American English Doctor

“sh,” “th,” and “ee” are NOT “Blends”

Maeve Maddox — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:00:21 +0000

British government calls for return to "traditional lessons" because school children's reading scores have [...]

Undermining Phonics

Maeve Maddox — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 23:01:40 +0000

"Phonics" instruction that permits a beginning reader to believe that /k/ is "the sound of C" undermines true phonics instruction that equips the child to develop into a confident [...]

Don’t Teach “Silent” Letters

Maeve Maddox — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:14:41 +0000

The word "knight" contains three speech sounds and is written with just three sound [...]

Why Do High School Graduates Make Basic Writing Mistakes?

Maeve Maddox — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 22:30:46 +0000

Parents can help school children master standard written English by insisting that they correct their mistakes in writing every time they make them. High school graduates who did not learn the basics need to provide themselves with a style [...]

Reduce Common English Faults with Dictation Exercises

Maeve Maddox — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:49:13 +0000

In a perfect world, English teachers would have time to assign and correct daily writing exercises. In the real world of the U.S. public school, teachers can make use of dictation exercises to stamp out the most common writing [...]

No More Red Ink!

Maeve Maddox — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:55:34 +0000

Some school authorities fear that marking children's school work with red ink traumatizes [...]

Pay Attention to Your Child’s Handwriting

Maeve Maddox — Thu, 20 May 2010 21:24:13 +0000

Judging by the way that many young actors on TV hold their pens and pencils as they write their police reports and medical prescriptions, handwriting is not much taught in the schools [...]

Building Vocabulary with the Tale of Peter Rabbit

Maeve Maddox — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:30:41 +0000

According to most sales classifications, Beatrix Potter’s Tale of Peter Rabbit is suitable for children ages 4-8.

According to various readability scales, this children’s [...]

CH is Not a “Blend”

Maeve Maddox — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:46:38 +0000

Numerous websites offering tips on reading instruction mistakenly refer to the digraph ch as a [...]

School Reform That Would Benefit All Children, Not Just the Affluent

MjMaddox — Sun, 09 May 2010 17:56:57 +0000

The most effective school reform would be one that changes the way children are introduced to reading in the early [...]