In the antebellum South, it was illegal to teach slaves to to read lest they get “dangerous ideas.”
In the the liberal plantation that the USA is rapidly becoming, organized education will prevent everyone from learning to read lest they get “dangerous ideas.”
I agree with much of the article but all of us use some “sight word” methods. There, their, and they’re are all sounded out about the same but we use a whole word approach to ID the meaning.
Agree. But the issue is more complex than stated here.
A large number of children, probably a considerable majority, will learn to read with ease regardless of what method is used. I personally don’t remember how I learned, since I cannot remember not knowing how to read. Mom took a picture of me when I’d just turned 3 absorbed in a “real” book. So the method used in schools was just irrelevant to me. The other second graders were reading Dick and Jane. I was reading Lord of the Rings.
The problem is that there is a considerable subset of children that can learn to read well if given appropriate instruction via phonics, as people have learned to read for thousands of years, but not if forced to learn via “modern” methods.
But, as the article says, phonics isn’t modern, or sexy, or innovative, or something. So large numbers of children must be sacrificed so these evil idiots can pat each other on the back.
So, instead of learning ABC’s and learning how words are constructed of sounds; the kids have to learn the entire word by sight?
Untrue. Large numbers do.
Acceptable as hyperbole, though.
I clearly remember learning to read in 1st grade with Dick and Jane in 1956-57. (First word on the first page of the book was "Look!")
Of course, we also had a phonics workbook as part of the instruction.
I will be the first to admit that I have many flaws, but being unable to read is certainly not one of them.
I have talked to several college presidents about this.
Better tools, better results.
No darn Ebonics.
Why make learning to read so troublesome? With the aid of a colorful alphabet book, a grandfather who helped me learn the associated sounds, and access to books plus an occasional prompt from that grandfather, I became a competent reader before entering first grade, and then was introduced to Dick and Jane and Spot, at 5 yrs, 9 mos. And I am just an ordinary schmoe.
My three children likewise became competent readers before entering first grade, because their mother (and occasionally moi) regularly read to them, colorful word/picture books were readily available to them, and they could practice their skill by reading the sides of cereal boxes at breakfast. And they were not distracted by TV cartoon junk.
This article is SPOT ON!
BookMark
Yer a racist and a homophobe. /S
How silly - it’s no harder than learning to read Chinese.
Used Bob Books with my kids. Absolutely the best phonics based reading program. The "books" are pamphlets that initially focus on one vowel pronunciation and a few consonants. They have funny plots and are so short attention span is not a problem. They gradually ramp up the complexity so it's easy for the kids to advance.
So, even if you are trapped with a teacher who insists on using "modern" methods and your kid is falling behind, a few minutes with Bob each night is the cure.
“Probably the main thing is that they were a cult ....”
Read Feynmann’s commencement speech at Cal Tech.
Cargo Cult Science. He discussed the fakery and dishonesty that he observed in education.
http://www.lhup.edu/~DSIMANEK/cargocul.htm
It’s a good read.
They tried to pull this crap on my child in the late eighties, we noticed something about her reading as we had begun phonics before grammar school and her grades started to plummet, we told them phonics or we’d pull her from school. They caved and the whole program was scraped the following year!
Look-say, Whole-Word, and whatever other name they give it is a giant step up to converting the writing system to Hieroglyphics which promotes politically beneficial Illiteracy. Eventually it is hoped that the profession of Scribe will be resurrected for the Priests of the New Utopia so that information is more easily filtered and controlled.
No, America punked itself. In 2008 and 2012. And now they are on the verge of getting what they voted for.
Thanks, Bruce, for another well-researched article on reading. And just in time for school starting this fall.
How does a parent know if their first grader may be developing a reading problem based on lack of phonics? Here’s a checklist:
He guesses constantly.
He confuses “a” and “the.”
He can usually sound out the first letter and the last letter but the middle of the word is a mystery.
He looks at the pictures first and does a lot of his guesswork based on the pictures.
A word list to memorize appears in his homework, sometimes with instructions for him to call out the words as quickly as possible. (Speed is stressed rather than accuracy.)
If readers come home, they contain a high volume of irregular words that are difficult to sound out.
(Phonetic readers have very few irregular words.)
If you suspect your child is failing to learn to read, research the Internet and find a compatible phonics program to help you teach him.
Or hire someone to tutor him.
Reading is the most important thing he will ever learn in school and his future depends on it.