What is Blogging? Reality of the Word!

If you just want to get your thoughts on the internet, and don't want to go through the trouble of building and maintaining a complicated web site, blogging is the answer. Blogging is short for "web logging" and is a journal to post comments and opinions. Some blogs are even interactive, where visitors can post feedback and share their opinions.

Blogs are actually the easiest form of free website. The whole layout is pretty much set up for you and then you can make minor changes to the color and font, but basically no experience or knowledge is required. You just type your thoughts!

Blogs are also becoming a great tool for promoting your other websites. They have the benefit of "archiving", which means even thought you add new posts and they disappear from your main page, they are archived and and always available to your visitors, and more important, available to search engines

What is Blogging? Reality of the Word!

If you just want to get your thoughts on the internet, and don't want to go through the trouble of building and maintaining a complicated web site, blogging is the answer. Blogging is short for "web logging" and is a journal to post comments and opinions. Some blogs are even interactive, where visitors can post feedback and share their opinions.

Blogs are actually the easiest form of free website. The whole layout is pretty much set up for you and then you can make minor changes to the color and font, but basically no experience or knowledge is required. You just type your thoughts!

Blogs are also becoming a great tool for promoting your other websites. They have the benefit of "archiving", which means even thought you add new posts and they disappear from your main page, they are archived and and always available to your visitors, and more important, available to search engines

Get 10 Ways to Read Faster When you study

Here are 10 easy ways to read faster when you study. Even if you use only a few of these ideas, you'll be reading faster and studying more effectively. Read faster when you study with these 10 ideas.

1. Read only the first sentence of a paragraph:

If your author is good author, he or she will begin each paragraph with a key statement that tells you what that paragraph is about. By reading only the first sentence, you can determine if the paragraph has information you need to know.

If you're reading literature, this still applies, but know that you may miss details that enrich the story. When the language in literature is artful, I would choose to read every word.

2. Skip to the last sentence of the paragraph.

The last sentence in a paragraph should also contain clues for you about the importance of the material covered. A last sentence often serves two functions -- it wraps up the thought expressed and provides a connection to the next paragraph.

3. Read phrases.

When you've skimmed first and last sentences and determined the paragraph is worth reading, you still don't need to read every word. Move your eyes quickly over each line and look for phrases and key words. Your mind will automatically fill in the words between.

4. Ignore the little words.

Ignore the little words like it, to, a, an, and, be -- you know the ones. You don't need them. Your brain will see these little words without acknowledgment.

5. Look for key points.

Look for key points while you're reading for phrases. You're probably already aware of the key words in the subject you're studying. They'll pop out at you. Spend a little more time with the material around those key points.

6. Mark key thoughts in the margins.

I know you were taught not to write in your books, and some books should be kept pristine, but a textbook is for studying. Mark key thoughts in the margins. If it makes you feel better, use a pencil. Even better, buy a packet of those little stickie tabs and slap one on the page with a short note.

When it's time to review, simply read through your tabs.

If you're renting your textbooks, make sure you understand the rules, or you may have bought yourself a book.

5 Places to Rent Your Textbooks

7. Use all the tools provided -- lists, bullets, sidebars.

Use all the tools the author provides -- lists, bullets, sidebars, anything extra in the margins. Authors usually pull out key points for special treatment. They're clues to important information. Use them all. Besides, lists are usually easier to remember.

8. Take notes for practice tests.:

Take notes for writing your own practice tests. When you read something you know will show up on a test, write it down in the form of a question. Note the page number beside it so you can check your answers if necessary.

Keep a list of these key questions and you'll have written your own practice test.

Write Your Own Practice Test

Test Prep

9. Read with good posture.

Reading with good posture helps you read longer and stay awake longer. If you're slumped over, your body is working extra hard to breathe and do all the other automatic things it doesn't ask your help with. Give your body a break. Sit in a healthy way and you'll last a lot longer.

As much as I love to read in bed, it puts me to sleep. If reading puts you to sleep, too, don't read lying down. You don't need me to tell you that, I know.

10. Practice, practice, practice.:

Reading fast takes practice, practice, practice. Try it when you've got nothing on the line, when you're not pressured with a deadline. Practice when you're reading the newspaper. Like music lessons or learning a new language, practice makes all the difference.

Pretty soon you'll be reading faster without even realizing it.

Get 10 Ways to Read Faster When you study

Here are 10 easy ways to read faster when you study. Even if you use only a few of these ideas, you'll be reading faster and studying more effectively. Read faster when you study with these 10 ideas.

