Do Kids Really Stop Learning to Read After Third Grade?

 

This morning I read a post in The 74 entitled: Do Kids Really Stop Learning to Read and Start Reading to Learn After Third Grade?

 

As usual, here are some extracts and my comments.

 

The Myth Repeated

I have read what the title says over and over again for years. Someone said it once, and every other person copy-pastes it across social media.

This is similar to the over 35-year-old theory that claimed: “Phonological awareness deficit is the cause of dyslexia.” It took me more than five years to get that theory debunked. (You can find my articles by searching “Luqman Michel Phonological awareness.”)

 

The truth is that many children only begin to read fluently between grades 4 and 6. I have said this repeatedly in my blog.

 

Educators’ View

Extract: Educators' view: States must bust this myth, because decoding gets tougher as words get harder. That's why literacy scores plummet in 8th grade.

 

My thoughts:

Who are these educators who say such a silly thing? Once a child has learned the correct sounds of letters and memorized the non-phonetic Dolch Words, he will decode anything. Pronunciation may differ if the word is not in his vocabulary—rendezvous is a good example—but decoding itself is not the obstacle.

 

Mississippi vs Tennessee

Extract:

With American schools facing a literacy crisis, the “Mississippi miracle” has become the poster child for improved reading instruction.

 

My thoughts:

Yes, but Tennessee did it earlier. One may want to ponder why my blog post and my name were mentioned on the Tennessee Department of Education website for several years beginning in 2019. 👉 See my post LINK 

Why Third Grade?

Extract:

Indeed, being on track by grade three is a crucial milestone that correlates to long-term academic success.

 

My thoughts:

Why third grade and not grade one? Every child can read by the end of grade one if taught the correct sounds of letters without extraneous additions. 👉 See my post on the wrong and right way to teach kids the correct sounds of letters. LINK

 

Decoding vs Comprehension

Extract:

But literacy isn’t a switch that flips from decoding words in third grade to independently comprehending text in fourth. Decoding and comprehension are like two wires that must remain connected for the lights to go on.

 

My thoughts:

Decoding should start at grade one. Decoding and comprehension are two different matters. Decoding comes first, followed by fluency and comprehension. Vocabulary expands naturally through listening, reading, and exposure to spoken language. If children decode from grade one, everything else falls into place.

 

The Eighth Grade Claim

Extract:

Those eighth graders hadn’t forgotten what they had learned in elementary school. They could still sound out “c-a-t.” But those three letters make the sound “kaysh” in words like “education” or “vacation,” and most schools do not explicitly teach students that transition. So students struggle with decoding words as the vocabulary gets tougher. If they can’t decode multisyllabic words, they won’t comprehend complex text.

 

My thoughts:

Where do these clowns come up with such nonsense? Long before eighth grade, the brain has already internalized decoding—provided correct sounds were taught early. Even when encountering unfamiliar variations, the brain works it out. For example, a child who knows the sounds of a in apple, about, ate, and arm will figure out the a in bald if the word is familiar. Incidentally, the sound of a in bald is the same as in all.

 

The Third Grade Myth Again

Extract:

While many states, to their credit, have moved aggressively to encourage proven reading instruction strategies in early literacy instruction, much of the education system — from standards to curriculum to teacher training — remains centered around the third grade myth. Schools simply stop teaching kids to decode words far too early.

 

My thoughts:

This is misleading. The problem is not that schools stop decoding too early, but that they never teach decoding properly in the first place—because they fail to teach the correct sounds of letters.

 

Misplaced Emphasis on Phonemic Awareness

Extract:

Literacy instruction aligned with the science of reading places a heavy emphasis on screening for phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency, materials and teacher training aimed at helping K-3 students learn to sound out and decode words of one and two syllables. This shift is a crucial step forward, but it’s not enough.

 

My thoughts:

This is going in the wrong direction. As the proverb says: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” If you want to go east but take the first step west, you’ll never arrive.

 

We were never taught phonemic awareness in school. Since phonological awareness deficit has been debunked, the powers that be have latched onto phonemic awareness because they need a scapegoat. Vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension will all fall into place once decoding has been learned.

 

Screening at Grade One

Extract:

If states want to see their investments in literacy pay off then, they need to reevaluate how they think about the crucial middle years — grades 4 through 8.

 

My thoughts: No! Screening should begin right from grade one. 👉 See my post on screening LINK

 

Misguided Focus on Advanced Skills

Extract:

In pilot testing through funded research out of Reading Reimagined (an AERDF program), projects such as Read STOP Write and BIG Words can improve decoding and comprehension together by focusing on advanced foundational reading skills such as syllabication, spelling, fluency, morphology and vocabulary acquisition.

 

My thoughts:

Here they go again, leading children down the wrong path. Syllabication, spelling, fluency, morphology, and vocabulary acquisition should come after decoding. Decoding will be easy for all kids if letter sounds are taught without extraneous (schwa) sounds.

 

Conclusion

Does anyone still wonder why the reading wars have not ended?

 

The confusion persists because myths are recycled, scapegoats are invented, and the simple truth—that decoding must be taught correctly from the start—is ignored.

 

Get a copy of Teach Your Child to Read and no kid will be left behind. LINK