How to Create Functional Illiteracy in 7 Easy Lessons

[Geee]

American Thinker:

Public schools are expert at creating illiteracy. Our K-12 system can usually guarantee that students don't become fluent readers. The system is nearly foolproof. Parents and teachers can make children illiterate or semi-literate simply by following this well-tested seven-step formula:

 

1) FORGET ABOUT THE ALPHABET. Do not teach the alphabet, the sounds, or the blends. Reading maestro Frank Smith maintained in Reading Without Nonsense (1973): "I have said that children should not be taught the alphabet[.] ... ntil children have a good idea of what reading is about, learning the names of letters is largely a nonsense activity."

 

In her strikingly insightful 1970 book Programmed Illiteracy in Our Schools, Mary Johnson noted: "It was frequently stressed that English was 'not a phonetic language' and that children did not need to be told the separate letter sounds. 'Surely we don't have anyone here who is old-fashioned enough to tell children the sounds of the letters!' teased one consultant [from a publisher]."

 

2) MEMORIZE SIGHT-WORDS. Our faux experts insist that if a child will learn a few hundred of the most common words, reading will be a snap. Here are some examples of the lethal boilerplate:

 

"Sight word acquisition is an important building block in the construction of a child's ability to read. Once she is able to read all of the words on Dolch's list, for example, she has access to up to 75% of what is printed in almost any piece of children's literature."