TWO OF THE THREE R'S.

The so-called THREE R's - reading, writing and arithmetic.

There have been three articles regarding children's literacy in the newspapers which have caught my attention recently. What is your opinion on the subject(s)?

A GOOD THING OR A  BAD THING?

Children as young as four could be finger printed in order to borrow books from a school library.

Pupils are having their thumbprints digitally transformed into electric codes which can be recognised by a computer.

They can then press their thumb on to a scanner to authorise a book loan.

School authorities piloting the scheme defended it, saying that the scheme was voluntary and heavily encrypted with no finger prints being stored.

But critics are appalled by the system.

"This is quite clearly appalling." said Phil Booth, national coordinator of NO2ID, a privacy campaign group.

"For such a trivial issue as taking out library books the taking of fingerprints is way over the top and wrong.

"This needs to be rolled back or stopped." -  Andrew Hough.

I personally can't help but think that Andrew Hough is probably right as far as privacy goes but, at the same time, I can't help but think it might also encourage children (boys in particular) to take out books - after all what an adventure to have to go through security measures similar to those seen on many a film.

MOST CERTAINLY A BAD THING.

* Children as young as seven are more likely to own a mobile (cell) phone than a book, figures show, adding to concerns over a decline in reading.

Almost nine in 10 pupils have a mobile with fewer than three-quarters who have their own bookshelf in the home.

The study by the NATIONAL LITERACY TRUST suggested a link between regular access to books outside school and high test results.

Some 8o per cent of children with better than expected reading skills had their own books, compared with 58 per cent who were below the level expected for their age group. - Graeme Paton, The Telegraph (READ ARTICLE)

With several pen pals and always encouraged to write thank-you notes for any gifts received/ parties invited to etc, I think it's such a shame that ......

** Letter writing is becoming a dying art among today's technologically savvy children, a survey shows.

More than a quarter of seven to 14 year-olds have not written a letter in the past year, and one in 10 has never written one, according to a poll by a children's charity.

(And yet) in the last week alone, half the youngsters have written an e-mail or a message on a social networking site.

Many children are leaving primary school unable to set out a letter with almost half of 11 year-olds unsure of the right layout. - The Telegraph (READ ARTICLE)