Rating: 
Summary: Classic expose on why kids can't read: they need phonics!
Review: "Why Johnny Can't Read" is the "bible" of the phonics movement -- the book that started the "reading wars." In this classic expose, Rudolph Flesch reveals that since the 1920's, phonics instruction (sounding out words) has been absent from most U.S. classrooms. Because students are taught to guess instead of sound out words, Johnny and millions of other children over the decades can't read. He includes a basic phonics primer in the book, which will help you teach your child to read.
Rating:
Summary: Some teachers do teach phonics!
Review: As a teacher with certification in middle & secondary language arts, I have to admit that even all these years later Flesch is still right - I didn't know how to teach reading until I bought this book. I have had post-graduate training in how to teach reading comprehension, but when I agreed to do some tutoring this summer & discovered that my pupil has no idea how to READ - figure out what a word SAYS - I had to do some quick research. Her comprehension's fine... but it's amazing to watch her do exactly what Flesch talks about Johnny doing - trying to guess what a word is with no regard to the sounds of the letters in it. We haven't been working long & I don't know how much progress I can make in the time I have left before she leaves to live with her other parent, but we are trying to reprogram. I don't think she'll even qualify for special education anymore if I can work fast enough. I'm definitely having her mother buy a copy of this book to send to her father's house.
On an up note, the district in which I work has adopted a phonics-based program in the elementary and all special education classes... so maybe we're headed back in the right direction. I did learn to read with phonics in the early 80's...
Buy this book to help anyone learn to read - it's not too late to reprogram 9 years of guessing... or more!
I'm very encouraged.
Rating:
Summary: Returning to this lifesaver book
Review: I am the mother of a learning disabled son, who is now 36 years old. Along our journey during his school years, I sought help in a multitude of tutors and agencies. Of all the things that I did, I am very grateful to a tutor who helped him for three years, from the second to fourth grades, who used this book to teach him to read. I have always believed that he would not have ever read had it not been for that very wise tutor and THIS book! All of the exercises were reinforced and reinforced again at home with me and I saw the miracle of learning to read become a reality for my son. Now my little grandson is encountering some difficulty in the first grade and I am ordering this book for my daughter-in-law. The book is a lifesaver!
Rating:
Summary: Fast, Easy, and Fun! It Works!
Review: I found this book back in 1987 right before my first child turned 5. After reading the book, I decided I had better teach my son to read myself before the local public school had a chance to mess him up. I couldn't believe how fast he learned to read! Using this book made it simple, easy, and fun for him. We spent no more than 15 minutes a day going through the exercises in the book (my son was very hyperactive back then with a very short attention span!). After about 3 weeks Andrew was able to read simple children's books, and very soon progessed to higher-level reading. Once he learned HOW to read (thanks to Flesch's method), he was able to quickly progress on his own. Sometimes he wanted me to read to him; other times he wanted to read to me. I helped him whenever he got stuck on a word that was not spelled the way it sounds. Even though there are a lot of English words which are (unfortunately and annoyingly) spelled contrary to phonic rules, such as "eye," once you learn to read by phonics, the "sight words" aren't that hard to learn. Most of them are figured out by the context and are then quickly memorized. But FIRST, you need to learn the phonics! Anyway, since my first son learned to read so fast and well, thanks to this book, naturally I turned to it again 5 years later when my second son was almost 5. However, it turned out that Collin had no interest in learning to read at that point. I felt no need to rush or pressure him, so I put the book away. A few months later I got the book out again to see if he was interested yet, and he was. Learning to read was fast and fun, just as with my first son. For both of my boys, the first word they learned to read was CAT. At first, when they sounded out the letters for c-a-t, the sounds were separate, and it didn't sound like any word they knew. So I told them to say the sounds faster and blend them together. After a few attempts of this, "cat" came out of their mouths. I will never forget the looks of joy and amazement on their faces when that happened! They had just figured out HOW to read! That was the turning point, and reading as been easy and enjoyable for them ever since. A couple of years later my husband said he thought we should start home schooling our boys. At first I didn't think I was up to the challenge until he reminded me that I had already taught the boys to read--and that's supposed to be the hard part. Once a person can read, learning is mostly a matter of self-education (with the parents as guides). He was right! In summary, I love this book! It has helped my family greatly, and I believe that it would be very helpful for anyone wanting to teach a child to read.
Rating:
Summary: Fast, Easy, and Fun! It Works!
Review: I found this book back in 1987 right before my first child turned 5. After reading the book, I decided I had better teach my son to read myself before the local public school had a chance to mess him up. I couldn't believe how fast he learned to read! Using this book made it simple, easy, and fun for him. We spent no more than 15 minutes a day going through the exercises in the book (my son was very hyperactive back then with a very short attention span!). After about 3 weeks Andrew was able to read simple children's books, and very soon progessed to higher-level reading. Once he learned HOW to read (thanks to Flesch's method), he was able to quickly progress on his own. Sometimes he wanted me to read to him; other times he wanted to read to me. I helped him whenever he got stuck on a word that was not spelled the way it sounds. Even though there are a lot of English words which are (unfortunately and annoyingly) spelled contrary to phonic rules, such as "eye," once you learn to read by phonics, the "sight words" aren't that hard to learn. Most of them are figured out by the context and are then quickly memorized. But FIRST, you need to learn the phonics! Anyway, since my first son learned to read so fast and well, thanks to this book, naturally I turned to it again 5 years later when my second son was almost 5. However, it turned out that Collin had no interest in learning to read at that point. I felt no need to rush or pressure him, so I put the book away. A few months later I got the book out again to see if he was interested yet, and he was. Learning to read was fast and fun, just as with my first son. For both of my boys, the first word they learned to read was CAT. At first, when they sounded out the letters for c-a-t, the sounds were separate, and it didn't sound like any word they knew. So I told them to say the sounds faster and blend them together. After a few attempts of this, "cat" came out of their mouths. I will never forget the looks of joy and amazement on their faces when that happened! They had just figured out HOW to read! That was the turning point, and reading as been easy and enjoyable for them ever since. A couple of years later my husband said he thought we should start home schooling our boys. At first I didn't think I was up to the challenge until he reminded me that I had already taught the boys to read--and that's supposed to be the hard part. Once a person can read, learning is mostly a matter of self-education (with the parents as guides). He was right! In summary, I love this book! It has helped my family greatly, and I believe that it would be very helpful for anyone wanting to teach a child to read.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely a keeper!