1. Read only the first sentence of a paragraph:

If your author is good author, he or she will begin each paragraph with a key statement that tells you what that paragraph is about. By reading only the first sentence, you can determine if the paragraph has information you need to know.

If you're reading literature, this still applies, but know that you may miss details that enrich the story. When the language in literature is artful, I would choose to read every word.

2. Skip to the last sentence of the paragraph.

The last sentence in a paragraph should also contain clues for you about the importance of the material covered. A last sentence often serves two functions -- it wraps up the thought expressed and provides a connection to the next paragraph.

3. Read phrases.

When you've skimmed first and last sentences and determined the paragraph is worth reading, you still don't need to read every word. Move your eyes quickly over each line and look for phrases and key words. Your mind will automatically fill in the words between.

4. Ignore the little words.

Ignore the little words like it, to, a, an, and, be -- you know the ones. You don't need them. Your brain will see these little words without acknowledgment.

5. Look for key points.

Look for key points while you're reading for phrases. You're probably already aware of the key words in the subject you're studying. They'll pop out at you. Spend a little more time with the material around those key points.

6. Mark key thoughts in the margins.

I know you were taught not to write in your books, and some books should be kept pristine, but a textbook is for studying. Mark key thoughts in the margins. If it makes you feel better, use a pencil. Even better, buy a packet of those little stickie tabs and slap one on the page with a short note.

When it's time to review, simply read through your tabs.

If you're renting your textbooks, make sure you understand the rules, or you may have bought yourself a book.

5 Places to Rent Your Textbooks

7. Use all the tools provided -- lists, bullets, sidebars.

Use all the tools the author provides -- lists, bullets, sidebars, anything extra in the margins. Authors usually pull out key points for special treatment. They're clues to important information. Use them all. Besides, lists are usually easier to remember.

8. Take notes for practice tests.:

Take notes for writing your own practice tests. When you read something you know will show up on a test, write it down in the form of a question. Note the page number beside it so you can check your answers if necessary.

Keep a list of these key questions and you'll have written your own practice test.

Write Your Own Practice Test

Test Prep

9. Read with good posture.

Reading with good posture helps you read longer and stay awake longer. If you're slumped over, your body is working extra hard to breathe and do all the other automatic things it doesn't ask your help with. Give your body a break. Sit in a healthy way and you'll last a lot longer.

As much as I love to read in bed, it puts me to sleep. If reading puts you to sleep, too, don't read lying down. You don't need me to tell you that, I know.

10. Practice, practice, practice.:

Reading fast takes practice, practice, practice. Try it when you've got nothing on the line, when you're not pressured with a deadline. Practice when you're reading the newspaper. Like music lessons or learning a new language, practice makes all the difference.

Pretty soon you'll be reading faster without even realizing it.

Get 3 Ways To Improve Your Memory

There are Three Tremendous Ways to improve memory Status:

1. Vary Your Study Space:

Carey cites a study in which students who studied a list of words in a windowless room and again in a room with a view did far better on a test than students who studied only in the viewless room.

Surprisingly, that study was conducted in 1978, and still we haven’t learned.

“The brain makes subtle associations between what it is studying and the background sensations it has at the time, the authors say, regardless of whether those perceptions are conscious,” writes Carey.

Dr. Robert A. Bjork, psychologist at the University of California, L.A. and senior author of the research, states, “What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting.”

2. Vary What You Study:

The same principal may apply to what you study. Carey suggests that musicians and athleteshave known this for years. They practice cross-training. “Varying the type of material studied in a single sitting — alternating, for example,among vocabulary, reading and speaking in a new language — seems to leave a deeperimpression on the brain than does concentrating on just one skill at a time,” Carey writes.

3. Test Yourself Often:

It also turns out that when a student is required to retrieve information, say for a test, that information is re-stored in the brain in a more accessible way for future use. Carey reports that researchers don’t know why this is true, just that it is. “It may be that the brain, when it revisits material at a later time, has to relearn some of what it has absorbed before adding new stuff — and that that process is itself self-reinforcing,” he writes. “The idea is that forgetting is the friend of learning,” Carey quotes Dr. Nate Kornell, a psychologist at Williams College, as saying. “When you forget something, it allows you to relearn, and do so effectively, the next time you see it.” Practice tests, then, are powerful learning tools

Get 3 Ways To Improve Your Memory

There are Three Tremendous Ways to improve memory Status:

1. Vary Your Study Space:

Carey cites a study in which students who studied a list of words in a windowless room and again in a room with a view did far better on a test than students who studied only in the viewless room.

