Teacher raises alarm on the state of American elementary education: 'Not all kids can spell their names'

Elementary education is crucial in the development of children, and there's no debate about that. In a video uploaded by Mr. Wilson’s Twin Brother (@iammrwilson313) on TikTok, the teacher discussed the things students should know before moving on to middle school.

"I'm gonna say something controversial," he said at the beginning. "If your child does not have these skills, they are not qualified for the fifth grade." He then goes on to say that one of the main things that students should know before going to middle school is writing their names. "Every year, I give a test to make sure my kids can spell their names, and not once in five years have I had a class where 100 percent passed. This isn’t just a COVID thing. At some point, between kindergarten and fifth grade, a child should have learned to spell their name automatically," he said. 

Another fundamental skill that he discusses is reading, which means that students should be able to read beyond simply CVC words—basic consonant-vowel-consonant words like 'cat' or 'dog.' He talked about how students must be able to read in paragraphs to access the curriculum. "I can’t keep reaching back to the basics for them when we’re supposed to be moving forward," he said.  

Next, he talks about math, adding that it is particularly difficult for students. He explained how students need to count "2 + 2" on their fingers.

"My kids need to know their multiplication facts because, after that, we’re doing decimals, standard algorithms, and more complex math. If they’re stuck on basic addition, it’s going to snowball into bigger problems later," he said.

Lastly, he mentioned that students should be able to talk about their basic information. "If I ask a student for their home address or a parent’s phone number and they don’t know it, that’s a huge red flag. How are they going to get home safely if there’s an emergency? This isn’t even about academics; it’s about safety and independence," he added. 

The 7-minute-long video received more than 6 million views, and many people took to the comment section to discuss how low the bar is set. "Had to look up the age of fifth grade - ten to eleven. Ten to eleven and this is the standard???" asked @meandthepigeons. "Being able to write their own name is a skill they should have by AGE 5 not GRADE 5," added @user4648382927.

"Dayum we were reading 100+ page novels discussing themes and writing 5 paragraph essays by the 5th /6th grade," shared @j_loyce. "After the 'No Child Left Behind' was implemented accountability left the room. Children NEED to be left behind so parents can actually care," wrote @chl0e.grac3. "As a European student (upper levels of high school for your system) this is insane?! I saw someone say that high school students can't read a clock. What are you talking about?!" @phiasoup chimed in. 

You can follow Mr. Wilson’s Twin Brother (@iammrwilson313) for more educational content on TikTok.