The Liberal War on Boys

[4est_4est_Gump]

[I don't have much of an opinion, I just know there is some good name-calling in this topic.]

It’s one of the most bizarre and destructive events in American history. Circa 1931, public schools started using Whole Word to teach reading. (This method has many other names, such as Look-say, Whole Language, Dolch Words, and Sight Words.) Almost immediately, children started having psychological problems – i.e., mental health issues.

The typical pattern is that a boy will reach the second or third grade and realize that his teachers and family think he is, in effect, retarded because he can't do this simple thing that most other kids can do. In fourth grade he will be labeled dyslexic. In fifth grade he will be declared to have ADHD and be in need of Ritalin. This story, in endless variations, has descended upon millions of Americans, on males more than females (so it is a component of the War on Boys).

...

Now, think about these millions of crippled children, and the psychiatric attention they need, the drugs they consume, the extra remediation they need, and you see multi-billion-dollar industries based on a lie. Rudolf Flesch tried to answer the question 40 years ago of whether children ever have dyslexia. He and his experts decided that it happens, just as insanity, schizophrenia, blindness, and other major problems do happen. But it's seen in fewer than 1% of children. However, for the last 40 years, our public schools have almost proudly announced that 20% of their students have dyslexia! Note that this diagnosis serves as a cover-up of bad methods. Of course, our kids could read if only they didn’t have dyslexia!

Dyslexia is a controversial area. But consider the facts we know. Virtually all phonics experts say that, based on their professional experience, when systematic phonics is taught, nearly all children learn to read by the end of first grade. However, when Whole Word is taught, two thirds of the children are still below “proficient” in fourth and eighth grade, as all the NEAP scores reveal.

...

Here is another fact we know for sure about this weird story. Dr. Samuel Orton all the way back in 1927, conducted research showing that Whole Word not only prevented children from reading, but also caused serious mental problems. This result was published in the Journal of Educational Psychology. Everything his article asserts was already known before Whole Word was even introduced into the schools. Orton concluded:

[T]his technique…often proves an actual obstacle to reading progress, and moreover…faulty teaching methods may not only prevent the acquisition of academic education by children of average capacity but may also give rise to far reaching damage to their emotional life.​

...

Thanks to Orton’s research, the professors of education knew ahead of time that they were going to harm children and create lots of mental health problems. Our Education Establishment, "progressives" all, did not care. They apparently considered this damage acceptable or even desirable.

The goal seems to have been a more socialist society. Advanced literacy was deemed an obstacle to that goal. Whole Word was a proven antidote for too much literacy. So the strategy become obvious: demonize phonics while imposing Whole Word on every public school student. Some may have trouble calling this a criminal conspiracy; but it seems obvious that that’s what it is.

From: Education as a Cause of Mental Health Issues
Bruce Deitrick Price explains educational theories and methods on his site Improve-Education.org.
http://www.americanthinker.com/arti...cause_mental_health_issues.html#ixzz3MD5Q65px

I do know as a matter of observation that the more we focus on and spend on education, the nuttier we seem to get.

 

[Saint Peter]

[I don't have much of an opinion, I just know there is some good name-calling in this topic.]

Pussy!

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Pussy!

White trailer park trash hooked on phonics!

 

[cowslinger64]

[I don't have much of an opinion,

Admitting you have a problem is the first step...you're on your way!

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

White trailer park trash hooked on phonics!

It's like saying Beetle-Juice...



Say it and they come.

 

[cowslinger64]

It's like saying Beetle-Juice...



Say it and they come.

Yep...you post something really fucking stupid, and get called on it.


Just like clockwork!

 

[Que]

No one teaches whole word reading since the 70s which has a lot to do with why we are no longer a nation of readers.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

No one teaches whole word reading since the 70s which has a lot to do with why we are no longer a nation of readers.

I've never seen, or experienced it.

I just found the whole thing wonderfully insane...

 

[Saint Peter]

Puscifer!

 

[doctor_insanus]

Puscifer!

Goddamn right.

 

[DaddysTastyTreat]

Shouldn't this post be on the Silly Editorials board?
Or maybe the politics board.
But seriously dude.

 

[DaddysTastyTreat]

Yes, let's spend leas on education, that makes sense
*rolls eyes*

 

[Boxlicker101]

I had the good fortune to attend an elementary school, beginning in 1944, that was so hopelessly out of touch they used phonics to teach reading. I really can't conceive of using any other method.

 

[badbabysitter]

Since neither males or females are specifically mentioned in this article.. you are right about one thing, you do deserve name calling
not to mention that no country in the world outside of Australia supports whole word

in this case...dumbass.. because you made an assumption that somehow this would only affect people with penises and that liberals are somehow responsible for spreading something that isnt even being spread

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

America has never been a nation of enthusiastic readers or writers but 200 years ago most learned to read via church hymnals....the whole word scheme.

In fact two stats are gospel: The 50 most common words account for half of all speech and writing, and the 3000 most common words take care of 98%. Few need large vocabularies, few have large vocabularies.

