If I were teaching french it would be easy, because if you know how the word is written, I know how to say the word. English, not so much.
This is the problem. Whole word has them memorize words on a page and does not let them draw on the words that they already know by listening. Someone who know only whole word will not be able to write down the sounds that they know.
Someone who knows phonics, will write down what I did. Unless they are taught that berd = bird, they aren’t going to be able to decode it. You have to start with the sounds.
“Someone who knows phonics, will write down what I did. Unless they are taught that berd = bird, they aren’t going to be able to decode it. You have to start with the sounds.”
Wow, I never thought we’d find someone on this site arguing for whole word. You’re lucky to even find them on left-wing sites. I suspect the real supporters are the education establishment, and they have their own-password protected sights where they strategize on how to deal with trouble-making parents (similar to Journalist). This guy almost sounds like a troll, but I suspect he simply doesn’t understand the difference, and actually did teach his kids sounds (or someone else did). They certainly wouldn’t be reading by now otherwise.