| Without any doubt it is a terrible tragedy for a child | | | | I still hear the frustrated comment from a fifteen |
| not to acquire the basic literacy skills. | | | | year old student of mine in the mid nineteen eighties |
| The high standard of literacy needed for academic | | | | when I explained the Alphabetic principle to him. A |
| success is denied to many children because they are | | | | highly intelligent boy he stared at me wide eyed. "Is |
| not taught to read in a systematic way. With the | | | | that all it was?" he said. I could truly understand his |
| knowledge now available from educational research | | | | anger. He simply wasn't taught the code for reading |
| this is inexcusable. | | | | words. |
| Lack of literacy also inhibits chances in life as well. Self | | | | The general phonic principle is that the letters of the |
| esteem is also damaged. | | | | written word represent, from left to right, the |
| Educational fads and fancies come and go. Each | | | | sounds of the spoken word. |
| generation wants to do better than the preceding | | | | The phonics knowledge needed by a reader can be |
| one and in a lot of cases refuse to look at what their | | | | written on the back of an envelope. When trained in |
| forebears taught that worked. | | | | phonics children can look at and read a new word |
| The whole language philosophy of teaching appeared | | | | using their knowledge of the alphabet and decode it |
| in the 1980's and was underpinned by the philosophy | | | | for themselves. |
| that children will learn to read and write by being | | | | When the texts children are given to read are |
| immersed in language experience - namely learning by | | | | carefully chosen and at their level of development |
| experimentation. Surrounded by good literature it was | | | | learning to read can be pleasurable. |
| believed that children would lean to read and write | | | | If you know someone struggling with reading check |
| without formal instruction much as they learned to | | | | their knowledge of letter sound relationships and their |
| speak. | | | | ability to decode and blend syllables in words. |
| For me the results of invented spelling that children | | | | It has been my experience when a struggling reader |
| were encouraged to do was an insult and caused | | | | is taught the basic sounds that the 26 letters |
| many children to struggle rather than learning that | | | | represent the ability to read hundreds of thousands |
| English is an alphabetic language in which hundreds of | | | | of words will develop. |
| thousands of words are represented by 26 letters. | | | | It doesn't happen overnight and practise is absolutely |
| Why wouldn't you teach a child letter sound | | | | necessary but the practise will be enjoyable not |
| relationships? | | | | frustrating. |
| It did not work to read children stories and then | | | | Learning phonics is one of the fundamental reading |
| assume they would become familiar with the | | | | skills and must never be left to chance. |
| vocabulary from the books they read. | | | | |