TengoFive Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 I was visiting with a 2nd grade schoolteacher the other night and my just turned 4 year old was reading some words on flashcards for fun. They were the Usborne phonics cards which we both love, btw. Anyway, she was sharing with me that in her classroom and the entire school system she teaches in, they have a whole list of things the students are supposed to do if they can't read a word, and at the very, very end of the list is to sound it out. That just seems incredible backwards to me. What are they going to do when they get to chapter books and they don't recognize a word? Look at the picture? Or if its in a hard to complex subject, context isn't going to help a whole lot. I thought schools were beyond this! Is this still common? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherLynn Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Yes, it is common. WHen DD was in the lower grades, they were expected to know words by sight, not sounds. Btw, many praises for your 4 year old. Job well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 My personal opinion is that schools make it more mysterious and difficult than it really is because they need to fill up the dc time. :ack2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_thurm Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 I second your concerns. I taught in a public school and my emphasis was on reading. I felt kids learned so much more from phonetically decoding the word and usually the other things such as picture, placement in a sentence, ect. for clues. Do you have a link to the usborne flashcards you love? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Sad to say, this is VERY common. Is it any wonder why so many kids struggle learing to read? http://3rsplus.com/ is the program I am using with my girls and it really works. Your 4 year old might really like the books. You can bring out the first 2 sets for free from http://www.teacherweb.com/CA/PomeloDriveElementary/Mrssakamoto/printap2.stm Just DO NOT follow their directions on using the books. Use the directions on teaching kids to sound out the words from the 3rsplus site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_thurm Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 If you are looking for programs that teach more phonetically we loved Hooked on Phonics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staci in MO Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 And that actually was a factor in my decision to homeschool after my oldest finished K. My ds entered K knowing how to sound out simple cvc words. After a year of that whole-language hocus pocus, he had made little, if any, progress. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say I'm not a fan. I hate to be one of those conspiracy theory homeschoolers, since I believe that the vast majority of people in the education field genuinely want to help kids. But, I've yet to be convinced that whole language is better for the kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheWillFly Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Still common. My first grader was in a special reading group because she couldn't decode words. The special group was teaching phonics.:glare: Shouldn't that be the primary tool to decoding words? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink and Green Mom Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Same at our Northern Virginia school. Sound it out is the fifth (out of five) strategy my first grade son is taught to use. Look at the picture and "guess" are the "strategies" his teacher prefers. This is why we started afterschooling this year and will be homeschooling beginning next year. The teacher insisted that my teaching him phonics is what was causing his reading to regress. Terrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanessaS Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 It's crazy. Coming from Germany, the idea of not learning phonics first just blows my mind. I still can't quite grasp the concept. What is the point of a phonetic (rather than character-based) language if you don't learn phonics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spock Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 I was visiting with a 2nd grade schoolteacher the other night and my just turned 4 year old was reading some words on flashcards for fun. They were the Usborne phonics cards which we both love, btw. Anyway, she was sharing with me that in her classroom and the entire school system she teaches in, they have a whole list of things the students are supposed to do if they can't read a word, and at the very, very end of the list is to sound it out. That just seems incredible backwards to me. What are they going to do when they get to chapter books and they don't recognize a word? Look at the picture? Or if its in a hard to complex subject, context isn't going to help a whole lot. I thought schools were beyond this! Is this still common? When my high schoolers were in elementary school, I worked in the public school afterschool program in the elementary schools. All of the K-2 classes had this list, and sounding out the word was indeed at the very end, even after "ask a friend" and "look at the first and last letters and see if you can think of a word it could be". All of the public school students in their high school Sunday school classes now read very poorly because of this. I haven't been in the public schools since my oldest was in 2nd grade (at that point I stopped working and stayed home with them full time, but I teach first and second grade Sunday School. Judging by the way my students read, some schools are using phonics and more schools are continuing the "sight words with a tiny bit of phonics" approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TengoFive Posted May 28, 2009 Author Share Posted May 28, 2009 Here's the link for them. http://www.myubam.com/ecommerce/details.asp?sid=NEW&gid=80139380&title=Phonics+Flashcards&sqlwhere=submit%3Dsearch%26search%3Dphonics They're great! Beautiful illustrations and very simple phonics words. There are about 10 that aren't short vowel sounds, but we cover the rules when we come to those and I help her sound it out. The word is printed on one side with no picture. On the reverse is a picture of the item and the word broken down phonetically. So if the word were "hair" (not one of the ones on the cards btw) it would have "h" "ai" "r" in blocks. She carries them around with her reading them. We're using OPGTTR as our spine, but I'm all about practicing those skills. We haven't even finished the consonant rhyme, but she is just zooming along. My now 7 year old did the same thing with OPG, so I'm a believer! This is the 4th time I've taught phonics, the 2nd with OPG. I just do not understand the logic behind the other way. I second your concerns. I taught in a public school and my emphasis was on reading. I felt kids learned so much more from phonetically decoding the word and usually the other things such as picture, placement in a sentence, ect. for clues. Do you have a link to the usborne flashcards you love? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted May 28, 2009 Share Posted May 28, 2009 It is pretty pathetic, isn't it? I have similar issues with how math is taught. My son bombed several math problems on this year's assessment test because the questions wanted him to select a strategy for finding the answer rather than giving the answer. In every case, he could find the actual answer but was clueless when it came to choosing a strategy such as drawing a picture, using a number line, or making a chart. So, I've started trying to show my kids how to use these silly strategies in addition to finding the answer using simple math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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