I’m not a big fan of the ‘science of reading’ mainly because phonics or phonemic awareness as it is sometime called, is usually presented in a very boring way using flash cards (sh + ah + puh) or combining phonemes on computer screens in the context of a ”fun” cartoonish game. But when I was...Read More

When I was a kid I used to enjoy Mad Magazine, which I loved for many reasons, the irreverence, the hilarity, the satire, and more. One feature that I remember in particular involved cartoons that spelled out nonsense words as sound effects. For example:  ”Glomp!” “Flaaack!” ”Pffft!” ”Sproing!” (above – a page from Mad with...Read More