It's the 21st century fer cryin' out loud !!! WTF ?

[FreeMountainHermit]

Color me confused.

In the few years that I've enjoyed living here in West Virginia following my retirement I've 6 guys working for me on various jobs around our property.

4 cannot read or write and none can fill out a check.

How is this possible in this modern day ???

[GrassHopper]

Did you pick em' up at Home Depot?

[FreeMountainHermit]

No home depot back in the hills.

[DAD300]

In the U.S. the long term average is 75% graduate high school. Of those that do graduate 19% are "functionally" illiterate. The U.S. Dept of Education estimates that 50% of the U.S. adult population reads below an 8th grade level.

It is painful...but sometimes I seem to scare workers off if I get too detailed, give them a drawing or ask too many questions, like, "Can you make this level?" or "Can you leave a 38" opening for the pre fab door to sit in?"

Calendars and dates don't work well either.

I grew up around illiterate rural people, but most worked to hide it. Today, if people can "get by" without reading, they will. It doesn't seem to be a matter of pride anymore.

[jedneck]

Guy I went to school with can barely read. To get his license somebody read him the questions and he answered them.

Yes its a shame that some don't do more than required to live.

[FreeMountainHermit]

In the U.S. the long term average is 75% graduate high school. Of those that do graduate 19% are "functionally" illiterate. The U.S. Dept of Education estimates that 50% of the U.S. adult population reads below an 8th grade level.

It is painful...but sometimes I seem to scare workers off if I get too detailed, give them a drawing or ask too many questions, like, "Can you make this level?" or "Can you leave a 38" opening for the pre fab door to sit in?"

Calendars and dates don't work well either.

I grew up around illiterate rural people, but most worked to hide it. Today, if people can "get by" without reading, they will. It doesn't seem to be a matter of pride anymore.

That would be a huge improvement.

I'm talking CAN NOT READ PERIOD.ZERO. NADDA.

Hand 'em a check and they jump back like it's a rattlesnake.

[shadylane]

There's many a good old boys in my neck of the woods that can't read or write.
They say, the gene pool is limited because most of the smart folks moved away over the years.
I moved back after retiring because land is cheap and crime and taxes are low.
One thing I've learned, just because a feller can't read, don't mean he can't build a barn for you.
Or live happily on his homestead and make some of the best moonshine.

[FreeMountainHermit]

don't mean he can't build a barn for you..

Hmmmm, folks here ain't too energetic and that's the ones that can read.

Took me three years to get a door hung.

Offered four guys 20 bucks an hour each to do some weedwhackin'. Nobody showed up.

Lady down the road finally found a carpenter to do some work for her. After two days he told her would be gone for a day to start another job and would be back. She locked his tools in the trunk of her car as she had paid in advance.He came back the next day and finished the job.

I could write a list,.....

[FreeMountainHermit]

They say, the gene pool is limited because most of the smart folks moved away over the years.

My pard's wife is a teacher at the local elementary school. Masters degree and lived here all her life. Said the same thing.

[rnw349]

I put my kids through private school, my oldest just started college while waiting to go to boot camp, taking freshman comp and an art class for humanities. After the 1st week he had to turn in a paper. Next class he came home and said dad you won't believe how stupid these kids are, they don't even know what a contraction is. He got a 100% on his paper, said the rest of the class period the teacher had to explain what a contraction is. Sad state of affairs our government has put us in. Common core doesn't work.

[HDNB]

I've 6 guys working for me on various jobs around our property.

none can fill out a check.

aren't you supposed to be the one fillin' out the cheque?

[FreeMountainHermit]

I've 6 guys working for me on various jobs around our property.

none can fill out a check.

aren't you supposed to be the one fillin' out the cheque?

Had a stroke about 7 years ago.Left hand no longer works. Extremely difficult to write with the other hand.Not a problem as I've learned to adapt.

I tell 'em what fucking line to write their name on and they CAN'T WRITE THEIR OWN GODDAMN NAME.

My yard guy can't spell 6. S-I-X

[HDNB]

well shit.

i guess an e-transfer ain't gonna make things any easier either.

[FreeMountainHermit]

well shit.

i guess an e-transfer ain't gonna make things any easier either.

e what ???? This is West Freaking Virginia. R YA NUTZ ???

[MichiganCornhusker]

Deleted: pwd

[FreeMountainHermit]

OUCH ! My mangina just puckered !!!

