Posted on 03/10/2025 4:13:40 PM PDT by BruceDeitrickPrice
Neither phonics nor word sight is a complete solution. Too many contradictions and exceptions for phonics and word sight too limiting in vocabulary.
There is no easy or “one size fits all” solution to teaching English as we know it. Sort of know it anyway.
Pretty much why English is a required subject for 12 years of primary school.
Yepper, phonics :)
Right. Phonics is essential but it works best on words with fairly simple spellings. It doesn’t help, for example, with the multiple ways to pronounce “ough”. Those kinds of words have to be memorized so they are recognized by sight. (Or is it “site”, or is it “cite”?). Of course, when a person has true fluency of reading, it’s all by sight.
Agreed. My brother explained the phonics principle to me. But most of my reading was based on whole word recognition. For years, I had a vocabulary of words the pronunciation of which was somewhat vague to me. So it’s not either phonics or whole word, it can be both. And individuals will find different strategies best for them.
Two computer history videos I made of computer applications for teaching kids to read. One for IBM Research, and one for BBN in Cambridge MA after I took early retirement and did videos for BBN and MIT Media Lab. A career change from computer language design that came out of being a Trekkie and making music videos. The world is just FILLED with fun things to do.
IBM Research - Meadow - 1991
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t03p0B7dCrU
BBN Voice Recognition Reading Aide - 1997
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUQ5jcex5Ug
Now AI is training humans to read the way it wants them to read. That is not all AI will be training us to do...
My two years older sister taught me to read, she started when I was 3. My brother was born then, and I remember sitting in his high chair while Mom did dishes at age 5 reading Dickens to her. She took the book, A tale of two cities. Mom said, it’s too deep for you. I could read everything, and started out in 4th grade reading class at age 6.
Both of my daughters were taught phonics at an early age, with site words added as they progressed to more complex sentences and words. Both are excellent and prolific readers.
Look Say or whatever it is called this year is teaching reading as if English were Hieroglyphics. Literacy is obviously NOT the goal of modern education.
“AI” will say whatever it thinks you want to hear.
and if you disagree it will say, oh sorry did you want to hear this ?
Japanese using hiragana and katakana is phonetic. Once you venture into Kanji, it becomes rote "sight words" to map the Kanji to words and meanings. Mandarin Chinese seems to be an exercise in sight words too, but a worthwhile exercise since written Chinese is standard while spoken Chinese is not e.g. Mandarin and Cantonese speakers can read and understand, but speak different words.
Phonographix is a great method that encompasses the exceptions and decoding them. I highly recommend.
Absolutely agree!
My husband and I are homeschooling one of our grandchildren. He started with us the month he turned 12. He was completely illiterate and innumerate. He did not know the alphabet and couldn’t add 3+8.
I started him on phonics. Three years and one month later, he is half-way through Saxon Math Algebra 1 and is fluently reading an Advanced Placement history book.
Honestly, This has been the most important and satisfying work I have ever done. It’s not often a person gets to save a life.
That is wonderful!
Just one more thing.
If we had more school choice, I believe privately run schools would use phonics, more children would learn to read, and government schools would be pressured to adopt phonic programs.
Bless you.
Truly, it is. He was sullen and discouraged. Today, he is confident, cheerful, curious,and eager to learn. He is a pleasure to teach.
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.