Obviously this is a different kettle of fish for people who need strategies to overcome a learning disability or whatnot - I’d like to think I’m not dumb just because I have problems with math computation and memorization. But this seems all kinds of counterproductive.
November 12, 2025 at 4:44 AM
Obviously this is a different kettle of fish for people who need strategies to overcome a learning disability or whatnot - I’d like to think I’m not dumb just because I have problems with math computation and memorization. But this seems all kinds of counterproductive.
In addition, Pearson, Madda, and Raphael (2023) characterize the debate around the science of reading as "manufactured" in their chapter, "Current Issues and Best Practices in Literacy Instruction."
November 12, 2025 at 4:25 AM
In addition, Pearson, Madda, and Raphael (2023) characterize the debate around the science of reading as "manufactured" in their chapter, "Current Issues and Best Practices in Literacy Instruction."
Critiques: the author mentions 'building a word bank' as a positive quality for phonics instruction, but lists "memorization" as a negative aspect of the three cue system. Idk it struck me as a bit contradictory.
November 12, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Critiques: the author mentions 'building a word bank' as a positive quality for phonics instruction, but lists "memorization" as a negative aspect of the three cue system. Idk it struck me as a bit contradictory.
The examples are frightening. But honestly that system is how I incorporated language learning but in a different way; I'm terrible at full memorization so I relied moreso on roots when I encountered an unfamiliar word. I used to be a tremendously voracious reader but I guess that doesn't mean good
November 12, 2025 at 3:53 AM
The examples are frightening. But honestly that system is how I incorporated language learning but in a different way; I'm terrible at full memorization so I relied moreso on roots when I encountered an unfamiliar word. I used to be a tremendously voracious reader but I guess that doesn't mean good
This is sobering. Americans have been set up for failure for decades. The ability to read well affects one's ability to comprehend well and pick up on nuance. There are so many people who struggle (and don't know it) because their learning has been based largely on memorization and context clues.
how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...
How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers
For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't kno...
www.apmreports.org
November 12, 2025 at 3:45 AM
This is sobering. Americans have been set up for failure for decades. The ability to read well affects one's ability to comprehend well and pick up on nuance. There are so many people who struggle (and don't know it) because their learning has been based largely on memorization and context clues.
It also leaks into maths instruction where they will tell you that your kids are being left to reinvent mathematics from scratch because the pedagogy moved (incredibly slightly!) towards making sense of shit instead of blind memorization.
Phonics instruction is good! It’s important! Research supports it and I do too! However, phonics-only fetishism has been a right wing policy hang up for decades. Like to the extent that any broader discussion of purpose or method was labeled as the historical equivalent of “woke Marxist propaganda.”
November 12, 2025 at 3:20 AM
It also leaks into maths instruction where they will tell you that your kids are being left to reinvent mathematics from scratch because the pedagogy moved (incredibly slightly!) towards making sense of shit instead of blind memorization.
Bud pretty much read his Cookie Monster book to us unassisted at bedtime. Could be memorization but I’m so proud of how good he’s done this year
November 12, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Bud pretty much read his Cookie Monster book to us unassisted at bedtime. Could be memorization but I’m so proud of how good he’s done this year
Yes! I was a literacy tutor for schools and these kids are learning through sight words aka memorization. In tutoring we taught them phonics, with phonemic awareness, blending sounds, decoding prefixes, suffixes and root words for comprehension but they were starting from being behind grade level.
how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...
