Rudolf flesch why johnny can’t read

Phonics advocates have always had to contend with the educational establishment. Why Johnny Can't Read was one of the first shots fired in what later became known as the "Reading Wars," a series of public debates over how children best learn to read. And phonics advocates have always had to contend with the educational establishment.

In an attempt to settle the issue, the National Reading Panel was convened in The panel reviewed all of the research done on reading since They concluded that the best way to teach reading was through systematic phonics instruction.

Of course, the study affected the teaching in many schools, but teacher education programs largely went on as if nothing had happened, and the problems Flesch identified in —and again in his book Why Johnny Still Can't Read —are still with us. This is why it is so frustrating to read stories such as National Public Radio 's recent " Why Millions of Kids Can't Read, and What Better Teaching Can Do about It ," which tells the story of Bethlehem, PA, schools whose teachers were using demonstrably failed methods of teaching reading and basically propagating illiteracy.

In , said NPR writer Emily Hanford, only 56 percent of Bethlehem students were proficient in reading, so Kim Harper was charged with finding out why.

The teachers were talking about how students should attack words in a story. When a child came to a word she didn't know, the teacher would tell her to look at the picture and guess.

They all had education degrees, but none of them had ever been taught how to teach children to read. Paperback , pages. More Details Original Title. Other Editions 6. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Aug 11, Meghan rated it it was amazing Shelves: all-time-favorites , misc-nonfic , education , social-concens.

This is a highly opinionated book. It is inflammatory. Mr Flesch believes the educational system is completely misguided in their approach to reading. Although schools now say they use a 'balanced literacy' approach, locally our schools still follow the same outdated sight-words methods.. I loved it. As a parent to a sight-words failure, this information is exactly what I needed. And it explains a number of issues my 'good' reader had as well couldn't spell This is a highly opinionated book.

And it explains a number of issues my 'good' reader had as well couldn't spell his way out of a wet paper bag, a lot of guessing, no comprehension. But you can read the reviews for that stuff yourself. What I wanted specifically to talk about is his phonics lessons in the back of this book. Between those incremental lessons and my instruction, my non-reading, book phobic daughter is finally reading effectively. Unlike her sight-words brother, she doesn't guess and can easily sound out almost anything.

It is not exaggeration to say the lessons in this book were life-changing for her. And with a better understanding of the role of phonics in reading, I was able to suppliment my son's knowledge and he is a better reader, better speller, and enjoys the activity much more. I understand the appeal of sight-words lists: kids seem to read much faster, and it looks stunning.

Phonics can be a drag, is slow, and can be boring. But the journey is worth it. Mr Flesch has my undying devotion. Jun 24, Anna Mussmann rated it it was amazing. Overall Flesch is highly convincing--he left me wondering what on earth those whole-language educators were thinking.

When it comes to the details he does make a few simplifications or overly-sweeping statements. I raised my eyebrows at his blithe assurance that dyslexia will not exist if students are taught phonics properly. It was interesting to me that he complained that American schools need to start reading instruction earlier so as to be on-par with British schools and to overcome the disadvantage of possessing a less-phonetic language than those lucky German, Spanish, and Scandinavian kids.

That must be what Flesch is reacting against. Flesch is a lively writer and makes his subject fun to read about. View 2 comments. Sep 21, Ginette rated it it was amazing Shelves: education , classics. I am a strong advocate for teaching kids how to read using the phonics "method. But apparently there is. When I went to school to get my grades teaching certification, we were given an overview of the various ways of teaching reading. When I got my first job as a 3rd grade teacher, I found out that t I am a strong advocate for teaching kids how to read using the phonics "method.

When I got my first job as a 3rd grade teacher, I found out that the school used Reading Mastery a direct-instruction, phonics-based reading program. I remember in the interview that it was kind of a big deal that I agree with teaching this method. It sounded great to me, because of course we would teach phonics. Also, this program is scripted, so it was a relief for me as a new teacher to know that the program would basically tell me how to teach. I had to attend a course to learn how to teach RM, which involves hand signals, never deviating from the script, and knowing exactly how to respond if a child gets a sound or word wrong.

