Interesting! 1975 was so long ago, I can't remember what we did
We were learning to read and it seemed like a kinder gentler time as compared to DD's current first grade experiences. It just seems more like a bureaucratic system. My twin sister and I walked about 1/2 mile to school by ourselves! I would never let DD do that now, but again it was a different time.
If people haven't been in a elementary school in many years, I think they'd be surprised at how much teachers are expected to do, the varying needs of the the kids in the class, and how many "buzz" words are being used! (I had to finally ask what decoding was. What happened to "sounding it out"? )
Many of the biggest differences are in my opinion the result of standardized testing and NCLB.
