The Victims of Dick and Jane by Samuel Blumenfeld

Go, Spot.
Go and find Dick. Go and find Jane.
Run, Spot, run.

Are you a victim too?

Actually, I never read the book; The Victims of Dick and Jane, have you?  I never even heard of it until today, I simply ran across it as I read a quote by the author, but think that it is an interesting title for a book on education.  I never even heard of Blumenfeld before, but with my curiosity piqued, I learned a little bit about him today.

Blumenfeld is an interesting man.  He has been writing books on the subject of education for over 30 years.  He is also an outspoken advocate for parents having control in the education of their young, which gets my interest because I believe that this is what is at the core of the entire homeschooling movement.  His book, Victim of Dick and Jane is a collection of essays on education, in which he writes about how humanism has devastated our American public education system, and how the "look-say" method of reading, (Dick and Jane type of Books,) have been a determent to our public school system.  (or so it reads on the back of the book.)  but Blumenfeld is interested in more than education, he is also an outspoken American, one who values freedom in general.

The quote that I came upon was from November 2009,  when Blumenfeld, writing for World Net Daily, reminded his readers, "The most important institution in a socialist society is a government-owned and -controlled education system in which children can be indoctrinated to willingly accept state control of their lives....In a socialist system, the state owns the children. Parents are merely breeders, and since homeschoolers tend to like large families, the population-control socialists will no doubt try to abolish homeschooling."  He also says, "Since homeschoolers have rejected the state’s control over the education of their children, they must do all in their power to defeat the efforts of the socialists to destroy parental rights."  

These are good points to ponder, particularly  as more and more socialistic ideas are touted left and right and more and more hands want to rock the cradles of the world, cradles that belong to parents, not businesses or governments.  Education does matter because "the fate of empires depends upon the education of youth." Arthur Blauert, the first Principal of Ferris High School, Spokane.

 Even if you are not a homeschooling parent, even if you are not a homeschooling advocate, you should be interested in the preservation of parental rights and parental influence in the lives of their children.  The role of loving and caring parent, should never be replaced by the state.    Take it from me, I had a public school teacher tell me that my son was her responsibility and not my concern during a parent teacher conference when he was only in the second grade.  The threat to parental input and parental jurisdiction in the life of their children, particularly in the area of education, is a real concern.  It is everyone's concern.

I read an old homeschool movement flyer from the 1980's recently.  It was put out by the Center For Independent Education in San Fransisco CA.  It represents what the State Department of Education of the day "believed," and it attempted to show how ridiculous the view of the State, regarding parental rights in education, was.

Parents can give of themselves...  give of their own lives, their resources, and their patience to raise their children.

They may love and cherish children,  hold their children's needs above their own.

They may nourish their children with wholesome foods, insuring that they are happy and healthy, warm in winter, safe and secure, protected in sickness, encouraged in disappointment or idleness, and watch over them in times of crisis

They may discipline their children, redirect their wrongs, guide them through their formative years of impulse and indecision toward a time then they can stand alone , when impulse and industry go hand in hand...

Parent may share with their children their most fundamental beliefs.... instilling in them a sense of civic pride and self assurance, enriching their lives with special meaning and commitment of religion.


They may speak to them about the things their parents told them the stories and legends that weave the daily struggle of a people or an era or an ethnic culture into a real and invaluable heritage.


Parents may worry all the worries, put aside all the savings, provide all the violin lessons, and wipe all the noses that it takes to raise a whole and healthy child into adulthood.


But...UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES shall parents themselves formally educate their own children at home!"


It's ridiculous, but some people believe such things.  What is worse, some people do not believe a parent should instill anything in their children, especially not their religious beliefs, or the ways of their ancestors. But some people are just plain wrong.

And we must remember that some people would also believe that things like reading and thinking and freedom are dangerous behaviors; which may be why Basal readers, like Dick and Jane (which required learners to memorize words by sight, resulted in readers who, only reading via sight words, when confronted with an unknown word, were completely stumped.  Not only that since it is possible to read a word on sight but not know the meaning of the word, comprehension of what was being read was impaired.  So, Johnny went to school, but when he came home, he was learning impaired, hence the famous book by Rudolf Flesch, "Why Johnny Can't Read." 

The reason Johnny could not read, some asserted from their research, was that Basal readers were used and words were words, only because the teacher defines the words, not because the children had learned to decipher them.

So, do not be a victim of Dick and Jane, learn to read phonetically with Sam Blumenfeld.  teach your children to read phonetically too.   See Samuel Blumenfeld's website at: http://www.howtotutor.com/

 Go, Spot.
Go and find Dick. Go and find Jane.
Run, Spot, run.