Neil deGrasse Tyson Quotes

When I went to school, I was already reading and writing. In fact, I was offended that the other kids couldn't.

I think it is shocking that 15- and 16-year-olds leave school unable to add up and with the reading ability of a four-year-old.

I know what not being able to read can do to a child's confidence.

I just am not good at math.

I remember failing reading in school at a young age, and you just kinda get left behind and I felt helpless.

I wasn't a very good student in elementary school and had a hard time with reading and writing.

I'm not good at normal things. I can't drive a car. I couldn't read till I was 10.

Experts say that if children can't read by the end of the fifth grade, they lose self-confidence and self-esteem, making them more likely to enter the juvenile justice system.

I had learning disabilities, and I couldn't express myself in the written word.

My mother relied on her memory to do things because she couldn't read. Part of that was not really knowing numbers.

I didn't learn the alphabet until I was 11.

We have a large underclass in Britain, and a fairly low standard of education. Our best universities are extremely good, but a very significant proportion of the British population that comes out of compulsory schooling with very low standards of education.

I am very fortunate I can send my kids to private school, but everybody does not have the money. If you cannot get your kid in a good school today, your kids are going to be behind the eight ball.

The big problem is just this kind of gigantic piece, of kids reading less and liking it less and so getting worse at it. It's kind of this terrible spiral: Since they're not so good at it they do less of it, get worse at it, do less of it. And it's really what I discovered five, six years ago when I started the 'Guys Read' thing.

Is it possible that literacy standards are falling because young Australians are growing up in a culture in which they can be entertained and informed, and in which they can communicate effectively, without having to master any but the most rudimentary literacy skills?

I'm not a nerd, don't plan to be a nerd and read books - which I can't do at all.

I was growing up in the 50's and 60's. Back then they didn't even know what dyslexia was.

I'm a great believer that the most important years are the sort of early years but the preschool years and then into the first and second grades. If you get a good base in the first and second grade and you can read, you can do anything.

American high school students trail teenagers from 14 European and Asian countries in reading, math and science. We're even trailing France.

No skill shapes a child's future success in school or in life more than the ability to read.

In junior high school, I learned that I could be good at school. I remember liking the freedom to choose classes and the pleasure of learning and doing well. My perseverance and love of reading had somehow allowed me to overcome many disadvantages of dyslexia, and I read a lot of books for pleasure.

A child miseducated is a child lost.

I hadn't learned to read by third grade, which wasn't unusual for some kids. I knew something was wrong because I couldn't see or understand the words the way the other kids did. I wasn't the least bit bothered - until I was sent back to the second-grade classroom for reading help after school.

It took me nine years to get through the fourth grade. When I got into television commercials, I had to take a crash course in reading. I was 32 years old, and I couldn't read the cue cards.

Childhood reading is so important.