Why Our Children Aren't Reading

 

  In his classic book on Phonics by Rudolf Flesch, "Why Johnny Can't Read and what you can do about it",  Edward Ziegler in his Forward of that book commented on many of Flesch's ideas.  He quotes him regarding changing from reading by Phonics to 'Look-Say':  "...by the 1930s, to rid their classrooms of what one education professor called "heartless drudgery", America abandoned the alphabetic code (which flies in the face of all logic and common sense) and began to teach children to guess and memorize the meanings of the tens of thousands of words they would see in print."

Flesch explains it, "With Phonics-first, you teach a child the word fish by telling him about the sounds of f--'ff'--i--short i---and sh--'sh'.  Then you tell him to blend the sounds from left to right to read the word: 'fish'." 

"In the Look-Say method, you give the child a picture of a fish printed underneath the word, and encourage him to memorize that group of letters that make up the word fish.  Then you print the word again and again in hopes that the child will memorize and remember what the word fish looks like.  You do the same thing more or less with many thousands of other English words." 

"Most such instruction," Flesch insists, "is not reading at all, but 'word-guessing'.  Real Reading isn't taught at all.  Books are put in front of the students, and they are told to guess at the words, or wait until the Teacher tells them the word that is difficult.  And the guessing goes on and on."

Ziegler goes on to say, "Flesch blames the look-say system on our alarming decline in literacy.  Some 27 million American adults are functionally illiterate.  Plus, that number is increading 2.3 million more adults per year!

As for the use of Phonics, many schools claim to use it, but in an incidental way.  The teacher may write a list of words the letter s has in common, such as in the beginning sounds of  sand, soft, and slip.  Flesch remarks that this is not phonics at all, but the memorization of how those words look long before the teacher has let the students in on the secret of the sound of s.

Ziegler continus, Flesch remarks that with phonics instruction, a child learns to read by mid term of first grade.  "There should be no such thing as reading levels", he says.  "Once a child learns to read, he reads." 

I encounterd these same issues when my son, Casey brought home his first-grade reader for me to listen to him read aloud.  Having grown up in a school system that taught Phonics, red flags began to pop up when he read big words like balloon, wagon, and bear.  So how did he know how to say them?  With those words was a picture of a bear pulling a wagon in one hand while holding balloons in the other.  I told him, "You're not reading, you've memorized these words!"  

My solution was to find a book that taught parents how to teach phonics to a child or student.  Even though I had learned to read by phonics outside the continental United States, I didn't remember how I learned it, I just knew that I knew how to read by Phonics.  We removed our son from public school and brought him home to learn to read the logical and common sense way...with Phonics.  There were other school subject and issues besides Reading that bothered me, but the Reading issue was the beginning of the end of his enrollment in public school.

Reading by Phonics is the foundation of all learning.  Without knowing how to read, one cannot learn math word problems, science, grammar, history, and all the other academic studies.  And, without knowing how to read, knowledge is stunted without ever reading the Classics or stories read just for enjoyment, or enlightenment,  the Holy Bible, or any 'how to' book. 

 If one is left to read simply by the look-say system, the danger is a lack of reading comprehension of what was read, and the reading disease of Dyslexia, that is, reading words backwards, like was and saw, stumbling over words, and slow reading, to name a few.

 Also see other articles on reading difficulties on my Blog, www.janiceportermy.blogspot.com  if you are reading this from Facebook, (Reading With Phonics) :   The Disease You Get in School, How to Reverse Dyslexia, and Why Johnny Can't Read,  Spell, or Write Short Compositions.

 

  

 About Me

Janice Porter is a former home
schooling mom. She
home schooled from First
Grade through High School.

She taught a six-weeks Reading
class to First through Third
graders at a small village
school while home schooling.

 She has tutored students
individually in Reading with
phonics, and was a Reading tutor-volunteer in a small town public school not realizing that Johnny was taught to memorize words- a method called ‘Look-Say’!

Janice was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. She is one of four siblings and the daughter of southern parents from Texas. Her parents moved to Alaska about a year after their marriage. In the Anchorage School District, Phonics was taught as the method to learn to read, and Janice, along with her siblings learned to read very fluently in the First Grade. Two of her other children born and raised in Alaska, also learned to  read by Phonics. Her husband learned to read by Phonics in upstate New York before the District changed to Look-Say.

"When my son read aloud to me at home from his First Grade Reader with memorized words prompted by pictures, I knew he was not reading by Phonics.

