I’ve spent the past year-and-a-half working as an online tutor.  And I’ve seen things that make me question whether we truly believe in educating our children or if we merely want to keep them moving through the system.

I’ve encountered third-graders who cannot read. And when I say cannot read, I mean they cannot read simple words such as ‘the’ or ‘dog’ or ‘cat.’  In my mind I wondered how a student could get through to the third grade without knowing how to read.

I suppose as an outsider looking in, it is easy to cast blame. The teachers for passing the student on to the next grade so she can become someone else’s problem. Or the parent for not taking the time to make sure their child is doing their homework and studying instead of playing video games.

One thing that stood out for me is what students are being taught and at what age. Many of the students I tutored were Latino and came from homes where their parents spoke Spanish and whose own education likely ended at a very early age. As I worked through the lessons with the students, I wondered to myself how was it possible for a student to excel if they are struggling to understand the homework and have no one at home who can help them.

We constantly hear how parents need to take an active role in their child’s education. But how can this happen when the parents themselves have no idea what the PEMDAS  method is or how to dissect ‘Annabel Lee.’

But I was also amazed. When a child refused to do the work, I would call the parents. The parents, who admitted not knowing a thing about computers, would nonetheless promise to sit with their child until the session was over.  And they kept their word, I could hear them when I would speak with the student.

I question what we are teaching our children. It seems the curriculum has not evolved in the years since I left school. I wonder how do we get a child interested in reading when they cannot relate to what they are being told is required reading. When you have to explain the meaning of every other word in a story or poem that was written two centuries ago, we need to stop and ask is this really effective teaching?

Although we live in the 21st century, we are still using teaching methods from the 19th century. Today’s students live in a world where computers have always been a part of their lives and it’s time to incorporate these and other interactive methods into their learning.

To keep students engaged and make them excited about learning, then we need to use the tools of the 21st century or we risk having an entire generation who can barely read.