The Importance of Teaching Your Kids to Google

by SmartChristy

With one week left in the previous Quarter of the school year, it comes to my attention that my child has zero points on her reading quizzes. I am really confused. She reads all the time at home, at least 30 minutes a day. She has a room full of books and we go to the library often.  Plus, she likes reading. How is it possible for her to have zero points on her reading quizzes?

The reading quizzes are taken on the computer. This is a popular program with schools called Accelerated Reader. The next step is key: the student must search online for the book. Students can search by Book Title or by Author. I watched my daughter slowly hunt and peck the letters of an entire book title. She clicks “Search” and no results are found. “Did you know you can search by author?” I ask and tell her to type only the first 3 letters of the author’s name. This time, she gets results. In three days, she has earned 16.9 points of the 20 she needed for the Quarter.

Searching for a book to take a reading quiz requires the same skill set as searching Google or any other search engine. I am told her school does teach the National Educational Technology Standards, even though the district does not require it.