[shadylane]

There's one great thing about The United States of America.
If you don't like your neighbors or were you are, you can always move.
And if the place you moved to sucks, it's your own fault.

[FreeMountainHermit]

If you don't like your neighbors

LOLOLOL, got a biblethumpin' woman down the road that reads the good book 13 hours a day and hates everyone. Wore out 4 sets a winder panes last year alone worrying about folks. Caught her. hiding in my bushes when I had some company last year.

Fell off her porch last week tryin' ta figger out who my new yard guy was.When I take my yard guy home she runs out the driveway trying to figure out who he is.

Gave her some furniture a few weeks back. She smiled n waved n hollered fer bout a month. That didn't last long and now I'm back on her shit list. It's nice ta feel normal again.

[MitchyBourbon]

My son was almost turned into one of those "illiterates". When he was in 2nd grade his teacher told us he was not learning to read, write or do math. I told her that we were reading to him at home and that he seemed very enthusiastic about reading on his own. But she said that I was wrong and that if we didn't put him in special ed ASAP he would be irreparably damaged. My wife and I were so scared we agreed on the spot. She and I believe in the importance of an education, especially for kids growing up in these times. My wife has 2 masters and 2 PhD's, I have degrees in math and compsi. We were in disbelief that our son could be having such trouble. With each teacher/parent conference we went to they would tell us he was right where he needed to be. But he still wasn't reading. We asked what they were doing to make him successful. They said "we are observing him".

Well my wife did some research on special ed. She found that next to zero percent ever find there way back to mainstream classes. We pulled our kid out of that school asap and home schooled him for a year. Found a good private school and moved to be close to that school. He just got his masters in business (human resources) and has been accepted into the PhD program starting this fall.

I'm certain there are plenty of good schools, but the days when a parent could just toss there kid in school and expect that everything will be just fine are over. I was never told why they thought special ed was his only option. I was never told that few special ed students catch up with their peers and are re-integrated back into the mainstream classes.

These days if your not paying attention someone else may decide for you what your kids future is gonna be.

[MoonBreath]

Upbringing ...Prolly a poor family tree that had to work vs school, wherever the school was.
After a generation or two, the elders aren't literate enough two teach or make sure the youngest get educated..It's not limited to the country tho..Cities have alot of differnt reasons for illiteracy.

[pythonshine]

My great grandad was illiterate. He could get by but had trouble reading and such. Be damed though if you shorted him a dime or dollar. He was keen on numbers. He could best most of the teachers i have had for math. Its quite sad really, my seven year old nephew is going into grade two, insted of having the kids try to sound things out , they are teaching " word assosiation". Basically its, see this picture?, thats a horse! Can you say horse? Great! Now spell it.... Then if they have trouble with a with a word in a sentance they are supposed to look at the sentance and GUESS what the word should be!

[FreeMountainHermit]

All good posts but some of you are missing the gist of the thread and that's the sheer number of folks around here that can't read a cereal box as it's very high. They've learned to do it by association .

45 year old yard man can't spell 6 and my other guy can't multiply 1 1/2 times 10 without some serious head scratching.My neighbor lady is a retired elementary school teacher and a lifelong resident of the area just skirted the question when asked.

One of my new friends here is about my age(60ish) and is just about one of the nicest folks I've had the pleasure to shoot the shit with and has a 3rd grade education.Color me curious.

[dieselduo]

My great grandad was illiterate. He could get by but had trouble reading and such. Be damed though if you shorted him a dime or dollar. He was keen on numbers. He could best most of the teachers i have had for math. Its quite sad really, my seven year old nephew is going into grade two, insted of having the kids try to sound things out , they are teaching " word assosiation". Basically its, see this picture?, thats a horse! Can you say horse? Great! Now spell it.... Then if they have trouble with a with a word in a sentance they are supposed to look at the sentance and GUESS what the word should be!

hmmm looks like 4 words were spelled wrong here to me

[DAD300]

I discovered none of my grand kids (11) could read an analog clock or cursive writing. Most that are old enough, can't cursive a signature! Found this out when I say a ten year old asked to sign something, just put down his first initial. I have an analog clock on the porch and I asked the same ten year old what time it was? He ran in the house to look at the digital clock on the stove...argh...next day he was reading the analog clock just fine.

When they stay with us we work on it...takes about two days to get the clock down and a few more to get a signature going...

But the posts above are right. They only learn what they are exposed to and schools aren't exposing them to some basic functions.

