ALL CELTS. And equally, all Celtic Nations ought to come together to distill European-centricity and Anglo-centricity *out of* Psychology, Cognitive Science, Educational Psychology, and Education itself. And then *reform* those Theoretical, Academic, and Applied fields so that they are actually *pertinent* to the Celtic Language, Culture, Ethos, Collectivism, Psychology and Disposition. Welsh phonetics, like Gaeilge, are extremely different to those of English. Ireland is the greatest evidence of learned&prioritised early years Anglophone phonetic learning obstructing the effective learning, and fluent pronunciation, and retained permanency of, the indigenous language. Whereas Wales has a stronger presence&practice of, at least verbal, bilingualism. But eh...yyyyehhh lads...emm....verbally naming 'the thing in the picture' is a shockingly blatantly dumb process 😬 ..in any language or culture 😬 sorry 😬 But it's true 😬 Word within 'context of sentence' should be very last resort *AND* at a much older age when reading fluency is established. If pupils don't learn phonetically, they will struggle, and likely fail, to learn International Languages as they will fail to grasp the necessity of breaking down and learning diverse phonetic pronounciations of same or similar *looking* letters, and learning pronounciations of entirely new script (like Arabic Script/Alphabet or Hangul or Cyrillic). There really is no use in being beligerantly dissident for the sake of it, if it is educationally, academically, and professionally, holding your population back.

[@jonathanhill9504]

Yeah, stop teaching a universal language that half your country and all your neighbor countries speak and force them to use Welsh, a dying language with no future prospects 😂

[@S0.3]

The parents are failing their children Blame the parents

[@ytkel8880]

another faddish educational idea that emerged in the 1960s

[@Ballinalower]

Never mind, they are learning the important things like men can have babies.

[@LawrenceBishton]

ill lite rate is why adds pay to whom for who

[@anacmarulanda]

No excuse for children not knowing how to read in a first world country. All it takes is dedicating 15 mins of your time to read with your kid and get them to read to you a day. Even if the methods are not right, reading with your child and getting your child to read to you is all it takes. We can’t outsource our children’s education solely to schools and apps.

[@AstronomicalLearners]

That's not how it works. Everyone needs structured literacy

[@LawrenceBishton]

Just means ?

[@ClinStenGB]

*news reporter name sounds like jungle African candy song.*

[@ClinStenGB]

😂😂

[@LawrenceBishton]

Reading means what?

[@00Xander00]

I hope they aren't forced to learn Welsh in primary schools. It's a super hard thing to learn and wouldn't be fair on them as they may develop a belief that spelling is hard which would make them less confident with being able to read/write which will be a fundamental problem later on. I've just Googled it whist writing this. Yes, not only do they learn Welsh, but they learn it as their PRIMARY language :O. Shame on UK government for allowing Wales to even have their own 'government' in the first place. It's about time Wales becomes a part of England anyway. Not that I hate Wales or Welsh people, but the opposite. It's not fair on them. It's England anyway in my mind. Imagine if England had to learn English from 1000 years ago as the primary language just because culture stuff. You can only cram so much into a curriculum. Shakespeare & school uniforms diverts people to want to learn anyway, never mind having to learn another language for no beneficial reason, other than old people obsessed with a fake culture. It's a superficial shame.

[@pennyhall6973]

Thought we had teachers for this.

[@07Flash11MRC]

Teachers can't parent the kids. This is an issue of parents not doing their jobs.

[@pennyhall6973]

@@07Flash11MRC I’m sure you’re right, but I can’t help but think reading is so incredibly important the people being paid to deliver the skill set ought to be able to do it. If they can’t, then maybe they need to be better trained and supported.

[@07Flash11MRC]

@@pennyhall6973 Teachers are paid to teach, not to parent. Besides, parents get plenty taxpayer money to raise feed and clothe their children. Additionally it is also wrong to force teachers to also be the childrens' and their parents' therapist´, psychologist, baby-sitter, etc.

[@antaje407]

I'm from the US and a teacher. Teacher can only do so much. It takes a village to support our learners. Now what needs to be research is if the parents also struggle with reading and intervention methods for ELAR classes. We're having a similar problem here where our students are becoming behind on reading.

[@bradleedenney]

Was hoping to you would mention the race factor. Is there a culture that reading is not fundamental?

[@justanotherpersonxo]

Wales' culture clearly. They have had this issue for decades and keep getting worse. If it was culturely important they would have done something by now.