Hey guys,
love this debate which is so circular and on-going.....In fact it reminds me a bit of the old argument that keeps re-surfacing about the Suzuki method of Music and reading music.
I mentioned in another thread that my sister taught me to read. She was 8 and I was 1. She taught me by reading to me so I guess I learned whole word but I very much doubt she used any method other than exposing me.
I have read that the people who tend to be more right brained also tend to be quite bad spellers so it may not necessarily come down to the way we are taught but (as always) a combination of factors.
I am a great speller and have never had to sound a word out in my reading memory (though will admit that sleep deprivation since becoming a mother has had its affects on my spelling and grammar abilities from time to time).
I taught my son both, I didn't set out to teach whole word or phonics I just exposed him to them and let him play with whichever he was interested in at the time.
It comes down to the fact that neither method can serve us on their own....particularly in the English language.
there are a great many words that simply cannot be spelled phonetically. There must come a time when we use our memory and read whole word, at the same time you cannot type or write a whole word but must break it down into its constituent parts so you must use phonics. Of course reading purely phonetically will always be slower than whole word reading.
Any teaching that relies on a child learning to approach a subject through one method only is always going to be less affective than teaching in a more rounded method.
I have been teaching for 17 years now. I teach all styles of dance, acrobatics, singing, several instruments and musicianship. As a young adult I taught reading recovery to IM students in primary school (students with IQs between 70 & 90 aged between 5 & 11).
I truly believe that children should have all information given to them (at the appropriate times) in as many variables as possible. They are quite capable of joining the dots themselves but cannot do so without all the information. It is also our job as teachers to guide our children to make these connections.
It is all fine and well to say that a child will deduce the rules of phonics but if the patterns haven't been presented then they can't make any deductions.
I think giving children a rounded education through all the senses and making use of all their different intelligences and mental processes is the best approach, no matter what you are trying to teach.
Fantastic articles Ayesha, just skimmed them but will be going back to have a thorough reading
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