I don’t remember how I was taught. My kids were taught a phonics system that started with LIT the ladybug and TIL the turtle. Months later the strategy was “sound it out and if it doesn’t sound right, ask yourself what would make sense there.” That sounded great to me. Although I still think that ITL the inchworm was a stretch.
This sort of educational malpractice fills me with rage. Any teacher who advises an adult not to teach a kid is a fuckup. If you’re teaching your kid how to do something, and if it enables them to do it, why on earth would I object? Sure, I might teach them a different method, but it’s no big thang to teach a kid that there are multiple paths to the same objective. Gah, makes me so mad.
This makes me really mad, too. Parents give a damn in a lot of different ways. Some parents who live in generational poverty give a huge damn about their kids, but they may not be very literate themselves nor have the money for many books nor the education to know about the benefits of literacy. I see plenty of kids come through my room whose reading abilities aren’t up to snuff, and I know their parents love them more than anything; that doesn’t always mean they read to their kids, or engage in other literacy best practices, but it’s hugely insulting to suggest that they don’t give a damn.
Most parents are doing their best by their kids.
I learned on the Montessori method. It was so structured that I do very much remember how it went. It is entirely based on phonics.
[ol]
[li]We trace letters on wooden blocks, while being taught what sound that letter makes. So I’d trace the lowercase “b” and make the /b/ sound. You got two letters per day, and were tested on the previous ones. [/li]
[li]Next are the “pink” words. These are all two or three letter words. We would be taught to put the letters together to make these words. There were different steps along the way: sounding out the word and matching it to a picture, writing the words down on a “carpet,” and eventually reading these small booklets that were exclusively made up of these pink words. [/li]
[li]Next came the blue words, which was the same thing all over again, but with words that could be four or more letters long. Again, it commences with the small booklets. [/li]
[li]Finally, we had the green words. These were essentially self-contained lessons like the above, but for different combinations of letters to make sounds. You’d generally be taught two at a time, and have to work them out. Then there were sets of words that were all mixed together. Then finally the green booklets.[/li][/ol]
Beyond that, we were ready to read actual Readers, and to have vocabulary words that we had to define and spell. We also had BookIt! and little reading worksets, with a story and then some questions we had to answer. At no point did we learn “sight words,” but pretty much everyone came out knowing how to read if they made it far enough in.
The individual attention and refusal to move on until you understood the previous lesson is probably key here.
Huh? But I do pronounce them differently! “Clothes” definitely has a bit of the “th” in there.
Oh, I missed this. Yeah, they sound different where I live, and when I say them.
I know this is a zombie, but if my tragic story can save just one child, it will be worth it.
Like most kids, I was exposed to reading at an early age. My parents would read to me while I’d look at the pictures. Eventually, I realized that there were individual words and they would point them out to me. I had older siblings who also contributed (some constructively, some not so much).
By the time I started 1st grade, I thought I could read since I would often read “Henry” in the comics without anyone’s help and I knew a lot of the little words (like the, you, in…), but in the 1st grade, a much older kid (a 4th grader, IIRC), tried to get me to try this stuff called Phonics. “It’s easy,” he said, “it’s fun.”
Well, you guessed it. In no time, I was reading words I had never seen before, only heard about. Yep, I was Hooked! Yeah, it started out as just harmless fun reading words like “Westinghouse” and “Restaurant” on billboards and signs while my parents drove me around, garnering praise from the grown-ups and being teased mercilessly by my siblings.
But, as you have probably guessed, the fun didn’t last long. By the time I was 8, my life was a mess. Reading became a chore that I avoided at all costs. Words like “neighbor” and “throughout” would cause me nightmares. My parents finally decided I needed professional help and took me to a doctor. I stood there, paralyzed, at the sight of his title on the door, “Pediatric Psychiatrist.” It was as if they were taunting me.
Well, after decades of hard work and a strong will, I am able to lead a normal life, at least for what passes as normal to me. I was able to finish school, get a college degree, and find gainful employment. I did become an Engineer, so some would argue (rightfully) that some permanent damage could not be repaired. I found and married an English Major who was able to see though my handicap and love what was left of the innocent child inside.
But, learn from my mistakes. Phonics are fun and can help a lot, but always in moderation. You don’t want to depend on them so much that you become Hooked On Phonics, as I was. Phonics should never be used as a crutch or substitute for understanding word origins and derivations.
Above all, if you find a child who is obviously hooked on phonics, don’t just sit there and say “I’m not their parent, it’s not my problem”, do something! The parents, like mine were, are probably blinded by the precocious behavior. After all, parents often only see what they want to see. Sometimes, just pointing out to the parents that the kid is a bit intimated by the word “thoroughfare” is all it takes.