THE DARK SIDE OF SPEED READING

I almost didn’t write this article at all.

But then, one or two days after writing (and then deleting) a blog post on this very subject, I received a heartbreaking letter from the mother of a 3rd grade Natural Speed Reader, who is currently being oppressed by his own school teacher in order to bring him into conformity. Despite my desire to always maintain a cheerful tone in all my writing, I realized that I have a responsibility to the thousands of geniuses who have been ground down, crushed or broken by the School System, to speak the truth about the “Dark Side of Speed Reading.”

Somebody has to speak up. But most people don’t have enough of a background in Speed Reading to even know that there is a real danger here. And there’s even fewer still who would know that there’s a simple way to avoid this type of crisis.

CASE #1: In my early days of teaching Speed Reading, I was fortunate to be able to organize a Speed Reading Club (at the local middle school), which met every morning from 7:30 am until 8:30 am, when the first class bell rang. Since I didn’t work for the school system at that time, I was lucky to have a friend on the “inside,” Mr. Lee Laroche, who graciously offered me his classroom for one hour each day.

(One of the big reasons that my Speed Reading Club was given permission to exist was that there were big discipline problems at that school: Because of the different bus schedules in the large rural school district, the first buses arrived with students at 7:30 am, but the first classes didn’t start until 8:30 am — a full hour later. By inviting 20 students inside to learn and practice Speed Reading every day, we helped reduce fighting and vandalism significantly, while raising the literacy level at the same time!)

Early on in the Speed Reading Club, one of the girls in the class, Mary (not her real name) became very motivated to become one of the fastest and best Speed Readers on the planet. She practiced every day on her own time, she never missed a class and her speed & comprehension were exceptional, she was also a vocal advocate of Speed Reading.

Things were going great. Mary was a great example for everyone, and very helpful.

Then one day, after several weeks of progressively better Speed Reading and comprehension, Mary had a run-in with one of her school teachers. Her history teacher, Mr. John (not his real name) openly branded Speed Reading as fake and impossible.

Mary knew that he was wrong, and wasn’t afraid to say so.

So, Mr. John demanded that Mary stand up — in front of the class — and Speed Read a chapter out of the history book (one that she hadn’t read yet).

She Speed Read the whole chapter in less than one minute.

Mr. John proceeded to ask her a series of detailed questions designed trap her, but she got them all correct, until she got to question number 9 or 10. As soon as she got one answer incorrect, Mr. John immediately pounced and exclaimed “You see, that proves that Speed Reading is fake!” He then demanded that she go to her seat, and to sit down and be quiet.

Mary was humiliated, angry and frustrated. Didn’t she get the first 8 or 9 questions correct? And she had done this feat without having had any time to prepare herself mentally and emotionally beforehand? Didn’t she get better comprehension on the “test” after a few seconds of Speed Reading than most students get after one week of studying the chapter?

And Mr. John had the gall to proclaim Speed Reading a fraud? If anything, Mary had just proved Mr. John incorrect. Her score on the verbal “test” was somewhere between 88.9% and 90%. Isn’t that worth at least a B+?

Furthermore, the test was given under adverse circumstances, and Mary was still a beginner at Speed Reading.

Mr. John was overbearing and unreasonable.

As hurtful as that was, things were about to get a lot worse for Mary.

At about that time, my work schedule changed, and I was unable to continue teaching the Speed Reading Club, and I had to make my exit.

And then, somehow, Mary’s mom got involved, and took sides with Mr. Jones, against Mary. I’m no sure why, but mom made sure that Mary didn’t Speed Read any more. Mary was forced to stop speed reading or things would continue to degenerate at home.

Poor Mary! I was so sad for her!

I’m still sad for her.

I don’t know if Mary did any Speed Reading after that, if even secretly.

Mary’s case isn’t the only one like it, although it’s pretty extreme.

CASE #2: I was a substitute school teacher for Mrs. Carter’s 3rd grade class one day, when she had a training meeting to go to. She thought Speed Reading was a fun idea, and gave me permission to teach the kids Speed Reading for 30 minutes on the day that I would substitute for her. Her students loved Speed Reading, and several of them did pretty good at it. Not bad for just 30 minutes of exposure to Speed Reading.

One of the best Speed Readers in Mrs. Carter’s class was Johnny, an unusually active child (likely ADHD, in my opinion).

One year later, I was in a different school. And guess who was in the 4th grade class that I was substituting?

