At the school where I work in the northeast, we have picked up The Science of Reading approach, after years of failed programs. Seems to be a good approach that will result in actual literacy.
Better try something. In urban public schools 60% of 8th graders are functionally illiterate and are incapable of doing basic math. Then again prior to 1970 virtually all middle school graduates were literate. Despite all the money spent, things have gotten much worse.
Since some words in English don't follow the general phonetic pattern, it would be "wordist" to teach things phonetically because that would leave out the "queer" words.
I want to take a moment to recognize my departed parent. Thanks mom and dad for teaching me to read before I went to elementary school.
My aunt learned to read at age 4 by following along with what her father was reading to her. She had a genius level IQ. My mother used to joke that she carried around a calculus book for a little light reading.
**our country forced phonics into oblivion starting in 1931**
I learned to read quite well in the 1950s. Was an avid reader in the 1960s. Still read quite often.
I noticed my daughter is now an avid reader.
There used to be a company selling something called “Hooked on Phonics”. Haven’t heard their commercial in years.
Still around:
https://www.hookedonphonics.com/
Anyone remember the “Speed Reading” course popular in 1961 and 1962? It was mostly skimming the page. I had it in 1962, Carlsbad NM. I still often use it on light reading, but revert to slow reading for more intense pages.
When I was a little bit older and trying to learn Algebra, I remember my second "Eureka!" moment. I got a paperback copy of Isaac Asimov's The Realm of Algebra. (Asimov might be better known for his prodigious Sci-Fi output). I bought it in the local drugstore newstand, i.e. every town's proxy for a "real" bookstore.
It was not a text book, but a readable interesting little book, conversational almost. Like most paperbacks of the era, it was 25ยข (more or less). (You can download it for free today from the Internet Archive: Asimov: The Realm of Algebra.
Asimov shows how easy Algebra is. It really is a simple concept, of keeping numbers balanced like a "seesaw".
However I would have never learned Algebra if it weren't for the lady who taught me phonics. She really taught me to read.
Reading is a good way to learn a foreign language.
I was in public schools late fifties through the sixties. We were taught phonics
I learned to read sitting in my mothers lap
We had phonics all through school when I was a kid and I started school in 1965, did I miss something??
Too many books these days are just dripping with virtue whining, far Left agendas, and institutionalized insanity.
bkmk
“Reading consists of learning two things: letters and sounds. If you’re not focusing on letters and sounds, you don’t have phonetic instruction of a phonetic language.
The literary money-shot in this one.
My children were reading at age 4...all of them. Why? Because my wife believed in phonics as a path to literacy, and we read to these kids...EVERY DAY.
If you aren’t yet convinced that the elite despise the people, the teaching of whole language reading might change your mind.
No time for reading and writing. Johnny and Sally need to get their genitals removed after the drag show.