[NLA] basal reading texts - phonics

[KathleenBombach@aol.com]

Gail's friend has made an important comment here. All the publishers will 
produce what the market demands, and they do not really care what that is. 
One can read into this that we are entering/reentering an era of another fad: 
phonics. The publishers, all of them, will respond in kind.

There is a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso who believes that 
child can learn to read at ages two and three if we hang large print signs 
labeling everything, like 'chair' and 'Mommy'. He's right--I know my sister's 
first read word was 'McDonalds' and my son's was 'Kmart', both at the age of 
three. This professor has never asked the obvious question: why should 
children learn to read at age three? But he has research-based evidence. 
Heaven forbid any president takes a shine to his work, but if they do, the 
publishers will provide us with the signs to purchase.

In truth, adult literacy is not a sexy field. Our learners do not make 
attractive poster children (Voiceover: "Millie has three kids under the age 
of three" Shot of disheveled women in a stained and tattered house dress. "If 
Millie could read, maybe she could get a job as a secreatry for $7.50 an hour 
instead of living on welfare"  Segue to shot of Millie in the housedress with 
her kids in the checkout line at the supermarket, paying with a Lone Star 
food stamp card. The baby's diaper is obviously soiled and the other two kids 
don't look so clean either. Her groceries include six-packs of soda and lots 
of sugary cereal for the kids (Note: product placement opportunity here--call 
Pepsi, Coke, Kelloggs and General Mills). "Donate now, so Millie can learn to 
read" Shot of Millie as a harried receptionist, wearing a cheap dress from 
Kmart and surrepticiously reading the instructions on a package of birth 
control pills.). 

So if corporate heads take on unattractive, not-at-all glamorous adult 
literacy instead of the symphony, hallelujah. After reviewing hundreds of 
foundations, I have have found that most give in communities and to causes 
that are upper and middle class, where their markets are. For a textbook 
publisher, that market is K-12 in Texas, New York, and California. The adult 
literacy side is small potatoes (or is it potatos? Call Dan Q.). It's like 
Bill Gates--say what you want, he is putting his money into unattractive 
third world diseases where there is no money to be made, just lots of dying 
and disabled poor people. I admire that. 
Kathleen Bombach
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