The dictionary definition of ‘connecting
the dots’ is: To draw logical
inferences connecting items of information to reveal something previously
hidden or unknown.
Since 2010 when I first started writing my
blog I have given actual solid reasons
for kids disengaging from reading. Reasons for shutting down, were obtained from the
kids themselves.
Now, I have gathered many other dots that
when connected should leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that many of the
disengaged kids shut down from learning to read because of being taught
wrongly.
Teachers in LinkedIn can alleviate
illiteracy in the US and all over the world if we make a concerted effort. Let us
connect the dots and see the big picture.
i.
I have been teaching kids
who have disengaged from reading for more than 10 years. I ‘interview’ them, I
observe them and learn from them as to why they have disengaged from learning
to read in English but not in romanised Mandarin and Malay which both use the
same alphabets as English.
ii.
Dr. Richard Selznick whom I had
a discourse in 2010 and again currently has confirmed that a vast number of the few thousand kids
he had tested add vowel sounds to consonants. These are the kids whom he
recommends to a training
that directly teaches the sounds of alphabet.
iii.
In a story from Western Australia this
month, Maryanne Wolf, director of the Centre for Reading and
Language Research at Tufts University said: “"They think they are a
failure. They think there's something wrong with them [but] there's something
wrong with our teaching not with the child, and with the proper intervention
and teaching, we can do so much". "The teaching of reading in most
schools is based on ideology and not research," she said.
iv.
In a large study conducted by
scientists from the University of New York at Albany, researchers were able to
reduce the number of children who require ongoing remediation from the National
average of 30% to about 2%.
v.
A study by researchers at Florida
State University showed how the most severely reading-disabled students could
reach grade level – and stay there – using a surprisingly brief intervention
programme.
Let us pause and ponder over points iv and v
above. Points to ponder would be:
1. How were the 28% (out of the 30%) of children in point iv above able to read at grade level after a short period of intervention?2. Is point 1 above not similar, if not the same, to what I have been doing with my students over the years?3. Could the kids in point 1 above be the same as those kids tested by Dr. Richard Selznick above?4. Can we therefore save the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on remediation/intervention and more importantly the headaches of kids predisposed to disengaging, by teaching these kids phonics properly in the first place? Quoting Jack Shonkoff “Getting things right the first time is better than trying to fix them later when they weren't right the first time, trying to adapt to something that was not developed in the best way at the time when it was supposed to be developed.”
One of the teachers here on LinkedIn had urged
us to make a concerted effort to alleviate the illiteracy level.
Recently, I have managed to get two YouTube
accounts that were teaching phonics wrongly to be terminated.
i. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e52MeJIRibo
ii. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgJ0dJUfglQ
If
teachers can get together and ensure letter sounds are taught properly in
schools we will be on the way to eradicating illiteracy.
A teacher friend has started this for schools
in Scotland and I believe, with her determination and dedication, she will be
successful. How about teachers in the US and the rest of the world?
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