Why the Chair of the English Spelling Society doesn’t understand the English orthographic code

December 11, 2014November 25, 2022 John

I’m re-posting this piece from eight years ago because, apparently, the issue of spelling reform has once again raised its ill-informed head. The arguments haven’t changed and I was amused to see that Jeremy Vine was equally discombobulated by the suggestions put forward by the English Spelling Society. You can watch the exchanges here (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=449481390592436&extid=CL-UNK-UNK-UNK-IOS_GK0T-GK1C&ref=sharing)… Continue reading Why the Chair of the English Spelling Society doesn’t understand the English orthographic code

Andrew Davis · The Guardian

Andrew Davis’s philosophical phonics fantasy

March 5, 2014May 13, 2019 John

Yesterday, the Guardian, to its shame, in my opinion, chose once again to give space to Andrew Davis for yet another opportunity to launch a diatribe against the teaching of synthetic phonics. Why do I say ‘to its shame’? Because, at bottom, Davis, an academic philosopher, doesn’t know what he’s talking about and anyone with the… Continue reading Andrew Davis’s philosophical phonics fantasy

Children's literature EA300 · Reading with kids · The Guardian

Reading with kids

October 22, 2011 John

The Guardian: Reading with kids Today’s Guardian is selling itself on its twenty-four page pull-out ‘Reading with kids’. If you’re looking for good books to buy your young relatives, it offers plenty of advice: ‘The book doctor’ pages for 0-4s and 5-7s contain lots of occasions for what Francis Spufford in his The Child that… Continue reading Reading with kids

Frank Furedi · Over-protectiveness of children · Sunday Times · The Guardian

School stops child cyclists

July 6, 2010 John

This one’s not about literacy but it’s certainly worth a comment. Yesterday’s Guardian newspaper has picked up on a report entitled ‘We’re trying to restore our kids’ freedom’ from the Sunday Times (04/07/2010) about a school in Dulwich, south London, which is threatening to report a couple to children’s services because they allow their two… Continue reading School stops child cyclists

handwriting · The Guardian · Umberto Eco

Umberto echoes my fondness for the fountain pen.

September 23, 2009April 1, 2020 John

What I remember Umberto Eco for best – and, my goodness, I enjoyed The Name of the Rose – is a long-forgotten piece he wrote on the Bond novels. On reading said piece, I was amazed to see that, apart from The Spy Who Loved Me, all the others conformed to a strict structural pattern. I’d… Continue reading Umberto echoes my fondness for the fountain pen.

Michael Rosen · SATs · The Guardian

The end of SATs?

September 21, 2009 John3 Comments

Polly Curtis reported in Friday’s Guardian that 10,000 people have signed a petition to scrap SATs.Independent and objective testing is an appropriate way of seeking to find out if pupils are successfully remembering and understanding what society wants them to be taught. Unfortunately there is little evidence that the Government’s SATs papers actually do this… Continue reading The end of SATs?

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Category: The Guardian