[MichiganCornhusker]

I enjoy watching my kids' friends try to figure out how to dial my phone at home. They're not stupid, just never learned it.

[contrahead]

Color me curious.

Seems like you’ve found a place to retire that’s pretty far back in the sticks. West Virginia in particular but also many other rural areas hidden back in the Appalachians have always had a reputation for illiteracy. These days however a random sample of the IQ pool there might outrank an equivalent taken from a Detroit or Miami neighborhood.

My family moved from the city to a remote cattle ranch in the Ozarks when I was five.
If you want to talk about real hillbillies, I saw my share in the early 1960’s. I spent the first grade in a one room school (with about 50 bigger kids) in Cedarville, Ark. Fortunately both my parents were college graduates, found work as educators in a school system some 24 miles from the ranch, and hauled myself and sister to a better school every day for the next six or seven years.

Remoteness is no excuse for remaining ignorant. Consider self educated Abraham Lincoln’s ‘Gettysburg Address’ that would be considered high literature even at Oxford. This illiteracy of which you speak is merely an indoctrinated, localized lack of ambition. Any type of ambition, including intellectual.

I am concerned for the future, when kids today can’t wipe their backside without some type of electronic device. I started programming computers in 1972 but never anticipated society becoming so dangerously enamored with them. The rise of idiotic digital (and accompanying demise of analogue) controls or displays for tools, devices, utensils, automobiles is another of my pet peeves.

Enough of that. Here: see if anyone can pass this test … <saved from an e-mail>

--------------------------------

Could You Pass This Test??

Subject: With an 8th grade education.

Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they "only" had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Look what it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895; this is what you were expected to KNOW. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895? Can You Pass This Test Now? This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina, Kansas, USA. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, KS, and reprinted by the Salina Journal. 8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS -1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.

2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.

3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph

4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of"lie,""play," and "run."

5. Define case; Illustrate each case.

6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.

7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?

4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?

5. Find the cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.

6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.

7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per meter?

8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.

9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?

10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.

2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.

3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.

4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.

5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.

6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.

7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?

8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

Orthography (Time, one hour) Do we even know what this is??

1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication

2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?

3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals

4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?)

5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.

6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.

7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.

8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.

9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.

10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)

1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?

2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?

3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?

4. Describe the mountains of North America

5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.

6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.

7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.

8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?

9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.

10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete. Gives the saying "he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it!

[rubber duck]

I couldn't read well until I was an adult. I needed to get a ged but my reading was so bad I couldn't pass the test, ya that's pretty bad. I worked incredibly hard and had a lot of help from some good folks that gave a lot of their time, it took some time but I got up to snuff and passed that test.

It's incredibly embarrassing not being able to read. You really feel a lot of shame, and will go to great lengths to cover it up and get by. Some people really are just stupid, but i could speak three languages and just could not read English because I was never taught how. Part of the problem is once your in middle school and cant read what are you going to do? At that point it's to late, then you get into the job market at 18 if your lucky, and your hanging out with a bunch of other dumb asses. Your pretty much screwed into working a dead end job working ten key and banging your head against a post, and that's if your lucky. If your really lucky you know a trade that can make a little money like I did and work logging or being a puller on a boat. It's not actually a failure of the school system in my opinion, it's a parenting failure for the most part.

As everyone can see my grammar, spelling, and punctuation is or are pretty bad, lol. If you want it bad enough you can learn to do anything, a little help dosnt hurt though.

[rubber duck]

That is a teacher that wanted an early retirement by stoning. I think i would get a c but fail the grammar section. Wichita is kinda cool though, best looking women I've seen state side.

[HDNB]

My great grandad was illiterate. He could get by but had trouble reading and such. Be damed though if you shorted him a dime or dollar. He was keen on numbers. He could best most of the teachers i have had for math. Its quite sad really, my seven year old nephew is going into grade two, insted of having the kids try to sound things out , they are teaching " word assosiation". Basically its, see this picture?, thats a horse! Can you say horse? Great! Now spell it.... Then if they have trouble with a with a word in a sentance they are supposed to look at the sentance and GUESS what the word should be!

hmmm looks like 4 words were spelled wrong here to me

had to read that 3 times to see granddad.

gess i shudda copyed an pasteded inta spelchek.

[HDNB]

I enjoy watching my kids' friends try to figure out how to dial my phone at home. They're not stupid, just never learned it.

you should see what they can can't do with an LP