Rote memorization is one of the quickest and most efficient methods of learning certain facts such as multiplication tables, German prepositions that only govern the dative case, etc.
That didn't help me much at all when I was in school. My mind just isn't geared toward mathematics.
I too actually disdained the “whole word” method as well as rote math memory.
But then I had some life experience and the wisdom of my mother - a teacher in English and math, with life experience in the old days that apparently aren’t old enough per this article.
She told how when she was young that’s what you did, for a while - rote memory. THEN you got into the guts of why things worked. That is also how she would teach, if they were little ones. Life is sort of like that. Children see things happen, and then know what is normal - but they don’t necessarily understand WHY until later.
1932 is mentioned but McGuffey’s readers were all the rage 40 years prior. Rote memory is VERY old, not recent. Mind you we did much better as a nation until maybe 30-40 years ago. The problem isn’t memory, it’s behavior.
I’m now showing my son things. He’s not in school yet. I realized all these books - especially the CLASSICS - repeat words constantly, in patterns, so you can easily see and connect them to the sound if you show the child what you are reading.
The problem with “phonics” is the English language is a huge hodge-podge of different languages and rules, with a set of rules that doesn’t always apply. So starting with phonics can be tricky if the words don’t obey what the child thinks the alphabet sounds are. Words must be strictly picked.
Better to start with memorizing simple words that follow the rules. Then start what should be phonetic spellings then you can talk about all the many aberrations.