Evidently phonics instruction can cure cancer. Well, perhaps I slightly overstate, but a recent New York Times column by Nicholas Kristoff offered some mighty powerful claims of phonics instruction as an educational panacea. According to Kristoff and nearly all New York Times commenters, it is the absence of proper phonics teaching that causes nearly all educational woes in America. Along the way, Whole Language served as the villain in what became a journalistic morality tale.
Studying phonics is boring? Yes learning the mechanics of driving is also boring. So is learning the mechanics of music. So is learning the rudiments of anything worth knowing. There is something strange about people who don't understand that alphabetic languages are designed to be decoded, and that unless you understand decoding you cannot use them: http://mychildwillread.org/
"separating whole language from phonics is pointless. Reading is both things." Yes, this is so true - and everything else you said. One question, "an abundance of phonics instruction?" I'm not in the classroom and I wonder if that is what is happening. I know that was the fear. I learned a bit about the science of reading over the summer in 2022 because I tutor home schooling kids with learning issues. It has been very helpful for them, but I don't spend a long time "drilling" phonics. I simply teach the sounds of the letters, or blends, or whatever level they are, along with having them read high-quality decodable texts, and try to spell words at their level from dictation.
Prior to this training, I had no instruction in teaching reading. I received my credential in 1994. I was never urged to attend a workshop on it, and I never saw anything available. So one good thing is the new attention on phonics brought free workshops and materials into our homes. I purchased an inexpensive set of decodable books and worksheets online (projectable and reproduceable for about $17).
If teachers are being urged to teach phonics for long periods of time, that's crazy. Those who are touting the science of reading on social media agree with me when I ask them - phonics is a mini-lesson. Then we get on with reading. Good literature is still read aloud by the teacher so the kids know what it sounds like. It's a wonderful balance of whole language and phonics.
Studying phonics is boring? Yes learning the mechanics of driving is also boring. So is learning the mechanics of music. So is learning the rudiments of anything worth knowing. There is something strange about people who don't understand that alphabetic languages are designed to be decoded, and that unless you understand decoding you cannot use them: http://mychildwillread.org/
"separating whole language from phonics is pointless. Reading is both things." Yes, this is so true - and everything else you said. One question, "an abundance of phonics instruction?" I'm not in the classroom and I wonder if that is what is happening. I know that was the fear. I learned a bit about the science of reading over the summer in 2022 because I tutor home schooling kids with learning issues. It has been very helpful for them, but I don't spend a long time "drilling" phonics. I simply teach the sounds of the letters, or blends, or whatever level they are, along with having them read high-quality decodable texts, and try to spell words at their level from dictation.
Prior to this training, I had no instruction in teaching reading. I received my credential in 1994. I was never urged to attend a workshop on it, and I never saw anything available. So one good thing is the new attention on phonics brought free workshops and materials into our homes. I purchased an inexpensive set of decodable books and worksheets online (projectable and reproduceable for about $17).
If teachers are being urged to teach phonics for long periods of time, that's crazy. Those who are touting the science of reading on social media agree with me when I ask them - phonics is a mini-lesson. Then we get on with reading. Good literature is still read aloud by the teacher so the kids know what it sounds like. It's a wonderful balance of whole language and phonics.