Behind & Beyond Sold a Story with Emily Hanford - Part 4

                                                            

This is part 4 of Kate Winn's podcast with Emily Hanford.   

 

Emily Hanford:

The problem with teachers is they haven’t learned how kids learn to read.

 

My Comment:

It is not only the teachers who have not learned but no one in the world has learned how kids learn to read. I have stated this for many years now. Does Emily Hanford or anyone from APM Reports know how kids learn to read? 

 

Emily Hanford:

I see no evidence that sometime in the past phonics has worked. 

 

My Comment:

No, it has not worked for many kids, and the reason it has not worked is not because phonics is useless but because of the wrong way the sounds of consonants are taught. It is because the phonics advocates and the balanced language advocates stubbornly insist that Dolch words should not be rote memorised by kids. Having said the above the Balanced Language advocates keep insisting that many words are not phonetic and therefore phonics does not work. Why not teach the phonetically inconsistent words to be rote memorised and combine them with phonics as I have done in my book Teach Your Child to Read?

 

Emily Hanford:

Over the last 40 to 50 years we have learned how reading works. Now, it is understood why a lot of kids are having a hard time with reading.

 

My comment:

If over the last 40 to 50 years, Americans have learned how reading works then tell us why the reading proficiency level has been maintained at the same level since 1972.

Why are a lot of kids having a hard time with reading? Why has Emily Hanford  stubbornly refused to discuss the causes I have listed in my book Shut Down Kids?

 

Emily Hanford:

We have been fighting about the word reading part and that is the relatively easy part. It is critical for us to get beyond the word reading part.

 

My comment: 

 

About 30 % of kids around the world have a problem decoding and this woman has the audacity to say that word reading part is the relatively easy part. The British and Americans keep insisting that kids who can’t read cannot be identified until grade 4. These kids who cannot read are then classified as dyslexic. 

 

How does Singapore maintain the dyslexics at 3.5%? Does Emily, APM Reports or any of the educators on Twitter have an answer to my question?