How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers
For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't kno...
www.apmreports.org
November 12, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Yes! I was a literacy tutor for schools and these kids are learning through sight words aka memorization. In tutoring we taught them phonics, with phonemic awareness, blending sounds, decoding prefixes, suffixes and root words for comprehension but they were starting from being behind grade level.
they legit told me "children don't learn to read phonetically, visual memorization of words is how they learn" and I was like what the fuck are you talking about. wym you're not correcting how they SAY WORDS
November 12, 2025 at 1:45 AM
they legit told me "children don't learn to read phonetically, visual memorization of words is how they learn" and I was like what the fuck are you talking about. wym you're not correcting how they SAY WORDS
Today's decision in GEMA v. OpenAI by a German court holds that ChatGPT infringes copyright when it memorizes song lyrics. The opinion cites my paper with @afedercooper.bsky.social on memorization in generative models, and its analysis tracks ours.
drive.google.com/file/d/1dUaD...
drive.google.com/file/d/1dUaD...
42-O-14139-24-Endurteil.pdf
drive.google.com
November 12, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Today's decision in GEMA v. OpenAI by a German court holds that ChatGPT infringes copyright when it memorizes song lyrics. The opinion cites my paper with @afedercooper.bsky.social on memorization in generative models, and its analysis tracks ours.
drive.google.com/file/d/1dUaD...
drive.google.com/file/d/1dUaD...
Med pros think I'm a med pro because of my research and using the tools I learned young but we don't seem to be giving the tools anymore. It is crazy to me that an article about reading based on memorization vs phonics and does talk about vocabulary doesn't mention this basic tool on either side.
November 12, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Med pros think I'm a med pro because of my research and using the tools I learned young but we don't seem to be giving the tools anymore. It is crazy to me that an article about reading based on memorization vs phonics and does talk about vocabulary doesn't mention this basic tool on either side.
Status seeking through exotic feats of memorization.
November 11, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Status seeking through exotic feats of memorization.
Some people think this memorization comes from drilling the words as units, not from repeated decoding
November 11, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Some people think this memorization comes from drilling the words as units, not from repeated decoding
David Eddings Belgariad and Elenium series. They awoke in me a desire for a closer and more mystical connection to the divine that runs deeper than the mere church attendance and Bible memorization of my youth.
November 11, 2025 at 11:09 PM
David Eddings Belgariad and Elenium series. They awoke in me a desire for a closer and more mystical connection to the divine that runs deeper than the mere church attendance and Bible memorization of my youth.
This is fascinating, and now I want to know how teachers using the 3-cue method teach kids to write and spell. (Is it just blunt-force memorization?)
November 11, 2025 at 10:43 PM
This is fascinating, and now I want to know how teachers using the 3-cue method teach kids to write and spell. (Is it just blunt-force memorization?)
I vividly remember in the 90s phonics being demonized in public schools in favor of this memorization nonsense and it was framed as enlightened and liberal
but the kids I played with on my street when I was 9 in the midwest couldn't fucking read 3 letter words!!!
but the kids I played with on my street when I was 9 in the midwest couldn't fucking read 3 letter words!!!
how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...
How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers
For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't kno...
www.apmreports.org
November 11, 2025 at 10:20 PM
I vividly remember in the 90s phonics being demonized in public schools in favor of this memorization nonsense and it was framed as enlightened and liberal
but the kids I played with on my street when I was 9 in the midwest couldn't fucking read 3 letter words!!!
but the kids I played with on my street when I was 9 in the midwest couldn't fucking read 3 letter words!!!
It is interesting to contrast with number sense: traditionally we over-taught algorithm and memorization, when people good at math just intuit all sorts of tricks about how numbers relate to each other.
But focusing on the contextual relationships is detrimental to reading.
But focusing on the contextual relationships is detrimental to reading.
November 11, 2025 at 10:00 PM
It is interesting to contrast with number sense: traditionally we over-taught algorithm and memorization, when people good at math just intuit all sorts of tricks about how numbers relate to each other.
But focusing on the contextual relationships is detrimental to reading.
But focusing on the contextual relationships is detrimental to reading.
