Posted by
Greg England on Thursday, August 23, 2007 5:52:36 PM
My little brother has achieved some high results in his GCSEs. These are exams taken in the UK when you are 16 years old. Hip, hip hooray! However, things could so easily have turned out differently. Why? Well, he was first taught to read using “Look and Say”. It’s a miracle that he has overcome his initial reading difficulties. Or maybe it’s down to sheer guts and determination.
Here’s how “Look and Say” is supposed to work.
PARENT: (shows their child the word “AND”)
CHILD: “Apple”
PARENT: No, try again.
CHILD: “Car”
PARENT: No, try again.
CHILD: “And”
PARENT: Well done!
Now I don’t know about you, but this is how I learned to read:
Ah ... Nuh ... Duh! A. N. D. AND !!!
Yeah, I know that not all words sound like they spell. But that’s not the point. Just because the English language is complex, (or should that be complicated) it doesn’t mean that you should write lots of words on flashcards and get your poor kids to memorise the shapes.
What kind of idiots would propose such a technique?
In 2006, Sir Jim Rose finally completed a literacy report in which he concluded ... well, I’ll be honest with you. I haven’t read the report. It’s over 100 pages long, I’ve got better things to do with my time, like write this blog for starters. All I know is that it proposed the reintroduction of synthetic phonics.
Read it yourself if you want: http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/phonics/report.pdf
Here is what the UK’s Guardian had to say at the time:
http://education.guardian.co.uk/primaryeducation/story/0..1655027.00.html
I quote:
“Phonics was the dominant teaching system until the 1960s when more fashionable methods were developed, like teaching children to learn whole words "by rote" without mastering the alphabet.”
Dennis Prager was right, the 1960s really were the age of stupidity!
I leave you with three perspectives on the findings of this report, as detailed in the Guardian article.
I have given each finding a mark out of 10.
The first comes from New Labour: Ms Kelly has wholeheartedly backed the recommendations, saying the Rose report showed phonics would boost literacy levels. "This is a clear roadmap for reading, which draws on the experience of teachers and experts to show what works best for children in the classroom," she said.
8/10, V.Good
The second comes from the Conservative Party:
The Conservatives are in favour. In last year's general election, they promised to scrap the national literacy strategy and return to the traditional method of phonics teaching. The party enthusiastically welcomed the interim Rose review report last year, and have voiced its support for the government's plans.
9/10, V.Good The third comes from the Liberal Democrats: The Liberal Democrats aren't so convinced, describing the government's announcement as "overly prescriptive". Siding with teachers, the party believes phonics should be just one of the methods used.
2/10, See me