tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12316414.post7894894581707544642..comments2023-08-30T18:51:10.606-05:00Comments on Learning in Freedom: Teaching Reading IS NOT Rocket Science!Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01722801117481334969noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12316414.post-88022745779354293932009-12-21T10:48:27.771-06:002009-12-21T10:48:27.771-06:00Yikes - what you say is scary...your experiences, ...Yikes - what you say is scary...your experiences, unfortunately, have led you to erroneously believe that reading is natural. It is NOT natural. The human brain is innately wired for speech, but for reading - which has only been popularized for 1000 years or so - the brain must borrow from different areas to break the code. Compound that fascinating fact with the 30% or so of children who have processing problems, neurological issues, dyslexia. For them - learning to read becomes the most difficult task they will encounter in their entire life. <br /><br />We can be lulled into complacency when we work with children like yours - due to their background experiences and not having any risk factors, they seem to learn to read naturally and easily. <br /><br />This is in fact quite dangerous. Children who are at risk- and yes include those who have average or above average intelligence and STILL don't get it - we must be alert and vigilant. We must realize that teaching reading IS rocket science - these children will need to be spotted early, provided with systematic and explicit instruction. Prevention rather than remediation is the key.<br /><br />Do yourself a favor and read the article "Waiting Rarely Works: Late Bloomers Usually Just Wilt" or Shaywitz's Overcoming Dylexia, or John Corcoran's The Teacher Who Couldn't Read.<br /><br />All the evidence shows that children who do not receive help early on just stay behing, falling further and further behind until they become high schoolers and adults that never learned to read or never learned to read well enough to enjoy school or reading. Why do you think illiteracy is the number one public health problem in this country? It's because illiteracy directly contributes to drop out rates, health issues, suicidality, depression, unemployment, low productivity, etc. <br /><br />And why is this so rampant? Because too many people (TEACHERS INCLUDED) think "reading is natural." God help us.literacyprofhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18228213949790142059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12316414.post-10570080975140012332009-06-04T12:24:43.293-05:002009-06-04T12:24:43.293-05:00I certainly appreciate your views and would be the...I certainly appreciate your views and would be the first to say that you are right. You are right in the home school enviroment. It would be ideallic for every parent to have the knowledge, time, ability, and desire to home school their child. Unfortunately, this isn't a reality. Many "underprivileged children grow up in homes where education is of little concern to the parents. Many, believe it or not, send their children to school because the chilren qualify for free or reduced cost lunches and this saves what little money those people have. This is a reality. Teaching those children is an extremely daunting task. When they go home they have no guideance nor role models. It's a terrible reality but this exists right here in America though is found to be more prevalent in poorer nations. <br /><br />Basically, in your scenario it's not impossible and through caring, loving attentiveness teaching reading is not rocket science. Unfortunately not every child is raised in homes like that.<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />JeffreyUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01700090140036590529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12316414.post-47505080118050624402008-01-08T15:48:00.000-06:002008-01-08T15:48:00.000-06:00Thanks for stopping by to say "Hi"! I've enjoyed r...Thanks for stopping by to say "Hi"! I've enjoyed reading your blog. I'm excited to take on this task and it helps to know there are others out there doing this, too. =)Nicky Stadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822435957665942347noreply@blogger.com