Surprisingly, that study was conducted in 1978, and still we haven’t learned.

“The brain makes subtle associations between what it is studying and the background sensations it has at the time, the authors say, regardless of whether those perceptions are conscious,” writes Carey.

Dr. Robert A. Bjork, psychologist at the University of California, L.A. and senior author of the research, states, “What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting.”

2. Vary What You Study:

The same principal may apply to what you study. Carey suggests that musicians and athleteshave known this for years. They practice cross-training. “Varying the type of material studied in a single sitting — alternating, for example,among vocabulary, reading and speaking in a new language — seems to leave a deeperimpression on the brain than does concentrating on just one skill at a time,” Carey writes.

3. Test Yourself Often:

It also turns out that when a student is required to retrieve information, say for a test, that information is re-stored in the brain in a more accessible way for future use. Carey reports that researchers don’t know why this is true, just that it is. “It may be that the brain, when it revisits material at a later time, has to relearn some of what it has absorbed before adding new stuff — and that that process is itself self-reinforcing,” he writes. “The idea is that forgetting is the friend of learning,” Carey quotes Dr. Nate Kornell, a psychologist at Williams College, as saying. “When you forget something, it allows you to relearn, and do so effectively, the next time you see it.” Practice tests, then, are powerful learning tools

10 Methods to Speed up Your Reading

Here are 10 easy ways to read faster when you study. Even if you use only a few of these ideas, you'll be reading faster and studying more effectively. Read faster when you study with these 10 ideas.

1. Read only the first sentence of a paragraph.

If your author is good author, he or she will begin each paragraph with a key statement that tells you what that paragraph is about. By reading only the first sentence, you can determine if the paragraph has information you need to know.

If you're reading literature, this still applies, but know that you may miss details that enrich the story. When the language in literature is artful, I would choose to read every word.

Classic Literature

Contemporary Literaure

Sponsored Links

Further Finance Studies?

Pursue Your Interest In Islamic Finance & Shariah Principles.

www.INCEIF.org

REACH Registration Dossie

We offer assistants to use/collect available Japanese OECD TG/GLP data

www.cerij.or.jp/ceri_en/gyou

Harrow School Beijing

A Levels (age 16-18): The path to universities worldwide

www.HarrowBeijing.cn

2. Skip to the last sentence of the paragraph.

The last sentence in a paragraph should also contain clues for you about the importance of the material covered. A last sentence often serves two functions -- it wraps up the thought expressed and provides a connection to the next paragraph.

3. Read phrases.

When you've skimmed first and last sentences and determined the paragraph is worth reading, you still don't need to read every word. Move your eyes quickly over each line and look for phrases and key words. Your mind will automatically fill in the words between.

4. Ignore the little words.

Ignore the little words like it, to, a, an, and, be -- you know the ones. You don't need them. Your brain will see these little words without acknowledgment.

5. Look for key points.

Look for key points while you're reading for phrases. You're probably already aware of the key words in the subject you're studying. They'll pop out at you. Spend a little more time with the material around those key points.

6. Mark key thoughts in the margins.

I know you were taught not to write in your books, and some books should be kept pristine, but a textbook is for studying. Mark key thoughts in the margins. If it makes you feel better, use a pencil. Even better, buy a packet of those little stickie tabs and slap one on the page with a short note.

When it's time to review, simply read through your tabs.

If you're renting your textbooks, make sure you understand the rules, or you may have bought yourself a book.

5 Places to Rent Your Textbooks

7. Use all the tools provided -- lists, bullets, sidebars.

Use all the tools the author provides -- lists, bullets, sidebars, anything extra in the margins. Authors usually pull out key points for special treatment. They're clues to important information. Use them all. Besides, lists are usually easier to remember.

8. Take notes for practice tests.

Take notes for writing your own practice tests. When you read something you know will show up on a test, write it down in the form of a question. Note the page number beside it so you can check your answers if necessary.

Keep a list of these key questions and you'll have written your own practice test.

Write Your Own Practice Test

Test Prep

9. Read with good posture.

Reading with good posture helps you read longer and stay awake longer. If you're slumped over, your body is working extra hard to breathe and do all the other automatic things it doesn't ask your help with. Give your body a break. Sit in a healthy way and you'll last a lot longer.

As much as I love to read in bed, it puts me to sleep. If reading puts you to sleep, too, don't read lying down. You don't need me to tell you that, I know.

