News - Education: 'Only 36% of Grade 3 pupils can read'

My dd is almost 2. But if this is the standard of education that she is going to recieve it seems as if Im going to have to pay for a private school!
For someone who values education highly I am terrified.

Okay, this is in South Africa. I thought that percentage was way off for the United States.

__________________
Let us be silent that we may hear the whisper of God. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I think that's where the OP is

I imagine if you really work with your DD, you can overcome that. I went to a poor school, with low rates for everything, including graduating, but my parents were really proactive about our education. My father taught me the multiplication table when I was in, oh, first grade, and they taught me to write before I was in kindergarten. I graduated with a good GPA, however more important, I also graduated with 20 college credits, from going to community college when I was a senior in high school. I had to fight for my education, but my parents were the biggest "educators" and teachers I had.

__________________

Absolutely. What the parents expose their children to (in terms of literature, science, etc.) before they begin school and for the 1st few years, is incredibly important and powerful. Foster reading in your child's life and you shouldn't need to worry.

__________________

As long as you read together, your dd will be just fine. If you're proactive, the school's rating is not as significant. I'd be concerned if there's social/discipline issues in a poor performing school.

I've been reading to my dd since she was a baby and have instilled a love of reading in her. When tested at school, she always reads well above her grade level.

__________________
"Anybody who believes the pen is mightier than the sword hasn't been inside a maximum security prison." ~ Lisa Scottoline

I recently read a book about the state of education in the USA. We don't rank very high worldwide, either, especially considering how much money we spend on public school. HOWEVER, even the book pointed out that averages are misleading. Some public schools in the USA far outpace even the best schools in the first-rate countries. Of course, SOME USA schools are so awful they pull down the average of everyone else.

As with everyone, it is best to closely examine YOUR SCHOOL in YOUR AREA and the education that YOUR CHILD is receiving.

__________________
"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

We had a little boy from South Africa in our district and he could read laps around most of our 3rd graders and he was a 2nd grader then. A very smart little boy as was his older sister.