Posted on 10/25/2011 11:57:11 AM PDT by Gennie
Whole word or whole language is what they called it in California, most schools here were big supporters of this until after a generation of kids had graduated functionally illiterate, then they switched back to phonics. If you let them do this to your kid I’d say you’re guilty of child abuse at best, evil destruction of your son’s life at worst. Get him out of there as fast as you can as he is already brainwashed against you by following the teachers (governments) orders rather than yours. How soon before he starts informing on what you are doing in you own home?
My three year old knows his letters and sounds, and as a result is now sounding out words. I’d love to take credit for his reading but I’ve been focused on homeschooling his older sisters. And therein lies the rub. Three year olds can teach themselves to read when given the tools.
If simply teaching your kids letter names and sounds can ge them to read, then do we really need headstart and reading specialists in schools? No we don’t. But if they keep reading some mystery that only trained indoctrinators, I mean educators can unlock the secrets to, then they can better justify their bloated payrolls.
Take a look at public school math texts. There’s no explaining the why just “memorize this and use it” leading to the whole “math is hard” and parents thinking they can’t help their kids.
Hope you get a chance to digest all the comments on the thread as there’s lots of good info here.
I was one of those who picked up reading by having a good memory. My school didn’t teach phonics until 2nd grade and my mom didn’t understand why I couldn’t “sound it out”. I didn’t learn a lot of the rules until my friend homeschooled her kids. I now have a grandniece who has problems reading; one of the comments here has given me a hint where to explore for help for her.
The school’s “mind-control” is really at work; she won’t listen to anything I say, whether math or reading, because I’m not doing it the way the teacher does it. Notice how your son has picked that up already; make sure you continue to remind him that YOU are the authority over him (under God). Hitler started young on German kids!
Exactly why your child will be a successful scholar and thinker and why you will be the bane of your child's more "forward-thinking educators."
Sounding out words works fine. Try this with your kids teacher and see if she can figure it out phonetically:
“Go ____ yourself.”
I bet she can even fill in the blank all on her own.
Mrs. R2 is a 1st grade teacher. She has lost count at the number of “stategies” the school district has implemented over the years.
They are like the “flavor of the month”. Whatever is new and hyped up by publishers and high-level eudcators at central office is what the teachers are stuck with.
This summer my wife was sent to a weeklong workshop to be proficient in some new reading program. The district paid big bucks for her and her first grade team to attend this conference. Great. Except the Friday before school started? The district decreed that no.. That idea has been scrapped and instead all teachers will begin this “new and improved” cirriculum. One - as you might expect - they knew NOTHING about.
Anyway - try to to get too ruffled about this “no sounding out” crapola. That’ll probably be ditched soon in favor of some new crapola.
As a former public school teacher, I believe this is idea is KEY. Too many parents have relinquished the responsibility of training and educating their own children. That includes teaching simple concepts: manners, good conduct, personal responsibility, obedience, respect for self and others.
Too many parents have become so busy just trying to practice the many rules laid down by government and the pc police, as well as just making a living, that they have little time to do their real job. This is just part of the socialist/statist conspiracy. And yes, I truly believe that statement.
I'll take this another step forward. I truly believe evil is rampant in the world, and by destroying all of our basic values, Satan and his minions are winning the battle.
I would be tempted to send her a photo of my hand flipping the bird with the caption underneath, “sound this out.”
I am often surprised that Shakespeare learned to read before phonics was invented.
Oh, I am, and actually it’s nothing I didn’t already know as we have an older daughter in school and were prepared for issues when he went in last year...we have 4 kids, only 2 are in school at the moment. I hope nobody thought that I was planning on actually LISTENING TO the ludicrous suggestion that “sound it out” should not be used, because we already told him they may not teach him that in school but he WILL be doing that at home. I was just curious as to who else is having these issues because right now the principal already has a file about us.
I think the note makes more sense if you leave out the first sentence. I don't think the teacher is saying that a student learning to read will learn nothing from sounding out words. That is just not one of the strategies they want the kids to follow when they are first learning to read.
So I would suggest being open to the idea that maybe students can learn to read faster without focusing on sounding out (at first). If the teacher can't give you some idea that this is true and that her previous students have become good readers, or if her explanation sounds nutty, then maybe you'll have to think about finding some other option for your son.
—I may have to check it out as a possible supplement to our homeschool.—
That is exactly how I see it, as a suplement. I have been told that MIT also has something like it. The higher up you go in grades, the more challenging it is to find something like this that is really effective, but through JR High at the very least it should be no problem at all.
“My morbid curiosity leads me to wonder what it is that Miss Blank considers a “reading strategy”.”
I’ve been pondering that one, too.
Your child’s school should be shut down. By the way, how’s the math program? Just as incomprehensible as the reading program?
I’ll dive into that article when I get home from work. Good luck to you, dealing with public schools is a struggle.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.