10. Practice, practice, practice.

Reading fast takes practice, practice, practice. Try it when you've got nothing on the line, when you're not pressured with a deadline. Practice when you're reading the newspaper. Like music lessons or learning a new language, practice makes all the difference.

10 Methods to Speed up Your Reading

Here are 10 easy ways to read faster when you study. Even if you use only a few of these ideas, you'll be reading faster and studying more effectively. Read faster when you study with these 10 ideas.

1. Read only the first sentence of a paragraph.

If your author is good author, he or she will begin each paragraph with a key statement that tells you what that paragraph is about. By reading only the first sentence, you can determine if the paragraph has information you need to know.

If you're reading literature, this still applies, but know that you may miss details that enrich the story. When the language in literature is artful, I would choose to read every word.

Classic Literature

Contemporary Literaure

Sponsored Links

Further Finance Studies?

Pursue Your Interest In Islamic Finance & Shariah Principles.

www.INCEIF.org

REACH Registration Dossie

We offer assistants to use/collect available Japanese OECD TG/GLP data

www.cerij.or.jp/ceri_en/gyou

Harrow School Beijing

A Levels (age 16-18): The path to universities worldwide

www.HarrowBeijing.cn

2. Skip to the last sentence of the paragraph.

The last sentence in a paragraph should also contain clues for you about the importance of the material covered. A last sentence often serves two functions -- it wraps up the thought expressed and provides a connection to the next paragraph.

3. Read phrases.

When you've skimmed first and last sentences and determined the paragraph is worth reading, you still don't need to read every word. Move your eyes quickly over each line and look for phrases and key words. Your mind will automatically fill in the words between.

4. Ignore the little words.

Ignore the little words like it, to, a, an, and, be -- you know the ones. You don't need them. Your brain will see these little words without acknowledgment.

5. Look for key points.

Look for key points while you're reading for phrases. You're probably already aware of the key words in the subject you're studying. They'll pop out at you. Spend a little more time with the material around those key points.

6. Mark key thoughts in the margins.

I know you were taught not to write in your books, and some books should be kept pristine, but a textbook is for studying. Mark key thoughts in the margins. If it makes you feel better, use a pencil. Even better, buy a packet of those little stickie tabs and slap one on the page with a short note.

When it's time to review, simply read through your tabs.

If you're renting your textbooks, make sure you understand the rules, or you may have bought yourself a book.

5 Places to Rent Your Textbooks

7. Use all the tools provided -- lists, bullets, sidebars.

Use all the tools the author provides -- lists, bullets, sidebars, anything extra in the margins. Authors usually pull out key points for special treatment. They're clues to important information. Use them all. Besides, lists are usually easier to remember.

8. Take notes for practice tests.

Take notes for writing your own practice tests. When you read something you know will show up on a test, write it down in the form of a question. Note the page number beside it so you can check your answers if necessary.

Keep a list of these key questions and you'll have written your own practice test.

Write Your Own Practice Test

Test Prep

9. Read with good posture.

Reading with good posture helps you read longer and stay awake longer. If you're slumped over, your body is working extra hard to breathe and do all the other automatic things it doesn't ask your help with. Give your body a break. Sit in a healthy way and you'll last a lot longer.

As much as I love to read in bed, it puts me to sleep. If reading puts you to sleep, too, don't read lying down. You don't need me to tell you that, I know.

10. Practice, practice, practice.

Reading fast takes practice, practice, practice. Try it when you've got nothing on the line, when you're not pressured with a deadline. Practice when you're reading the newspaper. Like music lessons or learning a new language, practice makes all the difference.

10 Ways Leading To Be a Great Student

You've decided to go back to school. Dare to be the best student you can possibly be. Here are 10 ways to be a great student.

1. Take Hard Classes

You're paying good money for an education, make sure you get one. There will be classes that are required for your major, of course, but you will have a fair number of electives as well. Don't take classes simply to accrue credits. Take the classes that really teach you something.

Be passionate about learning.

I once had an advisor that said to me when I expressed fear of a difficult class, "Do you want to get an education or not?"

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2. Show Up, Every Time

Make your classes your highest priority.

If you've got children, I understand that this isn't always possible. Children should always come first. But if you don't show up for your classes, you're not getting that education we discussed in No. 1.

Make sure you've got a good plan for seeing that your children are cared for when you're scheduled to be in class, and when you need to study. It really is possible to raise children while you're going to school. People do it every day.

