We must get back to basics in our public schools.
By Mary Lou Bruner
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas I am a product of the whole language approach. I have also taught children using this approach because that is what was recommended in the public schools and whole language materials were the products which were provided. I have an undergraduate minor in English and have taught English grammar in mainstream grades kindergarten through 8th grade. I am a product of the whole language approach and I am not a good speller.
I remember when I was in 1st grade learning to read with Dick & Jane. These books were based on sight words and repetition. Everyone who learned to read with Dick and Jane remembers the words Run Dick run. See Dick run. Run Jane run. See Jane run.
I also remember there were two words I had great difficulty with when I was learning to read. Those two words were that and what.
I had trouble remembering those words because I had no specific association for these two words. Every time I came to one of those two words I would think Here is that word I never can remember.
If only someone had given me instruction in phonics!
If only I had known the sound of th and wh I could have used the context of the sentence to figure out the word.
If only someone had said Look at what it starts with.
But all I knew was Here is that word I can never remember!
In elementary school I could make a perfect score on a spelling test but I am not a good speller because the spelling words in the list were not based on phonics skill. They were just a list of unrelated words to memorize.
I remember how to spell antidisestablishmentarianism a 28 letter word which I learned in the 6th grade; but I am not a good speller.
I spell that word by syllables.
I learned a little phonics somewhere and someone must have taught me to spell by syllables but I would be a better speller and reader if I knew all of the phonics rules.
Children are at a great disadvantage if they have not been taught phonics because when they come across a new word in the text they do not have the appropriate skills to decode the word. The best they can do is to see if they recognize little words within the bigger word or to see if they recognize similarities to other words.
They are probably not aware this is what they are doing.
After they become adults they probably call the word something and move on. Many of them are very bright but they do not like to read and they read as little as possible.
I have a masters degree in Special Education and have taught reading and language arts to intermediate-age special education students for many years. I am also an educational diagnostician and I have tested many children having problems in school.
I have analyzed test results trying to figure out what causes the children to have problems.
I believe phonics should be the basis for a good reading program. A good background in English grammar rules prepares students for college and professional careers.
We must get back to basics in our public schools.
It is difficult to understand why some people who call themselves Reading / Language Arts Experts insist on using the whole language approach even
though research does not support this approach.
Please tell Texas legislators to release the money so
the State Board of Education can order the textbooks the public schools need to teach Texas children properly.
We are tired of politicians playing politics with our childrens education.
