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   Alfie Kohn (alfiekohn@sciences.social)'s status on Thursday, 09-Jan-2025 21:58:35 JST Alfie Kohn

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   Literacy expert Regie Routman recalls being required to teach reading via phonics drills & worksheets - "and lots of kids were failing to learn to read successfully." But "there was nothing wrong with their ability to learn; the problem was how we were teaching them."
   The beauty of the "Science of Reading" movement is that its faith in explicit phonics instruction is impervious to contrary evidence. When it fails, that just proves those kids have a learning disability and need more phonics.

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     Alfie Kohn (alfiekohn@sciences.social)'s status on Thursday, 09-Jan-2025 21:58:51 JST Alfie Kohn

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     Prof. Constance Weaver: “Overemphasizing phonics may be especially damaging for children who have had few experiences with books prior to school” - a caution that will ring true with good teachers (even if it eludes those holding forth far from classrooms).

     "The problem with systematic & comprehensive teaching of any literacy skills is that the goal...become[s] the acquisition of the skills...instead of...fostering eager, independent, and critical students who read": https://radicalscholarship.com/2023/04/18/beyond-reading-skills-phonics-vocabulary-and-knowledge/

     GreenSkyOverMe (Monika) repeated this.
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     Alfie Kohn (alfiekohn@sciences.social)'s status on Thursday, 09-Jan-2025 21:59:09 JST Alfie Kohn

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     Want more? Start with (and share) this accessible animated video: https://youtu.be/wD4IRdeR0tE.
     For the supporting research (i.e., the *real* science of reading), see these books and articles: