Comments on an article by International Literacy Association

Meeting the Challenges of Early Literacy Phonics Instruction

The following are some extracts from the article above. Let us see if International Literacy Association will discuss this.

Prevention is better than treatment – Dr.Jack Shonkoff

Corroborative Evidence (5) – Dr. Jack Shonkoff

"So the sobering message here is that if children don't have the right experiences during these sensitive periods for the development of a variety of skills, including many cognitive and language capacities, that's a burden that those kids are going to carry; the sensitive period is over, and it's going to be harder for them."

Corroborative evidence (4) - James Wendorf

“Most struggling children are struggling because what they learned in the past is inadequately resourcing or maladaptively directing their current learning.

The most important step toward improving the health of our children’s learning is recognizing, understanding, and minimizing, unhealthy learning.” (James Wendorf)

These professors, David Boulton, Timothy Shanahan, Reid Lyon, Andrew Johnson and a few others, should get rid of their egos and listen to experienced people who have taught so-called ‘dyslexic’ kids.

What is it that is learned in the past which is inadequately resourcing or directing their current learning? 

David Boulton heard the above quotation by James Wendorf more than 15 years ago. Let us assume he is naïve not to have figured out what ‘unhealthy learning’ is. Should he listen or at least discuss the matter with me who knows the answer?

I explained to David in 2017, after several failed attempts in 2015, that there are two basic reasons why kids shut down from learning to read. In my next post let us see how he responded.

Is there any educator who disagrees with my findings that the main reason why illiteracy has not reduced is that many kids shut down from learning to read when they are confused? Read my post at                                                          https://lnkd.in/fSP63k9.

You may opt to buy a copy of my book ‘Shut down kids’ available on Amazon.

Note: James Wendorf was the Executive Director, National Center for Learning Disabilities in 2004 when David Boulton interviewed him.

Speaking engagements

I had my first speaking engagement for 2020 on 6.1.2020. It was to a small group of Rotary members Rotary Club of Kinabalu Sutera in Kota Kinabalu.

Corroborative Evidence (3) David Boulton

“In the learning disability world there’s a general consensus that about four to six percent or so of the learning disabilities that we identify seem to have some innate neurobiological origin, and that the vast majority of ‘learning disabilities’ — which is a really fuzzy term — are acquired. In other words, when we’re in unhealthy learning environments, we learn in ways that can be learning disabling. And that includes both the emotional and cognitive dimensions.” David Boulton

It has been reported that learning disabled children amount to approximately 20% of the population. If 4 to 6 % seem to have an innate neurobiological origin (I believe it is much less) then it means about 14 to 16% are acquired learning disabilities as reported by David above.

Corroborative evidence - Dr.G. Reid Lyon

“When we look at the kids who are having a tough time learning to read and we went through the statistics, thirty-eight percent nationally, dis-aggregate that, seventy percent of kids from poverty and so forth hit the wall. Ninety-five percent of those kids are instructional casualties. About five to six percent of those kids have what we call dyslexia or learning disabilities in reading.” (G.Reid Lyon)

Phonics

An educational therapist commented as follows after reading my article on phonological awareness at

 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/logical-thinking-phonological-awareness-deficit-luqman-michel/

“I am not quite sure what your criticism of structured literacy instruction is--is your criticism with phonics, or with poorly done phonics?”

What I have been saying since I started my blog is that the sounds of letters are taught wrongly in most schools around the world therefore resulting in kids shutting down from learning to read.

Below is the episode aired by Baby TV around the world. This is definitely not the way to teach sounds of letters. Consonants should not have extraneous sounds added. I have complained to Baby TV to no avail.

Please listen to the YouTube video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8gFfr2b5hU&list=PLcVsbCfjO_ZzZfMxs5U_xQsonLvLOErA7&index=2

Here is a list of the consonants in the video taught wrongly.

B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, N, P, Q, R, V, Y, Z

The above is one of two reasons about 20% of the kids around the world shut down from learning to read. A majority of these kids are wrongly classified as dyslexic.

They are unable to match the sounds to the words taught. They then disengage from learning to read.

Here are a few examples of the words made by the above letters.

If the sound of the letter B is Buh/ber, then how do you pronounce the word bat?

Is it ber-at? (Buh-at.)

Cat, is it Cuh-at? (cur-at)

Hat, is it Ha-at?

In the next few articles, I shall post some videos on what students in the US complained about the sounds of letters.

Logical thinking and phonological awareness deficit

This is a continuation of my previous post on Dr. Reuven Feaustein.

The following is what the lady said in our conversation on LinkedIn;

“I am a Literacy Specialist. I believe that schools should have Instructional Leaders who have a knowledge of the Pedagogy and methodology of how to teach literacy and how to Crack the Code.  It is their role to make sure that there is training for teachers and they are held accountable for student progress.  It is critical that in the early years’ student must have teachers who understand the systematic process of closing the decoding crack.  The Developmental Progression:

Dr.Reuven Feaustein – Logical thinking

I connected with someone on LinkedIn just a little more than a year ago. I made a comment in one of her posts a few days ago and I pray this will open up her mind to the possibility that she may have been misled into believing that phonological awareness deficit is one of the main causes of kids being unable to read.

Pinching a child and then rocking the child to sleep

Here is a Tamil proverb: "Pillaiya killi vittu, thottila aatradhu", meaning, "Pinching a child and then rocking the child to sleep.

The Western world has created major issues facing a majority of the children predisposed to shutting down from learning to read.

AND, they have even coined the word Dyslexia for such kids.

Zack Barnes and Dyslexia

In the article I posted earlier this week, Zack Barnes Ph.D. was said to have made some comments as below.

But Zack Barnes, an assistant professor of education at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee, says that the research is clear that dyslexic students need systematic, explicit phonics instruction.

Who are these dyslexic students? To lump each and every student who cannot read in English as dyslexic is what those with vested interest have been doing for the past more than 50 years.

Richard Allington and dyslexia

In a special report on Education Week Teacher by Sarah Schwartz on December 11, 2019 was an article entitled:

ProminentLiteracy Expert Denies Dyslexia Exists; Says to 'Shoot' Whoever Wrote Law on It.

Here are some extracts and my comments:

Looking at dyslexia with a jaundiced eye

To look at something with a jaundiced eye means to look upon something with prejudice, usually in a cynical or negative way. The word jaundice is an adjective that means showing distaste, envy or bitterness.

Any human being who thinks that what he does not know cannot exist is wearing the crown of ignorance.

Understanding Dyslexia - MindShift

    

         

The Western world is not interested in finding simple solutions to helping children who have shut down from learning to read in English. They want to make it as complicated as possible so that they can make money. Why kill the Golden goose!

A talk to teachers and parents of a kindergarten

The President, Rotarian Stephen Siaw of the Rotary Club of Luyang made arrangements for me to give a talk to parents and teachers of kindergarten kids in a kindergarten in Menggatal, Sabah.

The talk was held on 22.11.2019. Here are a few of the many photographs taken by President Stephen Siaw.