I volunteered to help grades 1-5 read in the GTA in Canada last year, and I was shocked not only at their deplorable reading levels but also their lack of concentration.
The only kids I could manage to get to actually read anything were the kids who admit their parents read to them every night, and they were proud to read/show off essentially in front of the other kids.
The majority of the kids couldn't do much more than look at the pictures and got bored (of their 15 page books!) before even flipping through all of the pages.
It seemed pretty obvious that "school" meant more of a daycare/vacation for the parents than a learning experience for the children.
The only kids I could manage to get to actually read anything were the kids who admit their parents read to them every night, and they were proud to read/show off essentially in front of the other kids.
The majority of the kids couldn't do much more than look at the pictures and got bored (of their 15 page books!) before even flipping through all of the pages.
It seemed pretty obvious that "school" meant more of a daycare/vacation for the parents than a learning experience for the children.