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In The Clutches of the Sight-Word Monster
EdFrontier ^ | Dec. 20, 2011 | Bruce Deitrick Prrice

Posted on 01/02/2012 7:18:49 PM PST by BruceDeitrickPrice

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To: FateAmenableToChange

“Everything else is a communist plot. (No, really. You guys really said that.).”

I’ll let others use that term...I don’t need to. I only go as far as saying that the people pushing this crap at the top simply want to “level the playing field a bit” and bring the US down to with the rest of the world.

And judging by our test scores (which just happen to crash when we went to Whole Language and Fuzzy Math), they have been quite successful.


121 posted on 01/04/2012 9:48:14 PM PST by BobL ("Heartless" and "Inhumane" FReepers for Cain - we've HAD ENOUGH)
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To: BobL
And yes, you are one hell of a crappy parent if you really believe the crap you spout. I feel for your kids.

There's the false pity and appeal to empathy again. Wow, you really only have a limited bag of tricks, don't you?

In a final appeal to rationality, take a look at the logic behind what you just wrote. I won't expect an apology, but here we go.

My only factual assertions in this entire thread have been that (a) English is an amalgam of many different language groups and is highly complex; (b) in some cases dolch sight cards are a good supplement to a sound reading program.

On the basis of those assertions alone, you have asserted that I am a "crappy" parent if I believe the assertions above. And that I'm really "whacked out."

Since you know nothing else about me, it logically follows that you believe all people who believe factual assertions (a) and (b) above is a "crappy" parent. (I'll take the "whacked out" comment to refer to the fact that I'm still attempting to teach you the error of your ways.)

Really? Do you feel good about that?

122 posted on 01/04/2012 9:51:05 PM PST by FateAmenableToChange
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To: BobL; FateAmenableToChange; mrreaganaut

You realize that you’re giving yourself away with terms like that. No normal person uses it - only education insiders.

- - - -
Not true. MrR and I both use the word, neither of us are educators.


123 posted on 01/04/2012 9:51:25 PM PST by reaganaut (If Romney is a conservative then I'm the frickin Angel Moroni.)
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To: reaganaut

That’s fine, lots of us have multiple log-ins.


124 posted on 01/04/2012 9:54:54 PM PST by BobL ("Heartless" and "Inhumane" FReepers for Cain - we've HAD ENOUGH)
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To: FateAmenableToChange

“(b) in some cases dolch sight cards are a good supplement to a sound reading program.”

Nuts.


125 posted on 01/04/2012 9:55:07 PM PST by BobL ("Heartless" and "Inhumane" FReepers for Cain - we've HAD ENOUGH)
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To: BobL
I’ll let others use that term...I don’t need to. I only go as far as saying that the people pushing this crap at the top simply want to “level the playing field a bit” and bring the US down to with the rest of the world.

And judging by our test scores (which just happen to crash when we went to Whole Language and Fuzzy Math), they have been quite successful.

There we agree on something. Although I think that overemphasis on WL and FM are symptoms of the overarching problem that parents gave up on their personal responsiblity to raise and educate their children and ignored what the school boards did. Stupid things like letting school boards schedule meetings for Wednesday and Thursday nights when the most religiously oriented (and therefore most demanding in terms of personal responsibility and accountability) citizens were in mid-week church. Parents turning their children over to Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers for after-school moral indoctrination. Etc. In my opinion, that's what opened the door for Dewey's acolytes to come to dominate the schools. Additionally, it could just as easily have been a capitalist "plot." The McGuffey Reader and progeny pretty much dominated the market. The only way a competitor could get in was to provide something completely different and justify it as more modern, scientific, and progressive. The competitor then engages in agency capture by electing the school board or lobbying it intensely. It's curriculum then gets adopted by gullible (or paid off) school boards as the newest and most modern thing.

You're probably posting something nasty to my last post right now, and that's ok. Since we agree on something rational besides that Herman Cain would have made an awesome president, I'm just going to let this thread go on without me.

126 posted on 01/04/2012 10:02:27 PM PST by FateAmenableToChange
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To: BobL

Excuse me? If you are going to accuse me of something, do so plainly.

Some of us actually HAVE a vocabulary. Of course it helps that MrR and I both have advanced degrees (none in education).


127 posted on 01/04/2012 10:02:41 PM PST by reaganaut (If Romney is a conservative then I'm the frickin Angel Moroni.)
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To: FateAmenableToChange

My only factual assertions in this entire thread have been that (a) English is an amalgam of many different language groups and is highly complex; (b) in some cases dolch sight cards are a good supplement to a sound reading program.

- - - - -
Both of those statements are correct.


128 posted on 01/04/2012 10:04:14 PM PST by reaganaut (If Romney is a conservative then I'm the frickin Angel Moroni.)
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To: reaganaut

“Excuse me? If you are going to accuse me of something, do so plainly.”

Sorry, my apologies. You just happened to stumble on an otherwise dead thread out of nowhere, at just the right time. But I see you’ve been busy tonight on other stuff. Since I have had the other guy tied down pretty effectively in his rampage, I don’t see he could be working multiple threads.

Even so, your use of the term “educators” does raise my eyebrow a bit...generally only teachers call themselves “educators” - the rest of the public knows better, given our test scores.


129 posted on 01/04/2012 10:06:46 PM PST by BobL ("Heartless" and "Inhumane" FReepers for Cain - we've HAD ENOUGH)
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To: FateAmenableToChange; mrreaganaut

My point: Not even the very bestest of the bestest pedagogical systems in the whole world will reach every child every time. Sometimes, some children benefit from approaching the problem of learning in a different way.

- - - - -
Phonology is ingrained to such a degree (and wrongfully so) that it can become an imediment to learning foreign languages.