You guessed it — Johnny.

Just before lunch, Johnny came up to me and told me some bad news: His current teacher, Mrs. Jones, had banned Speed Reading in her class. Nobody was allowed to Speed Read.

I was sad to hear this, of course. But I asked Johnny “Is Mrs. Jones here today?”

He responded “No.”

I told him that it was OK to Speed Read while I was there, but that he should respect Mrs. Jones’ wishes, and not Speed Read while she was in class. I also told him that it’s OK for him to Speed Read during lunchtime, when he’s outside of the classroom, and also when he’s at home. Mrs. Jones only controls what happens in her classroom.

He was OK with those rules.

Johnny then stood next to my desk and proceeded to Speed Read a 150-page book, in about 5 minutes. After reading the book, he told me all about what he had just read, in pretty good detail. I thought he did a good job of Speed Reading with good understanding.

One year after learning to Speed Read (in a 30-minute lesson), Johnny was still a capable Speed Reader.

I was impressed with Johnny.

There are many different ways that teachers can bear down on children and effectively hurt their ability to Speed Read. Some do it ignorantly, like Mrs. Jones. Others, like Mr. John, are simply overbearing bullies. And sometimes, the parents become part of the problem, as in the case of Mary’s mother.

There are a couple of major points that I need to make here:

Children are the easiest group of people to teach Speed Reading to. The younger ones learn it the best. They learn it much easier than the older children do. (We are even now learning that children as young a 3-years old have been taught to Speed Read, and they learn the skill with such amazing facility that it would shock most adults.)

But children are also the easiest ones to crush emotionally, when they get into the hands of an overbearing teacher.

And the truth is, that many adults are afraid of teaching Speed Reading to young children, especially the very young ones. They fear that they will ruin the lives of any elementary school child who learns to Speed Read. (As if we aren’t already ruining the lives of millions of children with an overly-complicated system that stifles their desire to learn!)

I’ve received enough feedback from elementary school teachers to know that 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders do extremely well at Speed Reading, and it helps their academic skills, too.

One 5th grade teacher wrote to me the following, after 2 months of having her reading students Speed Read for 20 minutes each day in class:

“…in fact, another assessment tool we use…has shown amazing results of reading gains in the range of one-to two GRADE LEVELS in just a couple of months!!

“Some of my lowest level students (who began reading about second or third grade level) are now reading near grade level (5th grade). Those who were reading on grade level have jumped to 7th and (in one case) 8th grade level. I am very impressed.”

Since it only takes a few minutes per day to teach a young child to Speed Read, let’s err on the side of caution by helping them have a brighter mind (and not hinder their education by obstructing their mental growth at an early age) when we are capable of helping them.

Hear this well: one of the principle dangers of teaching young children to Speed Read is that well-meaning adults may bully them right out of it.

Once your children become older, and especially even adults, there is no longer any danger that they will be persecuted out of Speed Reading. Adults don’t tell other adults how they can read. And high school teachers are generally just grateful if any student wants to read at all!

In order to counter this potential danger to Child Speed Readers, there are a few strategies that parents would do good to implement, in order to protect their children from being bullied by well-meaning teachers:

1. Don’t tell the school teachers that your child is a Speed Reader, unless you know in advance that it is safe to do so. Some school teachers are very supportive. But, if you get another Mr. John for a teacher, then don’t say a word about Speed Reading. If the subject is forced upon you, simply say that you child also knows how to Slow Read.

2. Teach your child to NEVER consent to give a Speed Reading demonstration, unless you approve it in advance. Sometimes it is a trap to discredit your child. (You don’t need to prove anything to anyone, anyway)

3. If you are with close friends or family, it is usually safe for your child to demonstrate, or tell more about Speed Reading. You can even teach others how to Speed Read if you want.

4. When your child is in groups with other children, it is usually safest to not brag about Speed Reading skills. Some people will react negatively, or become envious. Also, since Speed Reading could also be a useful tool in qualifying for a large college scholarship, you don’t want anybody to start persecuting your child because of their own over-competitiveness.

5. If your child Speed Reads when an unsympathetic school teacher is around, teach him to not make his Speed Reading obvious. That way, the teacher won’t take notice (most people wouldn’t notice anyway, but it’s the not-so-open-minded teachers that I’m concerned about).

Speed Reading is an extremely valuable skill. It could literally be a key element of your children’s future financial success. Don’t let anybody take it away from them!