Why do kids shut down from learning to read?

 

Recently I posted a video broadcasted in over 100 countries that teaches the wrong sounds of the letters. Many toddlers listening to this video will shut down/disengage from decoding and blending. Those promoting this video claim it to be an entertainment video.

You can find the video here. LINK

I made a comment

According to some, this is an entertainment programme, not an educational one so it does not matter. These clowns have made many believe that kids can differentiate between what is entertainment and what is academic.

Is this how to teach the sounds of the letters? The British are the main culprits in creating 'dyslexic' kids.

Suri Charles commented as follows:

Ministry of Communications and Multimedia - MCMM (in Malay KKMM) Malaysia

I wrote several emails to out Ministry of Education and have yet to receive any response.

I then wrote to our Minister Tuan Gobind Singh Deo and his team at Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) on 22.10.2018. 

Not receiving any reply I wrote again on 22.11.2018 (one month after my first email).

Finally on 10.12.2018 I received a reply from Ministry of Multimedia and Communication apologizing for the late response and saying that they have forwarded the email to the party concerned which I believe is Astro.

My emails to our ministers on Astro programme

The more appropriate title may be 'Rancangan Tergendala'. I am taking a short break from my continuation of articles on Stephen Krashen. This is a result of a challenge by some opposition members asking me why I had not written to ministers complaining about matters.

I have written several emails to Dr. Maszlee Malik and to Ms Teo Nie Ching and they do not even have the courtesy to respond. 

Similarly I also wrote to Mr.Gobind Sindh Deo to no avail.

Here are my emails to these ministers who probably do not understand what I am writing about. Now. let us eee if the opposition party members will act on this complaint.

The Star online - Response to 'Transforming Dyslexia one word at a time'

On 4.10.2018 I read an article on Star online written by Dr Mullai A. Ramaiah who is the president of THE National Organisation for Dyslexia Malaysia (NOD)

NOD claims that it is teaching through the phonetic approach.  Upon reading the article I know that neither Dr. Mullai nor NOD knows what they are talking about.

Here is the whole article as published:

Emails to Astro’s CEO - Henry Tan

These are my emails to the CEO of Astro, Mr.Henry Tan and to his PA Ms. Nora Yahya. 

My first email was sent to the CEO on the 8.10.2018 after several attempts to the staff of Astro since 13.9.2018.

22.10.2018

Dear   Mr. Henry Tan,

This is my third email to you.

Correspondence between BabyTV and Luqman Michel (Part2)

Many educators and scientists in the world have said that many kids cannot read because of ‘Dsytechia’ (a term coined by teachers). This simply means that kids cannot read because teachers do not know how to teach.

However, no one has ever said what it is that is being taught wrongly. I know the answer to that question and have said it many times. It is simply because about 20% of kids in the world are prone to shutting down when taught wrong phonemes/sounds represented by letters.

Correspondence to and from BabyTV and Luqman Michel

I wrote to BabyTV, the producer of the programme aired by Astro, on 12^th September 2018.

There was a prompt response on 13.9.2018 from Debbie Pattinson who is the consultant to BabyTV

I responded immediately telling her about the programme that I believe will result in more kids shutting down from learning to read.

I requested her to read a copy of my book.

On 17.9.2018 Debbie responded as follows:

Dyslexia vs Shut Down Kids (Part 4)

I will get back to Dr.Maszlee Malik and Astro soon. Meanwhile let us continue with Dyslexia vs. Shut down kids.

“Increased phonics instruction will not help a child with dyslexia. Children with dyslexia are able to learn phonics once they have the underlying phonemic awareness abilities; although they may continue having trouble applying it. This is why difficulty with phonics and word pronunciation is a good warning sign of dyslexia.”

My Response: With the exception of 2 kids none of my more than 60 students to date had problems with word pronunciation. I am sure there are kids who have problem with word pronunciation as well as phonological awareness problem. However, to call these kids dyslexic and say that 20% are so is definitely a crime. 

Kit Siang to Dr.Maszlee: Don't fall into Najib's trap

The following is an article I read in  the Star on 16.10.2018. Here are some extracts from the article.

Kit Siang to Dr Maszlee: Don’t fall into Najib’s trap, stop talking about socks and shoes

“The DAP senior politician said that both Najib and Umno propagandists wanted to project the image that he [Dr Maszlee]  is a very mediocre minister who has very limited vision and objectives in the transformation of education in the country.”

Luqman Michel vs Astro and Baby TV (Part 3)

After almost a month and not making any headway I decided to write to the CEO of Astro.

Here are my two emails to the CEO of Astro.

Sent: Monday, 8 October 2018, 17:48:45 GMT+8

Subject: My complaint on your programme

Luqman Michel vs Astro, BabyTv (Part 2)

The above is the episode on Astro and Unifi that I know will cause kids to shut down. I have explained as to why kids shut down in my blog posts as well as in my book.

On 12^th September, 2018 I sent a lengthy email to Astro where I explained why kids shut down from learning to read. I requested Astro to use what I had discovered on why kids shut down to do a programme to reduce illiteracy. I recommended them to get a copy of my book from the internet.

Here are the main points stating that many kids shut down from learning to read because of wrong teaching of sounds.

Luqman Michel vs Astro and BabyTV

On 12.9.2018 I wrote to Astro stating that kids shut down from learning to read as a result of being confused. 

On 13.9.2018 (exactly a month ago) I wrote and complained about one of Astro’s programmes that I know will cause kids to shut down from learning to read.