Churn: absolutely. I am of an age to have seen the big ideas of fifty years ago come, and then mostly go. I remember the brightly colored workbooks that came wi

Churn: absolutely. I am of an age to have seen the big ideas of fifty years ago come, and then mostly go. I remember the brightly colored workbooks that came with the New Math; as far as I can tell it left behind nothing but Tom Lehrer's song. My brother is enough younger that phonics had gone out of fashion between his first grade and mind, and we found him drawing outlines around words to help him recognize them. And since then, of course, phonics has fought it out with other methods of reading instruction. Your mother is clearer fighting an uphill battle, and wish her well. Yes, if you have the parents behind you everything becomes a lot easier.