3. Sit in the Front Row

If you happen to be shy, sitting in the front row can be very uncomfortable at first, but I promise you, it's one of the best ways to pay attention to everything being taught. You can hear better. You can see everything on the board without having to crane your neck around the head in front of you.

You can make eye contact with the professor. Don't underestimate the power of this. If your teacher knows you're really listening and that you care about what you're learning, he or she will be extra willing to help you. Besides, it'll feel like you've got your own private teacher.

4. Ask Questions

Ask questions immediately if you don't understand something. If you're in the front row and have been making eye contact, your instructor probably already knows by the look on your face that you don't understand something. A polite raising of your hand is all you need to do to indicate you've got a question.

If it isn't appropriate to interrupt, make a quick note of your question so you don't forget, and ask later.

Having said this, don't make a pest of yourself. Nobody wants to hear you ask a question every 10 minutes. If you're completely lost, make an appointment to see your teacher after class.

5. Create a Study Space

Carve out a place at home that is your study space. If you've got a family around you, make sure everyone understands that when you're in that space, you're not to be interrupted unless the house is on fire.

Create a space that helps you make the most of your study time. Do you need absolute quiet or do you prefer to have loud music playing? Do you like working at the kitchen table in the midst of everything or do you a quiet room with the door shut? Know your own style and create the space you need.

6. Do All the Work, Plus More

Do your homework. Read the assigned pages, and then some. Plug your topic into the Internet, grab another book at the library, and see what else you can learn about the subject.

Turn your work in on time. If extra credit work is offered, do that too.

I know this takes time, but it'll ensure you really know your stuff. And that's why you're going to school. Right?

7. Make Practice Tests

While you're studying, pay attention to the material you know will be on a test and write a quick practice question. Start a new document on your laptop and add questions as you think of them.

When you're ready to study for a test, you'll have a practice test ready. Brilliant.

8. Form or Join a Study Group

A lot of people study better with others. If that's you, form a study group in your class or join one that's already organized.

There are lots of benefits to studying in a group. You have to be organized. You can't procrastinate. You have to really understand something to be able to explain it out loud to someone else. Grace Fleming, About.com's Guide to Homework and Study Tips, has a great article on Study Groups.

9. Use One Planner

I don't know about you, but if I had a separate calendar for work, school and life, I'd be complete mess. When everything in your life is on one calendar, in one planner, you can't double-book anything. You know, like an important test and a dinner with your boss. The test trumps, by the way.

Get a great calendar or planner with enough room for several daily entries. Keep it with you at all times.

10. Meditate

One of the best things you can do to improve your entire life, not just school, is meditate. Fifteen minutes a day is all you need to feel calm, centered and confident. If you don't know how, here's an easy way to learn: How to Meditate.

Meditate any time, but 15 minutes before you study, 15 minutes before class, 15 minutes before a test, and you'll be amazed at how well you can perform as a student.

10 Ways Leading To Be a Great Student

You've decided to go back to school. Dare to be the best student you can possibly be. Here are 10 ways to be a great student.

1. Take Hard Classes

You're paying good money for an education, make sure you get one. There will be classes that are required for your major, of course, but you will have a fair number of electives as well. Don't take classes simply to accrue credits. Take the classes that really teach you something.

Be passionate about learning.

I once had an advisor that said to me when I expressed fear of a difficult class, "Do you want to get an education or not?"

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

2. Show Up, Every Time

Make your classes your highest priority.

If you've got children, I understand that this isn't always possible. Children should always come first. But if you don't show up for your classes, you're not getting that education we discussed in No. 1.

Make sure you've got a good plan for seeing that your children are cared for when you're scheduled to be in class, and when you need to study. It really is possible to raise children while you're going to school. People do it every day.

3. Sit in the Front Row

If you happen to be shy, sitting in the front row can be very uncomfortable at first, but I promise you, it's one of the best ways to pay attention to everything being taught. You can hear better. You can see everything on the board without having to crane your neck around the head in front of you.

You can make eye contact with the professor. Don't underestimate the power of this. If your teacher knows you're really listening and that you care about what you're learning, he or she will be extra willing to help you. Besides, it'll feel like you've got your own private teacher.

4. Ask Questions

Ask questions immediately if you don't understand something. If you're in the front row and have been making eye contact, your instructor probably already knows by the look on your face that you don't understand something. A polite raising of your hand is all you need to do to indicate you've got a question.

If it isn't appropriate to interrupt, make a quick note of your question so you don't forget, and ask later.

