Larry said "We find the same problem in teaching reading to kids. Some people shout "Whole language!" while others shout "Phonics!" Well, guess what, they're both oversimplifying. You have to learn some phonics, and then you learn some larger bits based on that, and some larger bits based on that, and eventually you find that you're intuiting whole language. "
Whole language incoporates phonics as one of it's several learning approaches.
Whole language is, in fact, exactly what you go on to say is the 'right' solution.
(I'm not a teacher by training, but my mum is a reading specialist (with her graduate work focusing on the subject) and I did confirm this with her)
Lazy teachers use "whole language is better than phonics" as an excuse for not knowing when a phonics-based lesson is appropriate.
I'm sure there are teachers like that somewhere, but I've certainly not met them.
IMHO the only reason this is whole language v phonics thing is a national debate is because of large group of lazy parents who listen to the right wingers rant about the evils of public education too much.
It's been a very weird deal. Seems like someone influential in that community must have had a kid that responded very well to phonics (and there are, of course, kids who only learn, or learn especially well, using solely that mode) and they extrapolated from their experience that every child would respond that way. Intellectual lazyness at nearly its worst. Of course, those who haven't bothered to run the experiment themselves and are instead just showing up for board of education meetings demanding phonics be taught (despite it being part of whole language!) are worse because they don't have even empirical evidence that their child would benefit.
I mentioned my mom before. I think her school has the right approach. Parents come in and bitch because Pat Robertson said that phonics was the right way to teach. They explain that whole language uses phonics. If that isn't enough the school has purchased a couple copies of 'hooked on phonics' that they lend out so parents can try before they buy (it's very expensive considering the content of the product). They haven't had a *single* parent (sample size in the dozens) that didn't return the school copy, thank them for the chance to try it and then decide to save the cash rather than themselves a copy.
So while I resent that the 700 club thinks they are in a good position to dictate national education standards, I think the local schools could do a far better job in many cases in educating the parents as to why right wing education schemes are often built on a crumbly, narrow foundation.
I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.
-- Oscar Wilde
Whole language v phonics? (Score:3, Informative)
Whole language incoporates phonics as one of it's several learning approaches.
Whole language is, in fact, exactly what you go on to say is the 'right' solution.
(I'm not a teacher by training, but my mum is a reading specialist (with her graduate work focusing on the subject) and I did confirm this with her)
Re:Whole language v phonics? (Score:2)
Lazy teachers use "whole language is better than phonics" as an excuse for not knowing when a phonics-based lesson is appropriate.
Re:Whole language v phonics? (Score:2)
I'm sure there are teachers like that somewhere, but I've certainly not met them.
IMHO the only reason this is whole language v phonics thing is a national debate is because of large group of lazy parents who listen to the right wingers rant about the evils of public education too much.
It's been a very weird deal. Seems like someone influential in that community must have had a kid that responded very well to phonics (and there are, of course, kids who only learn, or learn especially well, using solely that mode) and they extrapolated from their experience that every child would respond that way. Intellectual lazyness at nearly its worst. Of course, those who haven't bothered to run the experiment themselves and are instead just showing up for board of education meetings demanding phonics be taught (despite it being part of whole language!) are worse because they don't have even empirical evidence that their child would benefit.
I mentioned my mom before. I think her school has the right approach. Parents come in and bitch because Pat Robertson said that phonics was the right way to teach. They explain that whole language uses phonics. If that isn't enough the school has purchased a couple copies of 'hooked on phonics' that they lend out so parents can try before they buy (it's very expensive considering the content of the product). They haven't had a *single* parent (sample size in the dozens) that didn't return the school copy, thank them for the chance to try it and then decide to save the cash rather than themselves a copy.
So while I resent that the 700 club thinks they are in a good position to dictate national education standards, I think the local schools could do a far better job in many cases in educating the parents as to why right wing education schemes are often built on a crumbly, narrow foundation.