Posted on 08/24/2015 7:00:03 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Hundreds of websites still casually assert what is probably the most destructive sophistry in the history of education:
The Dolch Sight Words [created in the 1940s] are a list of the 220 most frequently used words in the English language. These sight words make up 50 to 70 percent of any general text….Dolch found that children who can identify a certain core group of words by sight could learn to read and comprehend better. Dolch's sight word lists are still widely used today and highly respected by both teachers and parents. These sight words were designed to be learned and mastered by the third grade.
Even at a glance, you may see several problems. Just because they were “designed to be learned and mastered” by the third grade doesn’t mean they will be. The majority of children cannot master these words by any grade, if by master you mean name them with automaticity at reading speed.
“Respected by both teachers and parents” is a slippery construction that conspicuously omits mention of “reading experts who conduct research.”
Furthermore, even if these words make up two thirds of a text, that means a child cannot read every third word. Nothing resembling reading can take place.
Note that phonics instruction would allow the student to read every word by the second grade. But the sight-word method promises that by third grade, the children will know a small subset of English words but still remain largely illiterate. What sort of promise is that?
Even all that is not the full indictment. Trying to memorize many graphic designs – and that’s what learning to read with sight-words entails – is virtually impossible. The brain becomes cluttered with hundreds of partly memorized designs, all of which look quite similar.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Daughter was home-schooled until 3rd grade, so she was already reading at a 6th grade level by then, due to me teaching her phonics, not sight reading.
My son has been in public school since Kindergarten. They taught sight reading. I ended up supplementing it by teaching him phonics in the evenings. He’s 4th grade now, and reads 6th grade level. He hates every minute of reading, and it’s a World War level struggle to get him to do it, but I’ll be damned if my kids will be among the illiterate masses.
Once we get this worked out we can start on when to use apostrophe’s.
because they speak another language very well and have no interest in English?
Educators who turned away from teaching phonics really harmed the children who were placed in their care.
We are reaping what liberals have sown.
While not at elementary level, classic curriculum used to include two years of Latin. They couldn’t do that with this crowd.
The stereotype is not entirely true. Large numbers of asians in the bay area who’ve been here their entire lives and still speak marginal English.
As long as they can read the (D) on the ballot...
Because of the NEA.
Idiot students are created by idiot teachers. And teachers who only care about their taxpayer paid parachutes are not teachers. They are trained parasites.
That’s what our government is teaching this country. How to be trained parasites and not to worry because they will find you a host.
Note that phonics instruction would allow the student to read every word by the second grade. But the sight-word method promises that by third grade, the children will know a small subset of English words but still remain largely illiterate. What sort of promise is that?
When my youngest son went into pubic school, he was not learning to “guess read” as he was being “taught.” They taught him to guess what the words were - not sound them out. He was a bad guesser.
The memorization of “sight words” occurs automatically when they learn to read with phonics along with word spelling lists and definitions.
I taught him to read quickly at home school with phonics. I sent him to school knowing all the sounds of the letters and common letter combinations. So he just had to remember what he already knew and blend the sounds for words. We had a great reading program. He was so relieved when he learned to read and loved it. He knew reading was important to us and he thought he was stupid for not learning right. That really irked me. He’s was a smart kid. He did not return to herd school until high school and only did that to play lax. He was ready for college courses by the end of eighth grade. He had tutors who were students at Harvard for math and science.
If I had it to do over again, he would not have returned to public school and gotten an associate’s degree at the Jr. college down the road during high school years, instead. Then off to college. We would have saved money and he had too much free time to goof off in public school! Lax wrecked his knees...but he was good at it.
Semper ubi sub ubi!
Really. Plural being made possessive all the time is maddening.
It detracts from the message of the writer, making him appear ignorant.
An Illiterate People are a Controllable People.?
As Hitler said:
“It is good for governments that the people are so stupid”.
Or words to that effect.
A real and personal observation;
A few months ago while visiting my neighbor, Abby .. (a 9 or 10 year old grand daughter of his, who had always had a language development problem) sat beside me a commenced to read a hand made birthday card.
I was inpressed how well she was "reading:.
Something like; "I hope this birthday wish reaches you (etc.) ... or words to that effect
Because I'm on the school board of her elementary school, I tested her by asking her to read some large letters on a large round thermometer on the wall ... ACCU RITE
I know, a little unfair but ...
She started " a ... aaa ... aaa k k k aaaak ... you mean sound it out?"
Yeah honey ... sound it out"
"Aaaa ... a (these are all short 'a' sounds) ... aaaa ... k .... .............. I don't think I can"
That's OK ... you did super"
Before the summer break, a "librarian" came and presented us the summer reading program which was all fun and games with reading mixed in
I asked, "Do you use phonics or sight reading?"
"Sight reading" she said proudly
I have voiced my opposition to common Core and the sight reading technique for the last two years (all I've been on the board, but the practice(s) are years old) and will continue, but .... we are in serious shit with the low caliber citizen that "graduates" from high school
Tyrants have created and sustained all manner of “advances” in language...including ebonix!
And 99% of them probably vote Democrat!
The Latin alphabet, and its Greek and Hebrew predecessors, were designed and evolved to be phonetic. The shape of a particular written word indicates the word’s sound, and has absolutely nothing to do with its meaning.
Chinese is logographic, or ideographic. The shape of a written word relates to that word’s meaning, regardless of whether the word is pronounced in Mandarin, Cantonese, some other Chinese language, or even Japanese.
It makes perfect sense Chinese children are taught ‘whole-word’ reading because their written language was designed and evolved as such. It makes no sense to teach English in this way.
Not what I was driving at.
Chinese, the language as written, is all sight words.
"Why Johnny Can't Read - and What You Can Do About it., written in 1955.
"Why Johnny STILL Can't Read", written in 1981.
Book publishers make millions from throw away, worthless workbooks.
"Professors", listed as "authors" in these books are on the payola of the publishing companies.
The "professors" teach the young skulls full of mush, that this is the proven, best way to teach reading, and that phonics is a waste of time.
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