It was so interesting to create this list of tech that I didn’t have access to as a young reader and writer (and even up to my young adult days as a college student). Previous generations are known for discussing the struggles that they had to go through (the “hard things”) to their children and grandchildren — situations and circumstances that their descendants would probably never have to face in their lifetimes. You know, it’s that old . . . “Well, back in my day” talk.
Yes, I’m proudly guilty of having those same types of discussions with my children. It’s important for the up-and-comers of today to know history, how things have changed for the better (and for the worse), and how blessed they should feel that people before them (who struggled and fought for the privilege to have what they so easily take for granted) paved the way to make things easier for them in certain areas of life.
HOWEVER . . .
There are some old paths that still hold major credibility today. Maybe even BETTER credibility than the new way to do things that make life so much easier.
I tend to think that some areas of learning should just be left alone, because IF THEY WORK, THEY WORK. Quit finessing them and let them do their thing.
Teaching children to read and write is one of those things. I don’t think I’ll ever come across a time in human existence when teaching children to read and write for themselves is old news — even though today’s tech age is inadvertently doing everything to hinder children from doing that very thing — read and write for themselves.
I mean . . . what do we think children will do if they have the option to bypass some steps in the process of absorbing written content or creating their own written content?
They are going to bypass it, more than likely. And, why not? They have easy access to all the toys to help them do so. At their little fingertips, even.
Children today are bombarded with all the gadgetry that makes things easier and quicker and gamified. That’s the world they’ve come up in. So, what’s a child to do, especially if what they eat, drink, and play is tech that will do things for them that they no longer (not really) have to do for themselves?
So, I thought it would be interesting to see all the tech help that children have today that I didn’t have coming up. And honestly, I think I’m a stronger reader and writer for it. I HAD to learn to read and write . . . the old school way.
Like learning the names of letters, the sounds they make, how to recognize patterns in words, consonant-vowel-consonant words, blends and digraphs, long and short vowel sounds, silent e that makes the vowel letter before it say its name, open and closed syllables, multisyllabic word decoding, and all the things. And, how to write all of the aforementioned without the help of tech assistants. I even had vocabulary to learn and tests over those vocabulary words. For real. Because, technology just wasn’t around to do it for me.
Here’s a list of what I didn’t have access to as a student coming up in elementary, middle, and high schools as well as some college:
- ChatGPT
- Google Gemini
- Microsoft Copilot
- the spell check feature in WordPress
- Grammarly
- dictionary.com
- audiobooks through digital downloads and streaming services
- autofill option from browsers and apps
- audio/video-to-text transcription software
My, how times have changed! And, I’m not saying that any of the above is inherently bad. If it’s used in the right way, it can be really, REALLY GOOD.
But, I’m ALWAYS going to advocate for teaching our children to read and write first. I mean . . . truly read and truly write . . . for themselves BEFORE bombarding them with all the toys that will do these very skills for them.
degreesofmaternity.com 