🧵Sight reading a.k.a. whole language or balanced literacy is alive and well in many public school districts.
Yet it was proven to be disastrous at teaching students to read over 180 years ago.
The genesis of this tragedy is outlined in the book, Crimes of the Educators. 👇
Reverend Thomas H. Gallaudet invented the sight method of teaching reading in the early 1800s to teach deaf-mutes to read.
Gallaudet taught his deaf-mute students to read by associating words with pictures. Since his deaf-mute students couldn't hear the sounds associated with the letters, his method made sense.
Thinking his sight reading method developed for the deaf-mute could work even better with hearing children, Gallaudet published his Mother's Primer in 1835. In 1837 the Boston primary schools adopted his primer.
By 1844, Boston primary school student reading ability had substantially declined, prompting a return to the traditional method used in the Noah Webster Blue-Backed Speller.
In spite of a surgical takedown of the sight reading method by the Boston primary schoolmasters, the state owned teachers colleges maintained the sight reading method. 🤔
Since the utter failure of the sight reading experiment to teach hearing children to read - over 180 years ago, - progressives have rebranded sight reading - intended for deaf-mute students - as balanced literacy and whole language.
Progressives have used the levers of government to continue the sight reading experiment on America's school children for over 180 years with disastrous results. 30-50% of public school children can't read at grade level. In many districts it's much worse.
Sight reading - teaching children to memorize and then guess at words as though they were pictures - causes reading problems, often lumped into the term dyslexia. The only way to fix this is intensive direct systematic phonics instruction.
If your child has reading problems, or dyslexia, get them help now. Don't wait for the school to fix it. They won't. Invest in a direct systematic phonics program. Hire a tutor if you have to. Reading is the gateway to self education.
If you want to learn more about how the sight reading fiasco metastasized throughout US public schools, check out Crimes of the Educators by Samuel Blumenfeld and Alex Newman.
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🧵My homeschooling family recently escaped Illinois.
My former state rep, Illinois Democrat Terra Costa-Howard, sponsored legislation, HB2827, the Homeschool Act, to "protect" (regulate) homeschool students.
This is outrageous for 4 reasons:
Reason #1: Repeated failure
The relatively affluent Chicago suburb I used to live in boasts "good schools" as one of the justifications for the outrageous property taxes.
Yet 40-50% of the students in these "good" suburban schools are NOT proficient in math or language arts according to the Illinois State Report card. Education bureaucrats gloss over this fact by focusing on so-called year over year improvement, a red herring.
The numbers in Chicago are much worse as only 25% and 18% of students are proficient in language arts and math, respectively.
Homeschoolers repeatedly outperform their public school counterparts academically, so why are Illinois politicians focused on "protecting" homeschoolers and not fixing the problems in Illinois public schools?
Reason #2: Political ideology
DEI initiatives undergirded by Marxist inspired Culturally Responsive Teaching have decimated academic, grading, and behavior standards in Illinois public schools.
In my former district, students face no consequences for late work, no work, late arrival to class, or being absent. Tests can be retaken multiple times, and students can't be given 0's...even if they don't turn in work.
Advanced Placement is now for everyone, not just those who are qualified and test in. "Diverse" students are given "supports" so they can take AP classes. Many of them fail. But no worries, students can still be on the honor roll with a failing grade.
Students are encouraged to become activists, promoting social justice causes.
During the BLM riots, my district actively encouraged students and faculty to engage in the insurrection against police and citizens. Their actions were so egregious, I filed a complaint, forcing them to remove a video and potentially criminal links, and I reported them to the FBI.
Instead of facing the consequences of bad and disruptive behavior, students are provided "restorative justice." Without consequences, students who engage in disruptive behavior are allowed to disrupt the learning experience for other students.
While homeschoolers are busy teaching academics, building character, and preparing their children to be productive members of society, Illinois progressives have determined that it's more important for students to feel good about themselves than to actually learn, build character, and develop time management and study skills.
🧵Tennessee School Choice is sold as the answer to failing public schools.
But is it?
The Freedom Matters podcast took a deep dive with Classical Conversations CEO, Robert Bortins about why the Tennessee school choice bill may be the worst.
Here are my top 10 takeaways: 👇
1. School Choice is sold as a free market, but it's a quasi market.
Government funding in K-12 education is no different than government funding in healthcare or college.
It distorts the market with perverse incentives, thereby causing increased costs and lower quality.
2. Teachers colleges in the 1970s came up with the idea of school choice as a way to capture the private school market.
School choice is part of the United Nations, UNESCO, agenda to control education.