Review: I got this book from the Library a month ago and decided that I needed it in my personal library. It is amazing, informative, encouraging and offers a real solution to America's illiteracy problem. I'm using the methods and rules that are taught in that book and I'm helping people read in record time. I also use the wonderful, amazing Phonics Game in conjunction with the methods in this book. They work well together. Thanks, A Phonics Consultant in La Habra, California
funphonics@go.com
Rating:
Summary: Ditto Sally Ayres
Review: I had lunch with a co-worker today. When he told me his kids were 2 and 4, I immediately launched into how wonderful this book and its follow-on were. I told him how I'd taught both of my children to read using this book, and how much it had helped them through high school and college. I told him how I'd bought copies for both of my children to eventually use with my grandchildren. When we returned to the office, we looked it up on Amazon. There the first review was from Sally Ayres, and we had to double-check the name, because I thought I had written it myself. Even the part about the first word being CAT and having to say it fast enough to smear the sounds together - my kids went through the same thing. I can't say enough about how much this method of learning reading has helped my children, who are now both in college. I look forward to teaching my grandchildren to read using this book!
Rating:
Summary: Ditto Sally Ayres
Review: I had lunch with a co-worker today. When he told me his kids were 2 and 4, I immediately launched into how wonderful this book and its follow-on were. I told him how I'd taught both of my children to read using this book, and how much it had helped them through high school and college. I told him how I'd bought copies for both of my children to eventually use with my grandchildren. When we returned to the office, we looked it up on Amazon. There the first review was from Sally Ayres, and we had to double-check the name, because I thought I had written it myself. Even the part about the first word being CAT and having to say it fast enough to smear the sounds together - my kids went through the same thing. I can't say enough about how much this method of learning reading has helped my children, who are now both in college. I look forward to teaching my grandchildren to read using this book!
Rating:
Summary: My experience: It works!
Review: The schools are doing your children a great disservice by teaching them to read by guessing words. When my son was in kindergarten, he was bringing home "look-say method" readers in which he was supposed to read "The astronaut put on his spacesuit." There is NO way he could have read this without blatantly guessing at the words by looking at the pictures. I ignored these readers and began to teach him using phonics. I used the Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy lessons by Siegfried Engelmann. I am now using Why Johnny Can't Read as a follow-up book since all 44 phonetic sounds are not introduced in the 100 easy lessons. You could just use the practical methods in this book to thoroughly teach your child to read using phonics. Now my son is age 7-1/2 and he can read pretty much anything, with proper pronunciation and incredible comprehension. (He just finished reading Harry Potter book 4 in 5 days, which is 734 pages! If he had poor comprehension, there's no way he could've been so immersed in the book. He is also reading the Old Testament fluently.) My 5 year old just started kindergarten, and she is already reading quite well, so she may actually be able to read the words "The astronaut put on his spacesuit" rather than just guess. Another reviewer mentioned that he was a doctorate student in teaching children to read. He recommends not getting bogged down with using too much phonics and that there is no "one correct way" to teach reading. Rudolf Flesch addresses this exact issue of these teachers of reading who feel like teaching reading can't be so simple! Well, it is! I don't believe you can have too much phonics! (For more on this, read his other book, "Why Johnny STILL can't read.) I do agree that you should still read, read, read to your kids. But that's not how they learn to read well, it's by teaching them phonics. If you want your kids to learn how to spell correctly, you need to teach them phonics. Otherwise it's all guess and memory work and they will have a very difficult time becoming good spellers. The book is very easy to read; it has a great conversational tone. The author does repeat many things, but it didn't bother me. It's probably because he is amazed that the educational establishment just doesn't get it! Even if you think your children are being taught phonics in school, you still need to read this and his other follow-up book. Many "Look-say" methods are still being taught under the guise of teaching phonics. These methods teach minimal phonics (consonant and long/short vowel sounds, but no phonograms, etc.) Read both of Rudolf Flesch's books and you will do your children a great favor.
Rating:
Summary: READ THIS BOOK IF YOU LOVE YOUR CHILD
Review: This book is a quick read and a must read for anyone who loves his child and wants to give him the gift of a life-long love of learning. Don't let your kids be taught the wrong way and wind up hating reading. Let them become decoders early in life (i.e. age 5) and by age 7 they will be able to decode anything and read with enjoyment the literature two grade levels above their own. I've taught three sons how to read with a strict phonics method and have third graders reading and enjoying 5th and 6th grade level books. My kindergartener will enter 1st grade with a solid 2nd grade reading level. Don't delay: it's simply, fun and the best thing you can give your kids. Use this book and Siegfried Engelmann's Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. DO IT.
|