As a teacher, I loved the program, and I saw great strides being made by struggling students. I was shocked by how many students didn't know how to read at that age, so using a program that had such great results made complete sense to me. After I left teaching and became an editor, I continued to struggle with trying to understand why so many kids didn't know how to read in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.

I am an editor of a phonics-based program, so I learned that phonics programs compete against whole-language programs. But I still didn't have a clear idea of what exactly whole language is. And then I picked up this book. It stunned and horrified me. And it all started to make sense. It actually made me want to go back into teaching.

And so now I say, read this book. Know what the two methods are. Know how your kids are being taught, and supplement their education with teaching them phonics if you need to.

Also, I want to hear about peoples' experiences with whole language, not only their own, but also their children's. I am trying to get a clearer picture of how prevalent whole-language still is. I want to know how people actually learned how to read if they did go to a school that taught whole-language. According to interviews conducted with students who were successful in such schools, they were either taught phonics by a parent, or they figured it out on their own that letters are connected to sounds.

I add to the list those students who have a photographic memory and can learn whole words by sight. My daughter goes to a school that uses a comprehensive literacy program which basically melds the two into one program. I don't necessarily have a problem with that, and that is probably what a lot of schools are doing, as long as phonics is a strong component of the program and is taught properly basically, teach letter-sound and sound-spelling correspondences, and don't allow your students to guess at what they are reading, particularly if they are new to your class and come from a whole-language background.

I am also not worried because my daughter was taught phonics at home long before she started kindergarten. I plan on continuing to do some research, because I feel like I am finally getting at the root of a deep-seated problem.

I know there are other factors at play with some kids struggling with reading, but I think this one is a whopper of a factor.

I recently heard someone state that our reading program is hard to teach, not because it is hard to understand, but because it's challenging, but hey, teaching IS difficult if done properly, and it might mean going the extra mile to get struggling readers to where they need to be. I might mean working twice as hard to undo the damage that has already been done.

But I think the results are worth it. As Marva Collins has said, these kids are our future teachers, doctors, lawyers, leaders, so it's also in our own interest, not just in the kids' interest. View all 3 comments. Feb 27, Lisa rated it really liked it Recommends it for: moms and people who want to teach reading.

Shelves: nonfiction. Reading fascinates me. I went to college to prepare to teach young children to learn to read. In the end the math won out because it is so much more fun to teach all the way through school, and I really belong with older students.

This book is really important because it tries to show through the author's own experiments how much more effective phonics is than sight reading. This book was written in and newer experiments should be conducted to verify Flesch's results. This book also includes Reading fascinates me. This book also includes 72 word lists and detailed directions on teaching reading.

While I agree with Flesch's basic idea, I do think teachers or parents could deviate from the precise directions found in the book and still be successful. This book caused me to reflect on my early days in the first grade when I learned to read from Dick and Jane basal readers sight reading! The books were stupid, but I was a good reader so I didn't let that bother me. I received a gift of 4 Doctor Seuss books for my 6th birthday and I followed my mom around the house reading them to her.

I remember that clearly. At the beginning of the 3rd grade my family moved to Virginia and I remember the class reading out loud from our various textbooks. Someone got stuck on a word and the teacher told the student to "sound it out.

From that, I taught myself to sound words out. I tried to remember what I was taught in college about how to teach reading. I think we were told about about phonics and sight reading and that we would teach whatever the school system told us to teach. I thought it would be fun to teach my baby brother to read when I came home for the summer. My mom borrowed some phonics books from the neighbor.

David, then 4, picked up the books and taught himself to read before I got home. View Larger Image. Ask Seller a Question. Publisher: Harper and Brothers. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Visit Seller's Storefront. All books are described as accurately and completely as possible. We insure all books and use shipping company tracking to ensure correct delivery. Shipping costs are based on books weighing 2. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact you to let you know extra shipping is required.