Paul Thomas: Five Years On, Still "Navigating Research" on Why Kids Crack Nonsense Words Despite Flawed Phonics?

 

Prof. Paul L. Thomas (@plthomasEdD) of Furman University has long been a voice in the education wilderness—pushing back against the hype of "science of reading" mandates, defending balanced literacy, and calling out phonics zealots for oversimplifying complex kids. As a high school English teacher turned professor, his blog Radical Scholarship and tweets cut through the noise with data-driven skepticism. I've cited him approvingly in my own fights against PAD dogma and "cuh-ah-tuh" blunders. But when it comes to my core question—how do multilingual kids (and even fluent adults) nail nonsense words like "scrab" or "thake" despite kindergarten phonics gone haywire? —he's been radio silent. Or worse: a mute button.

The Phonemic Awareness Trap: Why Confusion Is Still Being Marketed as Science

 

A recent Education Week report confirms what many of us have known for years: popular phonemic awareness programs don’t improve reading outcomes. The Heggerty supplement, widely used in U.S. schools, failed to boost word-reading or fluency among first graders. And yet, the same experts who pushed phonological awareness for decades are now doubling down on phonemic awareness—with no accountability.

 

This isn’t just a failed method. It’s a systemic pattern.

Evening News: Narelle Lynch and the Transferability Tango – Context Over Code in Australia's Literacy Waltz

 

Different Perspectives: Tweets That Echo Across Continents

 

Good evening, readers. The reading wars don’t respect borders — they leap from U.S. threads to Aussie classrooms faster than a kangaroo on caffeine.

 

Tonight’s dispatch takes us Down Under to Narelle Lynch, a 19-year veteran teacher from Australia whose tweets on phonics pitfalls and the power of context have fueled fierce exchanges since 2020. Trained by the THRASS Institute — a multi-sensory literacy framework blending phonics, morphology, and more — Narelle champions a holistic approach: grammar, syntax, etymology, and real-world transferability over isolated sound drills.

A Popular Method for Teaching Phonemic Awareness Doesn’t Boost Reading

 

Tomorrow, I’ll share a companion post that connects this report to the bigger picture—how confusion has been systematically marketed as science for decades.

 

A Popular Method for Teaching Phonemic Awareness Doesn’t Boost Reading.

That’s the headline from Education Week, and it’s long overdue. But the real question is: why did it take this long? LINK

 

Why Are We Still Pretending It Will?

Evening News: Sally Shaywitz: 15 Years of Challenging PAD

 

From Ignored Yale Comments to “Duh-Ah-Guh” Confusion

Dr. Sally Shaywitz, co-director of the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity and author of Overcoming Dyslexia, has long been a towering figure in the science of reading. Her brain imaging research helped popularize the idea that dyslexia stems from a phonological awareness deficit (PAD) — a theory that shaped policy, pedagogy, and public perception for decades.

 

I respect her trailblazing. As a non-educator turned tutor in Sabah, I’ve drawn on neuroscience like hers to teach over 80 children labeled “dyslexic” since 2004. But since launching my outreach in 2010, I’ve been waving a red flag: PAD isn’t the root cause of reading failure for many multilingual children. The real culprit? Flawed phonics instruction — especially the kind that teaches “dog” as “duh-ah-guh.”

When Experts Disengage: A Response to Dr. Boulton and the Silence Around Shut-Down Kids

 

In Part 1, we revisited the insights of Dr. David Boulton, Dr. G. Reid Lyon, and Dr. Siegfried Engelmann—experts who, as early as 2003, understood that confusion, not disability, was the root cause of most reading difficulties. They knew that ambiguity in English orthography, when not properly addressed, leads children to disengage. They knew that instructional casualties far outnumber true cases of dyslexia. And yet, despite this clarity, the problem persists.

 

In Part 2, we turn to the uncomfortable truth: when independent voices try to engage with these experts, they are often ignored, dismissed, or blocked. I know this firsthand.

Evening News: Karen Vaites and the Curriculum Conundrum

 

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Phonics Resistance or Shutdown Sparks Ignored? Different Perspectives: 

Tweets That Prod the System

 

Good evening, readers. In the ever-escalating reading wars, few voices slice through the noise like Karen Vaites (@karenvaites)—a tireless advocate for evidence-based literacy, math curricula, and systemic reform. As founder of the Curriculum Insight Project and a prolific K–12 commentator with over 50,000 followers, she’s on a mission to dismantle “broken” programs: balanced literacy relics, discovery-based math flops, and anything that fails her HQIM mantra. Her rallying cry? High-quality instructional materials aren’t optional—they’re the fix for kids who “can’t read, guess, or hate to read.”

