Memorisation goes on in the right brain – Rod Everson

                                                      

The following is another misleading Tweet I read yesterday.

Rod Everson @OnTrackReading

The problem with sight word teaching is that the memorization goes on in the right brain whereas the left brain is used for efficient reading. 6-year-olds construct their own right-brain mnemonics to recall the words. Needless to say, they're not always the most reliable mnemonics.

 

This is the kind of disinformation spread by many teachers which is believed by parents and teachers without thinking.

Sell whatever products you want to sell but surely not by spreading misinformation which will prevent kids from learning to read.

He should explain how millions of kids learned their Times Table. I memorised them. I memorised the letters of the alphabet and the numbers. I memorised Bible verses 50 years ago which I remember to this day.

I wrote a post on what Dehaene said in a video and I tagged him and also wrote an email to him and did not receive a reply. Please read the article and a link in the article. LINK

I teach all my students to rote memorise sight words. I teach them the sounds represented by letters, patterns and how to figure out new words and they can read after a few months. Most of my former students have completed university with excellent results.

I tweeted Rod Everson and he bluntly said that he disagreed with teaching sight words by rote memorisation. There was no explanation as to why he disagreed when I have kids as young as 4 ½ years old who read sight words by rote memorisation. How do we ever progress when teachers are unwilling to even try new methods that they have never heard of?  LINK

Here is another tweet by him:

Rod Everson @OnTrackReading

I used our program with nearly 200 struggling readers from 2nd to HS, mostly 3rd-5th though. Most had poor phonemics skills at intake. Each of them could blend, segment and manipulate phonemes well before the 20+ hours of instruction ended. I don't get this. Isn't it worked on?

I am sure he has a good method to teach kids. But, I guess that he does not understand why his students were unable to read when they came to him.

Why were they able to blend after his lessons?

This is what I have been researching since 2004 when I first started tutoring a ‘dyslexic’ kid. Based on my research I have written my book ‘Teach Your Child to Read’. Parents are able to teach their ‘dyslexic’ kids without having to sit with them as there is tracking that I have incorporated in my book. LINK

Note: I copied the following from the internet and it gives me a little understanding of Rod Everson.

In 1998 he read the book, ‘Why our Children Can’t read’ by Diane McGuiness and has implemented what she had advised in her book. I have not read that book but have read many good reviews, comments on her book.

What I have written is based on what I learned from my students. It is not from what is on the internet or books written by others but by my research on why intelligent kids could read in Malay and Hanyu Pinyin but not in English. It is based on observations and interviewing of my students.

Read the book reviews of my book on why many intelligent kids disengage from learning to read. LINK