Having said this, don't make a pest of yourself. Nobody wants to hear you ask a question every 10 minutes. If you're completely lost, make an appointment to see your teacher after class.

5. Create a Study Space

Carve out a place at home that is your study space. If you've got a family around you, make sure everyone understands that when you're in that space, you're not to be interrupted unless the house is on fire.

Create a space that helps you make the most of your study time. Do you need absolute quiet or do you prefer to have loud music playing? Do you like working at the kitchen table in the midst of everything or do you a quiet room with the door shut? Know your own style and create the space you need.

6. Do All the Work, Plus More

Do your homework. Read the assigned pages, and then some. Plug your topic into the Internet, grab another book at the library, and see what else you can learn about the subject.

Turn your work in on time. If extra credit work is offered, do that too.

I know this takes time, but it'll ensure you really know your stuff. And that's why you're going to school. Right?

7. Make Practice Tests

While you're studying, pay attention to the material you know will be on a test and write a quick practice question. Start a new document on your laptop and add questions as you think of them.

When you're ready to study for a test, you'll have a practice test ready. Brilliant.

8. Form or Join a Study Group

A lot of people study better with others. If that's you, form a study group in your class or join one that's already organized.

There are lots of benefits to studying in a group. You have to be organized. You can't procrastinate. You have to really understand something to be able to explain it out loud to someone else. Grace Fleming, About.com's Guide to Homework and Study Tips, has a great article on Study Groups.

9. Use One Planner

I don't know about you, but if I had a separate calendar for work, school and life, I'd be complete mess. When everything in your life is on one calendar, in one planner, you can't double-book anything. You know, like an important test and a dinner with your boss. The test trumps, by the way.

Get a great calendar or planner with enough room for several daily entries. Keep it with you at all times.

10. Meditate

One of the best things you can do to improve your entire life, not just school, is meditate. Fifteen minutes a day is all you need to feel calm, centered and confident. If you don't know how, here's an easy way to learn: How to Meditate.

Meditate any time, but 15 minutes before you study, 15 minutes before class, 15 minutes before a test, and you'll be amazed at how well you can perform as a student.

Causes of Failing in Study Terms

My piece was titled “Our Schools Are Skilled At Making Sure Boys Don’t Read." It’s longer, more aggressive, with more suggestions on how to deal with this very huge problem, namely, that boys don’t read well or they don’t read at all. (Also, my article drew helpful comments from readers in several countries.)

Now I want to mention the big difference between my article and the one in the Times. Kristof earnestly discusses theories about why boys can’t seem to keep up with girls. It’s helpful to discuss these theories, and as much as I like mocking the New York Times, Kristof deserves credit for that.

But Kristof doesn’t mention the essential problem, which is that reading methods used in public schools are often ineffective. Specifically, the Education Establishment still pushes sight-words and Dolch words. All the phonics people say that the very process of memorizing these words will prevent the child from becoming a good reader.

Let’s say a boy is 10 or 12 years old and he doesn’t like to read. You don’t actually know whether he is avoiding books as a matter of preference, or he is unable to use books as a matter of never having been properly taught. This is a HUGE distinction. If the Times had thrown its authority behind investigating this distinction, we might make some progress. In any event, my piece on CanadaFreePress ends with some quick diagnostics you can use on this hypothetical boy so you know what his problem really is...

Causes of Failing in Study Terms

My piece was titled “Our Schools Are Skilled At Making Sure Boys Don’t Read." It’s longer, more aggressive, with more suggestions on how to deal with this very huge problem, namely, that boys don’t read well or they don’t read at all. (Also, my article drew helpful comments from readers in several countries.)

Now I want to mention the big difference between my article and the one in the Times. Kristof earnestly discusses theories about why boys can’t seem to keep up with girls. It’s helpful to discuss these theories, and as much as I like mocking the New York Times, Kristof deserves credit for that.

But Kristof doesn’t mention the essential problem, which is that reading methods used in public schools are often ineffective. Specifically, the Education Establishment still pushes sight-words and Dolch words. All the phonics people say that the very process of memorizing these words will prevent the child from becoming a good reader.

Let’s say a boy is 10 or 12 years old and he doesn’t like to read. You don’t actually know whether he is avoiding books as a matter of preference, or he is unable to use books as a matter of never having been properly taught. This is a HUGE distinction. If the Times had thrown its authority behind investigating this distinction, we might make some progress. In any event, my piece on CanadaFreePress ends with some quick diagnostics you can use on this hypothetical boy so you know what his problem really is...