Part 2: Why Children Shut Down When Learning to Read

 

 Instructional Casualties and Systemic Blindness

In 2011, Malaysia’s National Service revealed that 1,000 out of 11,000 trainees were illiterate. But after just 30 credit hours of instruction, they could read and write. What happened during their years in school?

 

If 30 hours can reverse years of illiteracy, then the problem isn’t the students—it’s the system.

Evening News Chasing the Illiteracy Fix: Why Vivek Ramaswamy Could Be the One to Break the Silence

 

 🔍 A Decade of Decoding, One Sound at a Time

I’ve spent over ten years teaching kids to read—real reading, not guesswork. It starts with clean consonant sounds, not “buh” for B. My book Shut Down Kids lays it out: teach the right sounds from day one, and no child shuts down. My follow-up, Teach Your Child to Read, has helped parents worldwide turn bedtime into breakthroughs.

 

In Sabah, I’ve taught 80+ kids to read fluently.

 

In India, ESL learners thrive with sound-first methods.

Several children in Australia. 

In California, a grandma is reversing “dyslexia” labels at home.

I have even taught a child in Kenya using Whats App.  

Part 1: Why Children Shut Down When Learning to Read

 

The Hidden Trigger Behind Reading Failure

“Ten times the number of kids who have innately biologically ordered learning difficulties have learning difficulties that are a consequence of what they learned.” — Dr. David Boulton

 

For years, I’ve taught children labeled as dyslexic—children who were disengaged, confused, and often branded as lazy or stupid. But what I’ve seen in my one-on-one sessions tells a different story. These children aren’t broken. They’re confused. And that confusion is often caused by how they were taught to read.

My Decade-Long Dialogue with Barack Obama: Tweets Calling for Literacy Reform

 

As a teacher who's spent over 15 years helping "dyslexic" kids—most of whom are simply instructional casualties of outdated teaching methods—I've long believed that true change in America starts with fixing our broken literacy system. U.S. illiteracy rates have barely budged since the 1970s, trapping generations in cycles of poverty and limiting their potential. That's why, for the past decade, I've been tagging and replying to influential voices like Barack Obama, hoping to spark a conversation.

“Teaching Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All”

 

The Hidden Layers of Teaching Expertise Why “Teacher” on a CV Isn’t the Whole Story

 

A powerful true story of mismatch, confusion, and breakthrough—revealing why the right experience matters more than just experience.

 

📚 The Problem

Recruiters often treat “teacher” as a catch-all label. But teaching is a mosaic of specialized skills. A secondary science teacher isn’t automatically equipped to teach phonics to six-year-olds. The result? Mismatched placements, frustrated educators, and confused learners.

 

“Experience matters, but the right experience matters more.”

Unmasking the Myths: My Decade-Long Clash with Professor Pamela Snow (Part 3 of 3)

Echoes, Evidence, and the PISA Wake-Up Call

Shouldn’t we think before accepting anything we read?

 

Since 2016, when I first read that “reading is biologically unnatural,” I’ve disagreed. This post shows what happens when one researcher makes a claim—and others repeat it without question. Stanislas Dehaene. Pamela Snow. David Chalk. Regie Routman. The myth spreads. The consequences deepen.

Evening News: Pam Kastner and the Phonics Firestorm – A Decade of Unanswered Questions

 

Different Perspectives: Tweets That Sparked the Debate

 

Good evening, readers. The dyslexia debate often ignites on Twitter (now X) and simmers unresolved for years — tonight, we revisit one such firestorm.

 

Our spotlight falls on Pam Kastner (@liv2learn), a vocal advocate for the Science of Reading (SOR) and phonics-first instruction. With over 16,000 followers and roles at Mount Saint Joseph University and The Reading League PA, she's a force in pushing evidence-based literacy. But our paths crossed in heated 2020 exchanges that highlight the chasm between phonics purists and those of us advocating for innate decoding potential.

Unmasking the Myths: My Decade-Long Clash with Professor Pamela Snow (Part 2 of 3)

 

Part 1 traced our rocky start: ignored 2018 comments, 2020 mute suggestions, and Snow’s dodge of multilingual miracles. Now comes the meat—her Science of Reading (SoR) sermons on phonemes, foundations, and why kids “disengage.”

 

Spoiler: She misses the mark by miles, harping on comprehension and fluency while kids trip at the starting gate. My proof? Fifteen years remediating shutdowns with pure sounds: /k/, not “kuh.” Results: Fluency in months, not years. Snow’s response? “Narrow focus.” Reality: She’s tunnel-visioned on symptoms, ignoring the cause: extraneous-sound sabotage.