Why aren't kids reading well

[Tom Zurinskas]

Almost 70% of kids in USA schools are not reading proficiently.  I believe
it's the affect of "whole language" reading instruction, which mandates that
kids NOT be taught that letters stand for sounds.  This enables
pronunciation to vary wildly, delinking pronunciation from spelling.

Stanovich has shown that the successful readers show high "phonemic
awareness".  I believe through truespel kids can be taught "phonemic
awareness" and get the gist of reading much faster and better.  This was
shown with IBM's Writing to Read, Chicago's unifon, and now with England's
switch to synthetic phonics in the fall for their entire early reading
instruction.

How can linguists participate.  I suggest truespel is the way to do it via a
kid friendy, simple phonetic notation.  It is mature but needs support for
expansion.  Check out the Children of the Code site below.


http://www.childrenofthecode.org/Tour/index.htm


Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
See truespel.com - and the 4  truespel books plus "Occasional Poems" at
authorhouse.com.

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