Since a few years had passed- plus we had moved to the 'Lower 48' to my husband's new job in Colorado, things had changed in education. Several issues including Reading by memorizing words prompted his removal from public school. We  became a homeschooling family where I taught him how to read, as well as instructed him in all state required academics. We continued to home school through his high school years.

Over the years of home schooling I've read a lot of phonics-teaching books and materials.  I wanted to simplify information to make Phonics quick and easy to understand and teach (because it really is), so she wrote it down and made an Ebook and a print or hard copy for parents and tutors. 

 www.janiceportermy.blogspot  provides information on teaching reading with Phonics, the various problems associated with public school's 'Look-Say' reading method, topics like, "Why Johnny Can't Read, Spell, or Write Composition",   information for correcting readers with Dyslexia, Reading Topics in the News, plus she  included  Tips and Tricks (excerpts from my book) for helping your child to read better.

She is  also an independent Notary Signing Agent (Mobile Notary) specializing in facilitating of the signing of mortgage documents in homes, title companies, and lending offices since 2003.  

She currently reside in the Pacific Northwest and raise 7 laying hens, 2 cats, and one dog.

The Disease You Get in School 

Through research, I have learned that the teaching methods and very curriculum taught in public schools are heavily promoted by the National Education Association (NEA). They’re the largest union in our nation and certify teachers. The NEA promoted the ‘Look-Say' or Whole Languagemethod of reading, beginning in 1929.

So many Americans alive today learned this method if they attended public schools. Private and Christian schools have always taught reading by Phonics. Even public school's online K12 program teaches Phonics to beginning readers.  The problem with the Sight Reading’ method is that it often causes Dyslexia. Symptoms can be identified as a reading words incorrectly, slow reading, blanking out on a word, and causes a lack of reading comprehension.

Dr. Samuel T. Orton, a leading neurologist or brain surgeon,  who is also the world's leading expert on Dyslexia, discovered these problems. The children he had as patients during the 1920s-1940s, required treatment due to the Whole Language method of reading! This was during a time when a great deal of work was being done on auditory, visual, and motor functions of the brain. Researchers were discovering the speech center and the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

  In nearly all cases these problems reversed entirely after ordering a complete Phonics program for each of these students.  This proved to be a most successful treatment and cure.


Though he voiced his findings to educators publicly and wrote articles about it in medical journals, the reading- methods -war remains a hot political button and continues unchanged!

For further understanding of the Reading deficit in our country, see : NEA:  Trojan Horse In American Education, by Samuel Blumenfeld

 

 

How to Encourage Love of Reading

Wanda, a home schooling mom and friend in Alaska let me in on a big secret when I wanted to get our son to read more. This one works more for boys than girls, though.

The secret is to start checking out the Hardy Boys Mystery series from the library, and let him start reading one. He won't be able to stop reading - I almost guarantee it! Our son too, like hers, didn't want to even take a break from reading the Hardy Boys mysteries for lunch or dinner. He just wanted to lay on the couch and devour each book.

They'll read the whole series if made available.
I recommend, however, that you look for the Hardy Boys stories written before 1965. The newer ones have changed a bit to reflect modern times and thought.

Test Reading Comprehension Without Them Knowing It

One easy way to test reading comprehension when they read a book,  is to ask questions. Ask what the story was about. Show interest in what they reveal about the plot and characters.

Try not to sound as if you're grading them. For example, you might say, “Where did the story take place (in the country, in a city?)” “What happened?” “Then what happened?” Don't be overly inquisitive in detail. Continue with, “How did it turn out?”

Between questions, they'll  probably fill in the story- just because they want to tell it. You can comment on parts of the story to draw them out. Be an interested listener over the twists and turns.

 Check Up On Spelling and Punctuation Skills by Giving Dictation

Dictate a few sentences now and then. Either ones you make up using words he has learned, or from a classic story for his age level of interest. Tell him to make sure he uses capital letters to begin every sentence and to use the proper punctuation.

How to Improve Vocabulary

     You can teach vocabulary without your child even cracking a book- or even knowing he’s learning new words, by ‘read aloud' stories in the evening. I often read aloud one of the classics most evenings: the Little House series, or the G.A. Henty stories, and mostly historical fiction and biographies.
   The classics have the best writers who use grammatical perfection, good morals, and usually have a good ending. In the hearing of the story itself, he learns vocabulary by connecting the plot together, understanding just what the words mean, unintentionally.

