Heath Article

“Adults did not consciously model, demonstrate, or tutor reading and writing behaviors for the young. Children, however, went to school with certain expectancies of print and a keen sense that reading is something one does to learn something one needs to know. In other words, before going to school, preschoolers were able to read many types of information available in their environment. They knew how to distinguish brand names from product descriptions on boxes or bags; they knew how to find the price on a label which contained numerous other pieces of written information……….. In these ways they read to learn information judged necessary in their daily lives, and they had grown accustomed to participating in literacy events in ways appropriate to their community’s norm.”
The adults in the community do not consciously help their children with reading and writing. They do it without realizing it. Because of this, the children thought of reading as something done to learn what is needed to learn. Preschoolers, by the time they started school knew the basic skills needed to survive.
This passage left me with two big questions. Why do the children go to school, if they know the basic reading skills to survive? What do they learn in school? If preschoolers know how to read the information necessary for daily life, what does school have to offer them?
Since most reading in Trackton was done socially, why do children need to become better readers? Most of the people in Trackton did not read alone. The only people who did read alone were the elderly. Even job applications and loan applications were done orally. Even if the person wanted to write the application themselves, the employer or loan officer would not let them. Thus the only skills needed were listening and speaking. Both of these skills can be taught and learned outside of schools.
The only thing students could learn in school was mathematics. Really there was no need to learn more than just the basics because most of the people worked in textile mill factories. Still most of the deductions were done but the employer.
In reality, the city of Trackton was a place where the people lived with very little literacy. They saw no need to learn more than what was needed to survive.