Corky Scott wrote:

On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 07:28:42 -0700, "Tom Sixkiller"
wrote:

The Look-Say rading methods; 1940's - still in place

It's spelled "reading" and most schools are teaching reading using
phonics now.

Some educational methods work well and don't need changing. Phonics
is one of those things. Schools kind of got away from it back in the
late '60's and '70's, developing something called "whole language",
which was presented as a better method without any testing actually
being done to see if it really was more effective or not. It wasn't,
and most educators now acknowledge that phonics, which is not new, is
by far the more effective method.

ACK!! I knew we would get into phonics/whole language sooner or later.
The sad truth is NEITHER is better for all students! Some kids can't
learn to read with whole language and need phonics. Others find phonics
frustrating and boring and do much better with whole language. Some of
the best reading systems I've seen use a combination of both (Reading
Mastery is one good one) in a structured fashion with old fashioned basal
readers!

Margy



So just because the method may seem old doesn't mean it doesn't work.

Also, children tend to learn almost despite the method with which they
are taught. Smart kids learn. Children with attitudes, which they
inevitably pick up from their parents, often have trouble in schools.

Corky Scott