Perhaps the times have changed since I was in second grade, reading "Spot and Jane" books, but I am a bit concerned on the material that is being taught to my daughter, who is currently in second grade.
For example, look at the picture below
Look at the numbers nine and four on the left. This what I was taught in school. The ones on the right (in the red box) is what is being taught in school these days. I am not saying that these numbers are wrong, but they do not fit in, with the rest of the alpha-numeric symbols that they are teaching in school.
The NINE and the FOUR have evloved in 30 years to a "digital" form. I can see why people use those numbers, because they see them on digital watches, calculators, cellphones, etc...
Now look at the J and the I on the left, in the picture. They have no serifs (the little fancy hat). People assume that the letter "J" exclusively uses the serif. This is false, unless you use the serif on ALL of the letters in the alphabet. As a matter of fact, the font on this web page is wrong. The I's and the J's have serifs, but the rest of the lettering here is sanserif. Very inconsistant.
Reputable publications and businesses will not display such inconsistancy. (Except for Pennsylvania license plates)
Here's another...
Today, my daughter had a math problem. But personally, I believe that it is not correct. Here is exactly what the homework displayed.
John read 5 more books than Cindi.
Cindi read 13 books.
How many books did John read? ___________
If John read 10 books, how many books did Cindi read? _________
We all know that the answer to the first part is 18 books. But the second question is tricky. If you look at the question, it is not clear enough to find the answer they want. My logical answer is 13. Why? Well it clearly says that Cindi read 13 books. You cannot dispute that. I can't help that John may have read 10 books instead. What do you think that the answer should be.
Here's another...
My daughter has to read two books for homework. She reads them to family members to improve her skills. I thought maybe she was reading the book wrong, but she wasn't. Whatever book this was, was not published with correct grammar. I am not an expert but here is an example...
John sat down in the chair. And his mother baked cookies.
Since when is it acceptable to use a the word And to start a sentence? The word "and' is a conjunction.
Here's another example...
The suit needs cleaned.
Wrong! The suit need to be cleaned.
I know that they are not teaching the kid grammar yet, but I don't think it is a good idea to have them read books that cannot use proper grammar.
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I may sound a bit too picky on these things, but I believe that it is very important to stress the little things such as this, in hopes that the next generation of people can communicate with eacher with clarity and minimal errors. Not like the K-Lite lounge where everyone uses the word noone, when they mean "no one", or your instead of you're.
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