How to Teach Reading Aloud with Expression

When the story includes conversation between two or more people, he needs to learn how to speak with expression and not read in a monotone voice. Reading slowly in monotone is most common in schools. If he doesn't learn it at home, he may not become a good reader.

The secret is to tell him to pretend he's acting in a play, and that he needs to sound like he's one character, then the other characters.

I recommend you check out books on audio at his interest level. Play it so he can hear the same reader change voices and tones to reflect each character in the story.

Word Families- Key To Good Reading and Spelling

Word Families are Words that use the same reading and spelling rule, and usually spell and sound nearly alike.  Learning to Read and Spell in Word Families is a vital part of what it takes to be a better reader and speller.
There are several  phonograms (combinations of letters that make particular sounds) that must be taught in their respective families.

What's the big deal?
Take these words from a particular public school's weekly spelling list.  In it there were several sounds of F such as cough, telephone, off.  All the sounds of f but no lessons on why you would use one phonogram over another to make its sound.
Sounds aren't taught in public schools, by the way, only word lists meant for memorization. This methodology makes reading and spelling so confusing!

Here are some examples of Word Families:

Words That End in the sound of f, l, or s, we usually double the consonant ending:
off, puff, cuff, muff, cliff, stiff, bluff, stuff
mill Bill spill kill hill ball fall, mall, hill, tall
grass lass kiss cross class press, chess, toss

The K Words
If the vowel is short we use ck; if the vowel is long, we use ke as in:
black, duck shock, suck, tack, crack, lock, sock, pack, truck
cake, make, lake, shake, broke, bike, coke, joke, strike, Mike
There are exceptions to these rules, but we learn those in a separate lesson.  For example, some long vowel words ending in the K sound have both vowels in the middle, such as :  soak, break, steak.
There are several other lists of Word Families that must be taught along with their Spelling Rule.  It is not uncommon for beginning students to be good readers and spellers in as little as six weeks to three month's time. Its not too hard for them.  Once learned, they will be good fluent readers - unlike the reading you hear from most students in public schools:  slow, plodding along, silence, guessing.  That is not reading!


https://www.amazon.com/How-Teach-Phonics-Phonics-First-Approach/dp/1530549035/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1477510415&sr=8-1-fkmr0

What is Phonics?

Phonics is said to be the MAGIC KEY that unlocks and opens the door to the wonderful world of reading. Learning to read by Phonics is merely converting the letters of our American alphabet into their respective sounds.  Phonics is the natural and logical way to learn to read.

    

Phonics is the science of sounds as it applies to letters or groups of letters called phonograms.  

                   

Since words form from the sounds that the letters make, we begin with teaching the sounds and not the names of the alphabet letters if they have not yet been learned. This lightens up the task load and gets them on the road to reading in a speedier time frame.

Without the use of Phonics, the love of reading is undeveloped, comprehension is misunderstood, the vocabulary is limited, and Spelling becomes difficult.

Janice Porter

Preparation and Materials for Teaching Reading

The student should have some necessary supplies, such as:

1.    Notebook and paper, suitable for the student’s grade level;

2.    A #2 pencil and an eraser for copying the Reading, Spelling, and written composition exercises.

3.    A penmanship workbook .  I highly recommend Zaner-Bloser.

The teacher or tutor will need the following supplies:

1.    Blank index cards (size 4”X6”);

2.    Sharpie pen or magic marker;

3.    Regular ink pen;

4.    Blackboard or dry-erase board with eraser, or notebook paper to show your student the Reading and Spelling exercises he needs to copy from you.

THE INDEX CARDS

With Letter and Sounds

a-		ate     at				l-   like     ball
e-		eat     echo				m-   man   mom
i-		idle     Indian				n-     nap      pan
o-		Omaha   off				p-     pen     pop
u-		unit   under
						q-     quilt   aqua
b-		bat     Bob				r-     run     car
c-		cat     car				s-      sit      yes
d-		dad    did				t-      bat     top
f-		fan     if				v-     van    Vicki
g-		go      bag				w-    web    cow
h-		hot     ham				x-     Max   ax y-     yes     baby z-      zip     buzz
	j-		jam   Jack
	k-		kit duck

Begin your instruction by making flash cards (using purchased 4 x 6 index cards) beginning with the five vowels a, e, i, o, u.  There is a good reason that this is the best approach that I'll explain, later.  

