Yesterday, in Bits 'O History, I wrote about Zerna Sharp, probably one of the reasons I can read as well as I do. She is called the "Mother of Dick and Jane," the books that taught generations of children to read in school.
It is my belief that if we brought back this series, updated of course, this would solve a lot of the problems kids encounter today reading in school. The "Dick and Jane" books concentrated on short words and lots of repetition. Today's books are all about big words and lots of them. Also, the pace is much too fast.
Any engineer knows that to build a building that will stand, you need a solid foundation. Today's approach is to start with the upper stories.
This causes children to become confused and disheartened with all the big and difficult words. There is little repetition which is needed for a solid foundation in reading.
Bring Back Dick and Jane. --Cooter
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