 

[Que]

America has never been a nation of enthusiastic readers or writers but 200 years ago most learned to read via church hymnals....the whole word scheme.

In fact two stats are gospel: The 50 most common words account for half of all speech and writing, and the 3000 most common words take care of 98%. Few need large vocabularies, few have large vocabularies.

That explains why I feel like an alien. By fifth grade my lexicon was in excess of 20,000 words. The testing didn't estimate higher than that. The portion I use for writing is much higher than my vernacular for speech because many words I have never heard pronounced.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

That explains why I feel like an alien. By fifth grade my lexicon was in excess of 20,000 words. The testing didn't estimate higher than that. The portion I use for writing is much higher than my vernacular for speech because many words I have never heard pronounced.

Much of our lexicon are redundant/synonyms and technical jargon. When I did psychological work I discovered most psychologists had no clue what most terms meant when used to define behavior or speech. So I invented flash-card snap-shots for my colleagues, to spare them digesting shelves of reference books yet hit the target diagnosis on the bullseye. What the fuck is LABILE! Jims flashcard says labile is a lizard who cant find the right mood and displays all the emotional colors in quick order. A borderline personality is someone you wanna stab thru the heart with your pencil 15 minutes after you meet them. Or, more coarsely: SHE WANTS TO FUCK HER BRAINS OUT BUT WONT PUT OUT.

 

[Ishmael]

Yes, let's spend leas on education, that makes sense
*rolls eyes*

Really? Can you show me where 'spending more' has worked?

For decades we've been told that 'if we just had a little more money, things will be fine.' And they get the money and nothing changes. As a matter of fact if you look at the districts that spend the most per pupil you will find some of the most dismal results.

Then every 20 years or so they trot out some new method, like "New Math" which failed miserably. Now the hot button is "Common Core" which is most likely going to end with the same results.

The entire workings of our educational system have to be re-thought. And not necessarily by educators. Educators have a vested interest in perpetuating the gargantuan bureaucracy that the educational system has grown into. For their own benefit as well as that of the various unions that also have a vested interest in perpetuating and growing the bureaucracy. The system has grown so huge that it has become self-serving as opposed to serving the best interest of the child. And the more centralized the system becomes, the worse it gets.

Ishmael

 

[Ishmael]

As a followup on the "more money is better" meme.

New York has the highest expenditure per pupil, per year. Approx. $19,000 per pupil. The results as reflected by the states average SAT scores are as follows;

Writing 474
Critical Reading 488
Math 502

Utah, on the other hand, spends the least per pupil per year. Approx. $6,000 per pupil. Utah's average SAT scores are:

Writing 551
Critical Reading 571
Math 568

Utah seems to be doing something right.

Ishmael

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Puscifer!

Dentally-challenged!

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

I had the good fortune to attend an elementary school, beginning in 1944, that was so hopelessly out of touch they used phonics to learn reading. I really can't conceive of using any other method.

We used Dick and Jane.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Since neither males or females are specifically mentioned in this article.. you are right about one thing, you do deserve name calling
not to mention that no country in the world outside of Australia supports whole word

in this case...dumbass.. because you made an assumption that somehow this would only affect people with penises and that liberals are somehow responsible for spreading something that isnt even being spread

You cannot read for shit dumbass.

Go back and quote me. Especially the more education part because you're probably pretty damned proud of yours.

Bonus points if you can tell us who said this:

I've never seen, or experienced it.

I just found the whole thing wonderfully insane...​

 

[Que]

We used Dick and Jane.

As did I. That is the see- and say method or whole word recognition. Most Seuss and PD Eastman and the like are also whole word.

When my youngest was being evaluated to determine what accommodations she might need the staff was quite impressed that despite her challenges she could basically read already. They asked me if I read to her. I said of course, all the time. They said that it showed. The only way to mediate the damage that phonics does in slowing reading and making it a chore is to read to your kids before the schools ruin them.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

As did I. That is the see- and say method or whole word recognition. Most Seuss and PD Eastman and the like are also whole word.

When my youngest was being evaluated to determine what accommodations she might need the staff was quite impressed that despite her challenges she could basically read already. They asked me if I read to her. I said of course, all the time. They said that it showed. The only way to mediate the damage that phonics does in slowing reading and making it a chore is to read to your kids before the schools ruin them.

One of the reasons we started home-schooling her at three with a Quaker family with seven children...

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

As a followup on the "more money is better" meme.

New York has the highest expenditure per pupil, per year. Approx. $19,000 per pupil. The results as reflected by the states average SAT scores are as follows;

Writing 474
Critical Reading 488
Math 502

Utah, on the other hand, spends the least per pupil per year. Approx. $6,000 per pupil. Utah's average SAT scores are:

Writing 551
Critical Reading 571
Math 568

Utah seems to be doing something right.

Ishmael

We clearly spent more when Abe Lincoln was a wee lad...