MrR was reading at 2 1/2, I was reading a few months later (by my 3rd birthday). We were in preschool together and were the only two who could read (which annoyed the director of the daycare because we wanted to follow directions as printed, not as they told us). Neither of us went through traditional ‘phonetic’ training.

Fast forward 16 years. I’m in college, studying Biblical Hebrew. Almost all the kids tried to learn it like they learned English (phonetically). I treated it as a code substitution and learned to recognize root patterns. It worked for me, but it wasn’t what most kids were taught.

Sometimes we have to learn to think outside the box, US education doesn’t do that and as a result we have instead dumbed down our education system to the point of no return.


130 posted on 01/04/2012 10:10:07 PM PST by reaganaut (If Romney is a conservative then I'm the frickin Angel Moroni.)
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To: reaganaut
Of course it helps that MrR and I both have advanced degrees (none in education).

PhD in Geography? ...or Sociology?

131 posted on 01/04/2012 10:10:49 PM PST by lonestar (It takes a village of idiots to elect a village idiot.)
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To: FateAmenableToChange

“You’re probably posting something nasty to my last post right now, and that’s ok. Since we agree on something rational besides that Herman Cain would have made an awesome president, I’m just going to let this thread go on without me.”

LOL. Only a little nasty. Anyway, let’s get to bed, I have to work tomorrow (and probably you too).

And yes, Cain would have been OUTSTANDING. I came real close to dropping some big bucks on him...but I wanted him to get through a week without messing up, but he couldn’t. I’m all for Rick S. now...but I’ll still vote for Cain here in Texas if the Primary’s already decided (and he’s on the ballot).


132 posted on 01/04/2012 10:11:53 PM PST by BobL ("Heartless" and "Inhumane" FReepers for Cain - we've HAD ENOUGH)
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To: BobL
Sorry, my apologies. You just happened to stumble on an otherwise dead thread out of nowhere, at just the right time. But I see you’ve been busy tonight on other stuff. Since I have had the other guy tied down pretty effectively in his rampage, I don’t see he could be working multiple threads.

Ok, I was going to stay out having said my piece. But this is too good. First off, I've been feeling pretty good, stuck in a hotel room in a boring city with nothing better to do, just being able to keep you and your fellow travelers tied up in this thread. It lets me do some small bit of good for the world by bottling you up here for a while.

Second, I like how you call logic and practical experience a "rampage."

Third, that thing you just did with wintertime about how it's all sad that people are defending Whole Words ... blah, blah... That was hilarious. Please do it again. It makes you look very mature. And world-weary.

Fourth, pretty much anyone with an advanced degree knows the word pedagogy.

Finally, you do realize how FR works, right? Every time there is a post on this thread, it shows up again when viewing recent posts. A "dead" thread is one that no one is actually posting in.

133 posted on 01/04/2012 10:15:35 PM PST by FateAmenableToChange
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To: BobL

Understood, but I often work multiple threads (ADHD at work). I ended up here because I hit ‘comments’ tab on the latest posts.

And I use terms like ‘educators’ and other specialized terms. It is a byproduct of my love of learning and background.

My best friend teaches High School, but I love her anyway. However, I have no love for our current educational system.


134 posted on 01/04/2012 10:19:22 PM PST by reaganaut (If Romney is a conservative then I'm the frickin Angel Moroni.)
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To: BobL
And yes, Cain would have been OUTSTANDING. I came real close to dropping some big bucks on him...but I wanted him to get through a week without messing up, but he couldn’t. I’m all for Rick S. now...but I’ll still vote for Cain here in Texas if the Primary’s already decided (and he’s on the ballot).

And I did go all in with every primary penny I had the day before the last Chicago Special erupted. I would do it all over again if it would have had any influence in keeping him in the race.

135 posted on 01/04/2012 10:20:21 PM PST by FateAmenableToChange
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To: lonestar

Degrees in Biblical Studies, theology, history. Hubby has his JD.


136 posted on 01/04/2012 10:20:48 PM PST by reaganaut (If Romney is a conservative then I'm the frickin Angel Moroni.)
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To: reaganaut; BobL; FateAmenableToChange; wintertime
No normal person uses it - only education insiders.

The word "pedagogy" was not invented by leftists in the 1960s. In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane was a pedagogue. Some of us had parents who made us look up hard words in the dictionary if we didn't understand them. Dictionaries once upon a time had etymologies as well, teaching the prefixes, roots, and suffixes of words.

As always, the best teachers are observant parents, no matter the official pedagogical regime. (Not to let the current muddle-headed hippie retreads off the hook in any way.)

137 posted on 01/04/2012 10:20:56 PM PST by mrreaganaut (Stupidity killed the cat. Curiosity was framed.)
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To: reaganaut

imediment should be impediment.


138 posted on 01/04/2012 10:21:45 PM PST by reaganaut (If Romney is a conservative then I'm the frickin Angel Moroni.)
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To: Pelham; Prospero; reaganaut
The trick was to never let school get in the way of your education.

Amen to that! That's almost a tagline.

139 posted on 01/04/2012 10:24:22 PM PST by mrreaganaut (Stupidity killed the cat. Curiosity was framed.)
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To: reaganaut

“My best friend teaches High School, but I love her anyway.”

I could make a comment here and keep Fate up for another half hour writing a response...but I won’t. LOL.

“Understood, but I often work multiple threads (ADHD at work). I ended up here because I hit ‘comments’ tab on the latest posts.”

I am familiar with that...but the comments go so fast I didn’t think anyone would actually use that...but then things do slow down at this hour.


140 posted on 01/04/2012 10:30:07 PM PST by BobL ("Heartless" and "Inhumane" FReepers for Cain - we've HAD ENOUGH)
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