EducationNews.org

Dr. Kerry Hempenstall 7.30.09
Over the past twenty years, there has been considerable controversy over the competing emphases to beginning reading known as Whole Language and phonics.

Dr. Kerry Hempenstall
Columnist EducationNews.org
RMIT University
Victoria, Australia
Human speech has long been present in every culture, and our brains have evolved specialized features to enable its rapid development when we are exposed to the speech of others. Reading however is a relatively recent skill, and we have no such dedicated reading module to guarantee success. Fortunately, our brains are able to adapt to the task, although there is considerable variation in the assistance learners require to achieve it.

Dr Kerry Hempenstall
Columnist EducationNews.org
Well, folks, here we are at the Supremely Balanced School of Golf. What can the advocates  tell us about this method of teaching beginning golfers?

Dr. Kerry Hempenstall - Abracadrabra phonics * simply sprinkle a little phonics into your literature-based program * and poof! * your program is balanced. Of course, one dictionary definition of abracadrabra is “gibberish and nonsense”.

Dr Kerry Hempenstall - The belief that education could influence a student's life trajectory was once seriously questioned

March 2003 - Over the past two decades, but particularly in the last 10 years, there has been a burgeoning consensus about the critical importance of phonemic awareness to beginning reading

Dr Kerry Hempenstall
Columnist EducationNews.org
The three-cueing system is well-known to most teachers. What is less well known is that it arose not as a result of advances in knowledge concerning reading development

Dr Kerry Hempenstall - I remember being unable to read.  It was a source of wonder when I first realized that my parents were not making up those long and riveting stories each night.