There goes spelling.
Seems like an awfully early cutoff, to me.
This is a proven method of instruction. California threw this out years ago, and the children there paid for it....dearly. In standardized tests, after using the "whole language method" California children scored lowest in the entire nation, scoring above only Guam.
But the NEA and other liberals keep pushing the "whole language" guessing approach anyways.
Excellent. There's nothing more pathetic than watching an adult try to figure out what a word is, when they haven't been taught phonics.
Kids that are taught phonics are sounding out difficult words and reading easily a lot earlier than other kids.
Why it was ever stopped, I can't imagine.
So, how does one use phonics to pronounce "drought", "nought", "worchestershire" and "colour"?
Fantastic news!
Phonics?????
Why???????????
Can't EVERYONE memorize 100,000 words so they can read the 'whole language' method?
I learned more or less on the whole-language method. As I understand it, neither method is really "better" than the other, since some kids learn better on one method, and some on the other. I learned to read long before I got to kindergarten, so I don't really remember it, but my parents tell me they used "whole-language".
Natural organic phonics are better.
I got hooked on phonics but through rehab I'm doing better. Taking it one day at a time.
Ah! but will hang by the neck until dead those still living that STOPPED Britain from teaching phonics in the past..?
Excellent. I do wish this would be implemented in ALL public schools in America. It was there for me and gave me the help i needed to start reading (and writing) on my own.
When our son entered first grade whole language was again in vogue, but thankfully his teacher persisted in teaching phonics. The school district finally changed its reading curriculum after test scores dropped dramatically. Our daughter was also taught to read with phonics.
Why can't these educational bureacrats get it ...phonics works and whole language doesn't.
Yep, the old timers knew this was the best method ever. What was the reasoning behind stopping phonics? Dumbing us down...IMO.
Whole Language Lives On: The Illusion of “Balanced Reading” Instruction
by Louisa Cook Moats
10/01/2000
Whole language may have been disproven by scholars, but it still lurks in many corners of education practice: in textbooks for teachers, instructional materials for classroom use, teacher-licensing requirements, courses and standards for teacher education, and the professional context in which teachers work. As a consequence, too many children are not doing as well as they could be, and others are falling by the wayside in beginning reading, never to get on track, even though this failure is largely preventable. Not all children are adversely affected, to be sure; many children learn to read in spite of how we teach them, and many teachers are teaching reading well. Nevertheless, it is those children who depend the most on valid and effective instruction in school, including minority, low-income, immigrant, and inner-city children, who are most likely to be harmed by persistent whole-language ideology and its manifestations in practice.(57)[excerpt]
And this website gives more information/references for further reading, as well:
The Reading Wars Continue
Wednesday, August 4, 2004
By Nancy Salvato
The biggest hurdle facing education and our nation stems from the extremity of viewpoints dominating public opinion coupled with people who won’t hear or learn from what each have to say. Name calling, skeptic disregard for new developments and fear of losing credibility, all hinder cooperation between policy makers; blurring the issues needing attention and hampering progress toward what’s best for the children and society at large.In light of this, I shouldn’t be surprised to find that we are still having what are commonly referred to as “reading wars”. Scientific research that debunked the viability of whole language based reading methodology is apparently not enough for the education establishment to get rid of a dead weight that has been pulling down the reading scores for the past two decades. Instead of admitting failure and doing what’s right, the professors continue to teach methods courses which are based on these substandard methods for learning to read, under the guise of “balanced reading”.
* * *
Because some Kindergarten and First Grade students already have an idea of the sound/letter correspondence, they can learn to read under any approach. The problem occurs when researchers believe progress is made because of, not despite the teaching method. “At risk” kids need instructional approaches that are based on what we know about the phonetic code. Good reading results from a combination of phonemic awareness, phonics knowledge, fluency, good vocabulary, and comprehension strategies.4
How does “whole language” fail at risk students? .....
[snip]
IMO, the key to good spelling is reading a lot, mainly because there are so many English words that don't follow the rules of phonics. You literally have to have 'em all committed to memory, and you can only get that by seeing them all the time. Reading is the only thing that does that.