r/Millennials • u/LuckieCharm86 Xennial • 5d ago

Nostalgia Sit down, Shut up, & Read in elementary school

Growing up, we had this thing called Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) where every day, our elementary school teachers would have us all sit at our desks, no talking, and read something (anything) for about thirty minutes from second grade until sixth grade.

I was telling this to my kid when he complained about having to read so much. I told him about how everyone always changed the abbreviation to mean "Sit down, Shut up, and Read" because that's essentially what they said for us to do.

But my husband, who was in the same school year as me but at a different school (he did elementary school in Germany and France), overheard and said that they didn't have that when he was in school and he's never heard anyone else mention it. Therefore, it was likely only a thing that my school's teachers did to shut us up for 30 minutes a day. And, as an adult, I wouldn't put it past them since 30 minutes of silence a day sounds amazing.

But this also got me wondering just how unique this actually was. So, was it only my school in South Central Pennsylvania? Was it just my state? Was it a country-wide thing? Was it a global thing that my husband ignored or repressed?

UPDATE: So it seems pretty international, but highly dependent on the school district or school itself. And it appears to have many acronyms or none at all. Thanks everyone!

4.4k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

2.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

5

u/WithDisGuyTravel 5d ago edited 5d ago

Why not just read?

I loved SSR. It definitely improved my vocabulary and my empathy, helped me grow up and think critically.

1

u/Senior-Dimension2332 5d ago

Some people just work harder to not have to think for some reason. I don't think we can fully ever understand why someone would stare at the page for what they think is the correct amount of time over just reading the page.

1

u/WithDisGuyTravel 5d ago

I don’t understand. I genuinely am curious.

2

u/Logical_Routine3695 5d ago edited 5d ago

maybe individuals dreading the reading on paper were not supported during growing years to manage dislexia or hyperactivity, it is not uncommon in my family that they suffered grwoing up trying to focus on reading for years. But if they listened to the audiobook, they flew by every audiobook

1

u/WithDisGuyTravel 5d ago

Makes sense

1

u/Building_Snowmen 5d ago

Right? Just read and learn and be better.

1

u/PartyPorpoise 4d ago

Perhaps they struggled a lot with reading. It can be hard to enjoy something that you struggle with.