Endangered Minds: Why Our Children Don't Think

The incidence of illiteracy in the United States is even more alarming when seen to include the decline in skill and interest in reading among the functionally literate. Searching for the cause and ruling out decline in intelligence, educator Healy ( Your Child's Growing Brain ) draws on recent research in neuropsychology for her model of how children learn. Observing and analyzing educational practices and examining the constraints imposed by mandatory competency testing, Healy concludes that current pedagogical techniques should be changed. Even acclaimed electronic teaching programs such as Sesame Street and The Electronic Circus in her view, reach only a limited aspect of a young child's learning apparatus. Thoughtful and provocative, this advisory offers much to parents regarding the development of their children's reading and critical thinking abilities. (Oct.)