January 30, 2006: Good grief, they have an epidemic of cretinism. Is it the result of garbage TV, X-box, junk food, one-parent families, or what? Probably all of the above, but the way they are taught can't help. My sister's five-year-old grandson has been having difficulty reading, which is a bit surprising as both parents are doctors, so one would not expect a defficiency of intelligence. But the puzzle was solved on examination of "Letter Cards" supplied by his school. The letter "R" was illustrated by a picture of a dog. Why? Because a dog goes "GRRRR." Gedit? And the letter "I" was illustrated by a mouse because a mouse goes "eeeee". You'd need to be a genius to learn to read that way.
Teacher, holding up a card with the letter "R": "What's this letter?"
Child: "Um, ..."
Teacher: "Well what does it remind you of?"
Child: "Um, Dog?, is it a 'D'"?
Teacher: "No, no, it isn't a 'D', 'Dog' begins with 'D', but what does a dog do?"
Child: "Goes 'bow-wow' 'woof-woof', is it a 'W'?"
Teacher: "No it isn't a 'W'. Now just think hard about what else a dog does?"
Child: "Pees on a lamp post? Is it a 'P'"?
Teacher: "No it isn't a 'P'. Try to remember your letter card, with the dog. What was the dog doing? Was he g... gr... growling? That's right he was going "GRRRRR."
Child: "In that case it must be a 'G'".
Collapse of elderly school ma'am.
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