GoBigEd

Friday, April 15, 2005


READING ASSIGNMENT FOR ‘TAX DAY’

April 15 is a good day to sit back and be grateful for all the constructive public services that our tax dollars are buying . . . and then to scream in unity, “AAAIIIEEE!!!” over the ways our tax dollars are wasted or misused.

One of those is the way public schools choose to teach reading. It’s pretty unbelievable that so many kids read below grade level or have to have special-ed services. Science tells us that less than 5% of the population have bona fide neurobiological factors that could impede reading.

That means the vast majority of the kids with reading disabilities don’t have anything wrong with their brains – instead, they are “instructional casualties.” What we’re choosing to use as a method of teaching reading in our schools is what’s causing the problem. It’s our fault, not theirs. And we’re paying for this. Our tax dollars at work!?! AAAIIIEEE!!!

The vast majority of schools in Nebraska use whole language or “balanced literacy” methods that deny children true phonics instruction. That’s the beef.

Here’s a fantastic website that ‘xplains this in convincing detail. Please send it to educators, who need this crucial information. And please make time to read the interviews with Dr. Reid Lyon and Dr. Sally Shaywitz. Warning: these interviews are long and they use big words. It’s . . . TAXING to read. But this is information we all need. It’ll knock your socks off even more than the size of your annual tax bill:

www.childrenofthecode.org

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