Posted on 05/04/2020 4:13:28 AM PDT by Kaslin
Hopefully, no one will forget our debt to Rudolf Flesch. He was a great man with a great mind.
Almost forty years ago, Flesch published Why Johnny STILL Can't Read, wherein he continued his crusade against Whole Word (AKA Whole Language, Sight-Words, and other aliases). In this book, Flesch attacked the Education Establishment and its counterfeit merchandise in a unique way. He pointed out that all the things the professors assert most loudly and proudly are nothing but alibis — a polite way of saying lies.
Has there ever been a field, in all of human history, that could be best defined by its alibis and lies? And not just a few of them. There are ten big ones. Identifying and illuminating them are where Flesch's genius shone.
Our Education Establishment, in its dedication to falsity, is almost superhuman. After all these years, these people are still pushing the same inferior theories and methods. Their gimmicks are disproven by almost all research and experience. These faux reading experts can do nothing but build a case on lies.
The Education Establishment tells these lies because its partisans know that the public wants desperately to believe they are true. The educrats are happy to let you have your illusions, as these are the intellectual basis for their dumbing down of America.
The first lie is "Everything Is Hunky-Dory." Isn't that comforting and reassuring? Parents with kids who can hardly read a word are naturally worried and nervous. Teachers, in many different ways, are trained to say everything is perfect, your child is on track to be a lifelong reader, don't worry.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
I can add another lie.
When you oppose or object to a policy or method they are forcing on your child, you are the ONLY one who has a problem with it.
I suggest that those interested in education examine the writings of Paolo Friere. Taking Dewey to the next level of leftism, many of his deconstructionist, anti-capitalist, etc. ideals can be seen throughout public education. To its obvious detriment.
One of his tenets was to flood the then-current system with the so-called lumpenproletariat, so that it collapses.
No longer learning centers more like indoctrination centers in social engineering, sexual deviance, diversity, propaganda, mental illness wards and racial inequality
Not only that, when a (liberal) parent objects to anything even remotely considered conservative (having the class write thank you letters to the President - who is Republican!), the educrats respond with, “There was a complaint so we have shut it down for now”...
‘more like indoctrination centers in social engineering’
since cave men learned to form cultures, any instruction from adult to child was done for the purpose of ‘social engineering’, in other words, for the good of the tribe...it would be pointless otherwise...
Re: Indoctrination
It is impossible to have a religiously, cultural, and politically neutral education.
Axiom:
When government runs schools it violates the First Amendment rights of the parents and children. This includes: free speech, free press, free assembly; and freedom to practice religious belief.
Solution:
Work toward complete privatization of all schooling. Vouchers, tax credits, and charters could be a way to get to there.
Eventually I found a school (classical education) where the parents mostly agreed with me but it took selling our home and moving.
K-12 is a big festering pimple. It needs to be squeezed from all sides.
Pressure Points:
-—Parents must be informed of the evil. Dr. Price is working on this.
-—Teachers must be shamed for implementing the evil.
-—The unions are evil and must be thwarted.
-—The federal and state departments of education must be abandoned.
-—Vouchers, tax credits, and charters can be used as a temporary solution to achieve full privatization of all education.
-—Employers must be encouraged to look for other means besides diplomas and degrees for certification of knowledge.
-—Society must see high school diplomas as nothing more that certificates of attendee.
These above are only a few of the ways the pimple can be squeezed.
Most Conservatives: “Well, I know the schools suck and ruin children, but I paid taxes to them, so I sure as hell plan to get my money’s worth!”
“Another way to undermine the claimed superiority of phonics is to say, “No One Method Is Best.” “
This should probably read: “No One Method Works Best for All Children”...at least that’s what I’ve heard (from idiot parents who still send their kids to public schools).
Everything about your local public school is signed off on by your elected school board.
The one most consistent thing that I have watched over the years as a teacher is how school district administrations will do almost ANYTHING to avoid conflict with the school board.
If you don't like what's happening in your schools, elect a school board that shares your, or the community's standards/values.
That's about the only thing that I saw throughout my career in education that will actually make a difference in what the school district does.
It often gets ugly, but I've noticed that educational administrators tend to be more sympathetic to community wishes when they realize that their ridiculous compensation package is on the line.
“This next one is sick: “Word Calling Isn’t Reading.” A version of this claims that when children read successfully what’s on the page, it’s not reading; it’s only “barking at print.””
When I taught my kids to read before they were 4 years old (phonics only, of course), I heard this argument from others, and it was actually TRUE at the time. They were clueless understanding much of what they read (other than really basic children’s book). But I correctly surmised they’d learn the meanings in the next few years, which they did.
In fact, NOT struggling with words makes understanding meanings much, much, easier.
“”Your Child Isn’t Ready” is what school officials tell parents if a child is less than literate. This tricks the parents into backing off and waiting a few years. A simple lie buys time, maybe several years during which the child might learn nothing at all.”
I heard a variation of that, such as “you’re pushing your kids to hard”, or “let them enjoy their childhood”. They enjoyed it, but not at the cost of delaying their education in reading and math, something that they could NEVER fully overcome.
Not to mention the fact that I you teach them correctly (phonics and no calculators), the total time needed to get through reading and math is cut by about 2/3’s.
“”Your Child Is Disabled” means there is some problem in the kid’s brain, not in the school’s approach.”
The feds pay a part with this too, by handing out money to parents of kids who have First-World ‘disabilities’, like ADD.
“”It’s the Parents’ Fault.” As soon as Sight-Words were introduced and children began to falter, psychiatrists came up with convoluted ways to blame the parents.”
Actually this goes back far longer than Sight-Words, which was (and still is) a backdoor way of sticking to Whole Language Reading, while the idiot parents (many of which are conservatives) are told that Whole Language is no longer used. Blaming parents goes back to the 1960s, Sight Words didn’t become big until Whole Language was fully discredited in the 1990s.
Bruce, you can add one more: “You know, you’re the ONLY parent complaining about this policy” - when it’s clearly not true.
Standard, yet still effective, means to isolate ‘troublesome’ parents.
Abolish the Department of Education NOW !!!
since cave men learned to form cultures, any instruction from adult to child was done for the purpose ...”
You forgot 5o include the observation that what the cavemen imparted was hard learned truth and what the schools impart is bullshit you WILL believe and regurgitate whether you like it or not.
In this day and age, it’s not my ‘tribe’ that is running the education system, it is run for the good of some other tribe.
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