The Man who Taught the World to Read (Be a Hero. Teach a Child to Read, #2)

Ever heard of Dr. Frank C. Laubach?

“The man who taught the world to read”?

This one man is credited with helping over 100 million people to read.

How did he do it?

Working as a missionary, Dr. Laubach realized the impact of widespread illiteracy in the populations he reached out to.

He found that the same system he had used to learn languages could be adapted to teaching people to read and write in their own tongue.

He created alphabets to represent spoken sounds, and went forward from there.

In his book, “Teaching the World to Read” he shared his experiences with learning and teaching a Philippine dialect (Maranao), “It is easy for a man with average intelligence to learn to read in one day by using these lessons. Many people have learned to read all of the letters in two hours, some even in one hour.”

But how did he teach so many?

Laubach’s second accomplishment is told in another of his books, “How to Make the World Literate: the each one teach one way”.

At the onset of the Depression, missionary literacy teachers lost their monetary support. An insightful village chief ordered each learner to teach others. This became the “Each one Teach One” principle. New readers were now teachers armed with Laubach’s alphabet and his charts of pictures and words. This approach was carried over to other languages in other areas of the world.

Why not teach English this way?

Actually, English was historically taught using the alphabet method (phonics). It was the introduction of “whole language” instruction that shoved phonics aside. Sure, there is some carry-over of phonics in some areas, but it is clouded by modern pedagogical ideas. For this reason, those who endorse the alphabet system call their method “systematic phonics”. This differentiates it from the watered-down phonics which has become a side show to whole language instruction.

How can I Teach using Systematic Phonics?

In a blaring attack on the decline of U.S. literacy, Rudolf Flesch led the way with his book, “Why Johnny Can’t read: and what you can do about it”. This book contains a basic reading course in the back as a sample.

Sam Blumenfeld, realizing that the battle was not over, reintroduced Flesch’s work. Ultimately, he created his own textbook with 129 simple lessons (Alpha-Phonics: A Primer for Beginning Readers). Also included in his book (only one book for all of this) are: prereading alphabet exercises; a chart showing the English Alphabet System, an introduction to cursive (including the Cursive Alphabet), and an easy to follow teacher’s manual. Publisher Peter Watt, with the help of his wife June, added a section on helpful tips which were gleaned from their experience of guiding customers over the years. These components together make a complete course which is easy to use.