The Joy of Reading and the Scandal of Child Illiteracy by Dr Marlynne Grant, March 31, 2026

 

Original article link

 

As usual, here are extracts and my comments:

Part 4: “Write Your Own Programme”? I Already Did.

Visit my book store at   https://payhip.com/LuqmanMichel   

When I tweeted about foundational contamination in reading instruction, Geraldine Carter of the Reading Reform Foundation (RRF) replied that there are “thousands of requests” and suggested I write my own programme. My book, Teach Your Child to Read, is designed as a practical tool for parents and educators — a way to bypass institutional inertia and give children the foundations they deserve. Where avoidance stalls progress, this resource offers clarity, structure, and empowerment.

Evening News: Greg Ashman and the Silence of Educators

 

Preface to the Greg Ashman Series

This Evening News series examines the writings and claims of Greg Ashman, an educator whose views on literacy and reading instruction have gained attention in Australia and beyond. I have chosen to respond to his posts not because he is my adversary, but because he represents a wider pattern in education: confident assertions made without confronting the real reasons children fail to read.

4th Lesson with Jack and the naysayers

 

Yesterday, 8.5.2022 was my 4^th lesson with Jack.

He still guesses instead of reading what he already knows. This is a habit which will take a little time to unlearn.

Today, I gave him the following Dolch words to memorise by rote memory:

her, all, good, some, my, this, here, soon, 

Reading Reform Foundation and Dr. Marlynne Grant (Part 2)

 

Here are extracts of the response by Dr. Marlynne to British Dyslexia Association and my comments.

Marlynne:

There are longitudinal studies of 11 years, with about 700 children, which demonstrate that dyslexia does not develop when children begin with a good SSP programme and when children who fall behind are identified early and given extra practice and teaching with SSP in order to keep up. Not a single child in these studies developed severe literacy difficulties. (See Grant, M (2014)

My comment:

Instructional videos that cause many kids to shut down

 

Yesterday, 27.10.2020, I had a fruitful discussion on Twitter with nickie simonetti @ End the Struggle#Dyslexia.

 In brief I said at the end of the discussion:

My discussions on Twitter is not to 'fix' but to make teachers aware that we can reduce kids leaving school as illiterate simply by not teaching the wrong pronunciation of phonemes of consonants. Prevent rather than cure.

nickie simonetti @ End the Struggle#Dyslexia responded:

Agree...whenever I watch an instructional video I shudder.