           On the first card, write on the front with the Sharpie or magic marker, a large capital A, and beside it, a large lowercase a.  Turn the card over, and write the words in pen, the long sound of a, (ate), and the short sound of a, (at).  These words are for your pronunciation, not for the student's.  Then make the E card writing a large capital E and a large lower-case e with your Sharpie on the front.  On the back side write in

pen the long sound of e with the word eat, and the short sound of e

writing the word echo. 

Flash Cards

A          a (FRONT)

ate    at    (BACK)

E         e (FRONT)

eat     echo   (BACK)

Go through the rest of the vowels the same as with the A and E cards. Write the capitals and lowercase on the front and the key words for the long and short sounds of those vowels on the back.  You will want to teach these first, so keep them separate from the rest of the cards.

Next, do the consonant letters in the same way you wrote out the vowels, using the key words, shown on the index cards letter/sounds page, for your pronunciation. 

Teach the Vowels First

Begin teaching the long and short sounds of the five vowels  (a, e, i, o, u) first, using the flash cards showing the front of the card with the letter toward the student.  You can see the two words you wrote on

the back in ink, the long vowel word and the short vowel word of each. 

Tell the student there are five vowels in the alphabet and each one has a short sound and a long sound; the long sound will say its name:

a, e, i, o, and u.     

          Start with the sounds of a. Tell him the two sounds of the vowel a are long and short.  You make the sound of the long  a as in ate, and then make the short sound of  a as in at.  Don’t tell him the words on the back of the flash card.  Just use the sounds you have written for the  a.

Repeat its sound.  Ask the student to repeat the long and short sounds of a, by showing the flash card. 

When learning these sounds, use the flash cards and have the student write the letter and sounds on paper, as you give them out.  One at a time, lowercase only for now. Demonstrate how each letter is formed if he has never before written any letters. Have the student write a row of each letter across the paper, and sound out each of them.   Use lined paper.  When children are learning the short and long sounds of each vowel, explain that a straight mark over the vowel means it is a long a.  A curved mark means it is short.

First, show the flash card with the a (sounds like ay).  Don't give out the key words written on the back unless the student is not pronouncing the sounds correctly.   These words are mainly for the parent or tutor, as so many have never learned Phonics themselves!

Begin each lesson by having the student make an entire row of the letter a on the paper.  Be sure to check for accuracy.  As the student writes each a, he will say the two sounds, adding the long mar

Don't go on to the letter e until you're sure the student knows both the long and short sounds of the letter a, and writes the letters well.  This may take only one day, or may take several days.  Check for accuracy before moving on, and be sure to review the card as often as necessary.  Now you can move on to the letter e.

Then i.

First, go over the flash card with the student.   Tell him the sounds that the letter e makes. Have him write the e, just like the letter a, with you saying the long and short e sounds.  As the student makes the sounds of the letter, have him write each one across the page, adding its correct mark to match its sound. When the student is proficient, then you’re ready for the letter i.

Then the letter o; then the letter u. 

Review each of the vowels until the student has achieved proficiency.  Now the student is ready to learn the consonants in the same way as the vowels- one sound at a time, using the key words from the list you wrote on the back of each card.

An Encouraging Story

An Encouraging Story

I tutored Binh Kim, a child of six years old so that in his first year of being tutored he had learned to read, spell, and write short compositions. He had never been enrolled in a Pre-school or Kindergarten, held a pencil to write with, nor did he know the alphabet. He had only been to Day Care coloring with crayons and playing in gobbely gook. But beyond that, he was a blank slate.

This minority child and fresh out of foster care, not only learned to read and spell all that’s taught in 'How to Teach Phonics" by this author,  but he also learned his colors, to count, add and subtract by rote memory, and learned neat handwriting skills- all in his first year of being tutored.

After only six months, Binhny read aloud, the whole “McGuffey’s First Eclectic Reader” from beginning to end, fluently.  In other words his reading delivery was smooth, eloquent, and with expression. On another occasion at age 7,  he read aloud Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham” to two little girls on their way to bed.

Children, or any age student including illiterates, can be reading, spelling, and writing short compositions in about six months or less with this Phonetic sound and reading- rules method.


This is not too hard or too much.  School children in the early years of our country learned an astonishing amount of knowledge. Much more than this child learned his first year, and much, much more than a child would learn in today's public schools. Phonics is old school Reading and Spelling!  You too can teach your child successfully!