Johnny still has trouble reading
A little less than 50 years ago, a book came out called "Why Johny Can't Read", examining why children in the United States have a hard time reading. The main reason, the author claimed, was that children were being taught how to read and spell the wrong way. The proper way, he claimed, was the use of phonics -- sounding out the word and guessing at the word. I find it somewhat stupid that after all this time, educational professionals have not accepted the fact that phonics works and straight up memorization of the arrangement of letters does not.
Anyways, the article above was printed quite recently, and while I am sure that the teaching method does factor into the resultant scores, the influence of other media types is a factor that was neglected. Televisions and computers these days have superceded the days of magazines and newspapers. It's hard for me to remember the last time I saw a newstand that wasn't inside an airport. The need to read is reduced, and while people talk often about the tv or the movies they watch, when was the last time you talked to someone about a book you read?
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