tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post114641097372254735..comments2024-03-26T14:44:37.985-04:00Comments on D-Ed Reckoning: When Losers Won't Surrender -- Part IVKDeRosahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06853211164976890091noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-58544160820870681972009-10-06T23:59:18.463-04:002009-10-06T23:59:18.463-04:00Thanks for this great series! I've been tryin...Thanks for this great series! I've been trying to figure out the dirt on "balanced literacy." I taught my children to read with phonics, and now I'm volunteering in a public school balanced literacy tutoring program.<br /><br />What kills me is the "balanced literacy" assertion that they are introducing children to wonderful literature. Maybe it used to be lovely literature in 1980s whole language, but the leveled library books make Dick and Jane look exciting. The textbook committees have squeezed all the life out of the stories. <br /><br />The form of the book is different: a lot of little story booklets instead of a sturdy hardbound textbook. The little books have got to be more expensive, since they are easy to lose at home or be eaten by toddler siblings at home. But don't pretend that the literary quality is higher with the leveled library books. Once you finish phonics, you can read anything--and that's where you can sink your teeth into good literature.Sara Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03634721196680595833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1159148970821867612006-09-24T21:49:00.000-04:002006-09-24T21:49:00.000-04:00To sam: I know that this comment is extremely late...To sam: I know that this comment is extremely late but i find that interesting because I learned to read at age 3 from my dad a Caribbean immigrant who taught me through a strictly phonics method. He would write out the alphabet with a little picture for each letter and have me repeat the sounds each letter made. My parents never read to me at nights because I could read by myself. I remember reading the Berenstein Bears at nights when I was 3 years old. My favorite was the little poem at the beginning of the book that hinted at what the story was going to be about.<BR/>I am not a fan of whole learning at all! I think it has some good points but a strictly whole-language program robs students of essential reading skills. I have seen the damage it does and I would not want my child in a program without phonics.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1146710198089343292006-05-03T22:36:00.000-04:002006-05-03T22:36:00.000-04:00This reminds me of my first "language and literacy...This reminds me of my first "language and literacy" class in my second year of uni. We were all to bring in the first book we read so we could discuss them. (A waste of time.)<BR/><BR/>I chose the Twins of St Clares by Enid Blyton. (Originally for 'older' readers.) I read this independantly at 3 1/2.<BR/><BR/>As we went around the room, everyone is holding up PSB, and they are saying very late ages for reading them. One student had her parents read her PSB to her at age 8.<BR/><BR/>So I'm getting more and more embarassed, first for them, then for me, because I'm clearly the odd one out. I briefly tell about my book and the teacher is fascinated.<BR/><BR/>"Wow, that's so wonderful! You must have taught yourself to read! You must be very clever."<BR/><BR/>"My mum taught me how to read."<BR/><BR/>"Yes, she must have immersed you in the world of books from a young age."<BR/><BR/>"She taught me using phonics."<BR/><BR/>"Oh yes, that's ONE way of teaching reading." And she quickly moved on. I would have found it funny except straight education degrees who were straight from school agreed with everything she said. Quite scary.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1146512833981726772006-05-01T15:47:00.000-04:002006-05-01T15:47:00.000-04:00"The Dick and Jane readers weren't phonics-based r..."The Dick and Jane readers weren't phonics-based readers."<BR/><BR/>True, but there is a bit of a retro-Dick-and-Jane resurgence going on right now. My local bookstore has a few hard cover editions or reprints and my son's previous pre-school had scholastic mail-order book catalogs that included Dick and Jane.<BR/><BR/>The mail-order catalog blurb on the Dick and Jane books claimed that they were phonics. So ... the author might be mistaken, but could be pulling the information from current (mis)information about the books.<BR/><BR/>Sigh.<BR/><BR/>-Mark RouloAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1146508876063979662006-05-01T14:41:00.000-04:002006-05-01T14:41:00.000-04:00Anecdotally, I'll say that the affluent the neighb...Anecdotally, I'll say that the affluent the neighborhood the school is in, the less likely the school provides real phonics instruction.<BR/><BR/>In the Best Schools Edition of Philly Magazine a few years back, they listed the reading methodology of reading program in all the "best" schools, public and private. ALmost every one of them listed "balanced literacy" or "literature based" and only one or two listed "phonics."KDeRosahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06853211164976890091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-1146504780796556602006-05-01T13:33:00.000-04:002006-05-01T13:33:00.000-04:00Do we know for a fact that 'fancy private schools'...Do we know for a fact that 'fancy private schools' on the Upper East Side are using whole language?<BR/><BR/>I've like to see some evidence supporting that assertion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com