A lot of these kids weren't raised on phonics! My friend's cousin was likely never taught phonics, so the idea of sounding anything out wouldn't be in her arsenal, so there's this whole generation just raw-dogging literacy with rote memorization! But like your mom, someone should have noticed :(
November 11, 2025 at 9:29 PM
A lot of these kids weren't raised on phonics! My friend's cousin was likely never taught phonics, so the idea of sounding anything out wouldn't be in her arsenal, so there's this whole generation just raw-dogging literacy with rote memorization! But like your mom, someone should have noticed :(
I remember learning the parts of speech that way too, but yeah I am also a hyperlexic autist and taught myself to read (almost certainly through whole word memorization and context clues!) by 4. I only have a handful of memories of explicit reading instruction, none with phonics.
November 11, 2025 at 9:12 PM
I remember learning the parts of speech that way too, but yeah I am also a hyperlexic autist and taught myself to read (almost certainly through whole word memorization and context clues!) by 4. I only have a handful of memories of explicit reading instruction, none with phonics.
My own children had to learn sight words in elementary school, which I fucking hated.
I teach kids who were taught to read this way (memorization, context, guessing, skipping) and they often come into high school with NO ability to discern a word's meaning and no meaningful connection to language.
I teach kids who were taught to read this way (memorization, context, guessing, skipping) and they often come into high school with NO ability to discern a word's meaning and no meaningful connection to language.
how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...
How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers
For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't kno...
www.apmreports.org
November 11, 2025 at 8:09 PM
My own children had to learn sight words in elementary school, which I fucking hated.
I teach kids who were taught to read this way (memorization, context, guessing, skipping) and they often come into high school with NO ability to discern a word's meaning and no meaningful connection to language.
I teach kids who were taught to read this way (memorization, context, guessing, skipping) and they often come into high school with NO ability to discern a word's meaning and no meaningful connection to language.
At least in the States, when you learn Chinese it's just brute memorization. The idea that 3-cuing would make sense with characters makes intuitive sense but most characters aren't orthographically related to their meaning.
November 11, 2025 at 8:01 PM
At least in the States, when you learn Chinese it's just brute memorization. The idea that 3-cuing would make sense with characters makes intuitive sense but most characters aren't orthographically related to their meaning.
I think it also makes sense to certain types of readers, specifically hyperlexical people. They have strong visual memories that enable rote memorization of tens of thousands of words and tend to read in batches of words instead of word by word. If you read like that, and consider yourself a...
November 11, 2025 at 7:52 PM
I think it also makes sense to certain types of readers, specifically hyperlexical people. They have strong visual memories that enable rote memorization of tens of thousands of words and tend to read in batches of words instead of word by word. If you read like that, and consider yourself a...
Morse code was instructive.
Mnemonics/context or word memorization? Kiss of death.
Words form in your head from individual letters/syllables; common words serve only for confirmation - "OK - got that one" - so you can spare precious cycles for "balustrade" or "hospitalization."
Mnemonics/context or word memorization? Kiss of death.
Words form in your head from individual letters/syllables; common words serve only for confirmation - "OK - got that one" - so you can spare precious cycles for "balustrade" or "hospitalization."
November 11, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Morse code was instructive.
Mnemonics/context or word memorization? Kiss of death.
Words form in your head from individual letters/syllables; common words serve only for confirmation - "OK - got that one" - so you can spare precious cycles for "balustrade" or "hospitalization."
Mnemonics/context or word memorization? Kiss of death.
Words form in your head from individual letters/syllables; common words serve only for confirmation - "OK - got that one" - so you can spare precious cycles for "balustrade" or "hospitalization."
Learning to read Chinese (or Japanese) is just difficult. Knowing the meanings of the radicals that make up a character helps some, but it's a process of memorization, and there's no relationship between the character and its sound. In Japanese, kanji don't even map to a single word or syllable.
November 11, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Learning to read Chinese (or Japanese) is just difficult. Knowing the meanings of the radicals that make up a character helps some, but it's a process of memorization, and there's no relationship between the character and its sound. In Japanese, kanji don't even map to a single word or syllable.