This is a crisis we'd better get a handle on before it's too late -- if it isn't already!
Posted on 08/24/2015 7:00:03 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Hundreds of websites still casually assert what is probably the most destructive sophistry in the history of education:
The Dolch Sight Words [created in the 1940s] are a list of the 220 most frequently used words in the English language. These sight words make up 50 to 70 percent of any general text….Dolch found that children who can identify a certain core group of words by sight could learn to read and comprehend better. Dolch's sight word lists are still widely used today and highly respected by both teachers and parents. These sight words were designed to be learned and mastered by the third grade.
Even at a glance, you may see several problems. Just because they were “designed to be learned and mastered” by the third grade doesn’t mean they will be. The majority of children cannot master these words by any grade, if by master you mean name them with automaticity at reading speed.
“Respected by both teachers and parents” is a slippery construction that conspicuously omits mention of “reading experts who conduct research.”
Furthermore, even if these words make up two thirds of a text, that means a child cannot read every third word. Nothing resembling reading can take place.
Note that phonics instruction would allow the student to read every word by the second grade. But the sight-word method promises that by third grade, the children will know a small subset of English words but still remain largely illiterate. What sort of promise is that?
Even all that is not the full indictment. Trying to memorize many graphic designs – and that’s what learning to read with sight-words entails – is virtually impossible. The brain becomes cluttered with hundreds of partly memorized designs, all of which look quite similar.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
This is a crisis we'd better get a handle on before it's too late -- if it isn't already!
We bought "Hooked on Phonics". The kids hated it.
It was helpful, but not that great.
We did far better using the 1830 - 1840 phonics rules and books from 1830s to 1880s.
English used to be spelled phonetically like German or Russian. It got frenchified after the Norman conquest.
In many of our cities, everything the children of illegals want to know, they’ll learn in their gangs...until they are convicted or killed.
The U.S. is projected to become a majority-minority nation for the first time in 2043. While the non-Hispanic white population will remain the largest single group, no group will make up a majority.
All in all, minorities, now 37 percent of the U.S. population, are projected to comprise 57 percent of the population in 2060. (Minorities consist of all but the single-race, non-Hispanic white population.) The total minority population would more than double, from 116.2 million to 241.3 million over the period.
Yes. A properly-designed phonics system will account for the fact that we are trying to stuff ~44 sounds into 26 letters. But this does not make English non-phonetic, merely phonetically complex when compared, say, with Spanish.
1. It's possible that they do.
2. If so, we won't know about it, because Communist dictatorships lie about stuff.
Not saying that phonics isn't better, much better, because it is.
I’ve lived and work in both Japan and Taiwan and I can say unequivocally that FUNCTIONAL illiteracy is VERY LOW in both countries.
But then illegal immigration is not a problem in their country.
This might sound racist, but here’s a thought experiment — what if you just measured the WHITE literacy rate in this country?
That’s still 215 million people ( more than the population of Japan ).
I’d be willing to bet that the literacy rate would be just as high as theirs.
give him the sports pages and Mad magazine...he’ll start loving reading....
Yes! Our reading program went through all that. Given I did not really know what I was doing, I asked a lady with 7 homeschool children for the reading program I should use and she tipped me off. My son was reading at the eighth grade level in third grade!
What is amazing about homeschool is that you don’t have all the interruptions of herd school, so my son could really concentrate on what he was doing. We did not always jump around subject to subject; spending the time he wanted to spend on reading or math, etc. in those early years. We got so close and he was so happy. When he learned to read, he read books like crazy. I made him write book reports.
He got interested in historical novels which helped at history lesson time. I went to a used book store that had a ton of antique American school books. The novels were geared towards the interests and nature of boys. The best was old American civic books that taught about the constitution and American ethics (character) to children. It was Christianity in action - in all aspects of American life.
They don’t teach the children to memorize their math tables in public schools anymore, either! There is so much to say about homeschool...it was just wonderful for him. While in college he actually told me that I saved his life, pulling him out of public school. They were making noises about maybe he should be on Ritalin when I pulled him out!
One of my little sisters, while in college, was having a hard time reading college level text books. I sent her my son’s reading program and it helped her a lot. Then she wanted his math and science programs. She had never learned to memorize the simple math tables, although she could limp through simple math with other techniques!
ping
I hadn’t thought of that, I’ll give it a try. I’ve tried books about every possible subject he’s interested in, but he’ll only read a little bit then quit.
Well, they have 50 million total illiterates, so I imagine they probably have us beat at “functional illiterates” too.
Here are graphs showing literacy rates by race and by income.
I have worked with students of all races and SES levels and actually, some of my fastest learners have been minory students of formerly homeless moms in Los Angeles! (Because fthey had no sight wird guessing habits to overcome.)
Most of my middle class students of any race have to untrained from guessing with nonsense words, I have a free game you can print out that makes both real and nonsense words.
Even more powerful than regular phonics is Webster’s Speller, it teaches phonics and spelling to a 12th grade level.
http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/litpercent.html
http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/profitable.html
You might also want to see if there are sight word guessing problems, give the MWIA, available for free on Don Potter’s website. He and I have a ton of good free resources on our websites if there is a problem.
There are people that do.
Try Steve Sailer’s column at unz.com/isteve
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