Yesterday, 25.1.2021 (USA time 24.1.2021) I had a Twitter discussion with Dr. Daniela O’ Neill. At the end of the discussion she said:
I think we actually agree. Because English is an opaque language, scientifically backed instruction that is based on how the brain learns to read is all the more important for children learning to read in English.
Here is a YouTube video by Dr. David Kilpatrick and my comments.
Dr. Kilpatrick:
At minute 2.08 it says: Poor access to the phonemes makes reading alphabetic languages very difficult.
At minute 2.47 it says: The ability of identifying unfamiliar words by sounding them out.
On 16.1.2022, I read a post on Dr. Sam Bommarito’s blog. Here are a few extracts and my comments.
Dr. Sam:
On the one hand, everyone agrees that the current state of reading instruction is not acceptable. SOR advocates claim Balanced Literacy is the root cause of the problems in reading. They view Balanced Literacy as lacking instruction in phonics and the use of orthographic information.
I had stopped teaching in 2019 but started guiding parents to teach their kids who were unable to read.
Here is an email I received from the mother of my latest student whom I weaned off last week.
Jan 17, 2022, 8:15 AM
Good morning Mr Luqman,
On December 17th 2020, I was invited to a Zoom meeting by a Podcaster who happened to have read some of my Tweets. It was a half hour interview and I answered all his questions. He was jovial and our zoom meeting ended on a good note.
On 26.12.2020 I received the following email from him.
On 12.1.2021 I Tweeted the following:
‘Interesting find.
I just realised that one Gale Morrison @GaleMorrisonEd, Parent education advocate, has blocked me. Why do people block me? I believe I am a threat to their business.’
Here are some extracts from a post by Greg Ashman and my comments. I have told this guy to stick with what he is good at - Math and Physics – and not to stick his fingers in what he knows nothing about but this guy is just too stubborn or naive. I have not seen his tweets for a long time as he decided to mute me for asking questions he could not respond to. He has learned well from the ostrich.
This book is
written by Mike Thomas who is a dyslexic.
Here are a few extracts and my comments/questions which I hope Mike will respond to.
The second time through the 4th grade I started listening more closely to what the teacher was saying and focusing harder on the material I was studying. As a result, I did start to get a little better at reading. Sure, I was still very slow at reading, but now I tried concentrating on memorizing exactly what each word sounded like as I was looking at it; linking the sound of the word with the image of the word.
This seemed to work, but I had to literally hear every word
in my head as I read it to know its meaning.
I thought that was just the way
everybody read, hearing each word in their heads as they read.
In 2018, when I wanted to write a book based on what I had learned from my students since 2004 I searched for a title. I decided on ‘Shut Down Kids’ based on Shut Down Learner written by Dr. Richard Selznick.
When I say ‘shut down kids’ it is not derogatory in any way and just refers to the fact that about 20% of kids around the world disengage from learning to read when they are confused. These kids are then classified as dyslexic when in fact they are instructional casualties. These are the kids who leave school as functional illiterates.
On 29.12.2021 I saw a comment by Nora Chahbliz on Nancy Bailey’s blog post. Nora Chahbliz aids the producers and director of the documentary: “The Truth About Reading”.
Based on the trailer she had viewed, Nancy mentioned that the documentary is missing truths.
Nora Chahbliz commented on Nancy’s post asking if Nancy would consider an interview.
