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RSS FeedWhich is a better way to teach children to read: Whole language or phonics?
Results so far:
| Whole | 46% | 196 votes | Total: 422 votes | |
| Phonics | 54% | 226 votes |
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1 of 21
One of my fantasies is to have Antonio Banderas whisper sweet nothings in my ear. "Quiero pollo para la cena," he says in Spanish- smooth, soft and slow. I, dressed in a French ...read more
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In a perfect world, each child would learn to read in by the method that was best suited to him. Whatever the task or idea, people learn differently. Some people learn by hear...read more
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by Janet Abbey
Even here the media frame of choosing sides displays its face. Thinking in either/or is limiting to your cognitive growth. Reading research through the 1960's on this issue came...read more
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When I went to school in the 1940s and 1950 we were taught to read and spell by whole worlds, we learned families that belonged together like the ake family, i.e. make, bake, ca...read more
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5 of 21
Phonics is a study of the component parts of words and the sounds made by letters in combination with one another. Hence, sounding out the words as the student speaks by rememb...read more
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6 of 21
After having taught reading and Phonics both as a tutor and in Christian schools, I have come to the conclusion that the best way to teach excellence in Reading is to combine th...read more
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7 of 21
Whole or Phonics? This topic does not offer what I am convinced is the correct answer: Both! Like the two oars of a rowboat, both should be taught and used. Phonics, proper...read more
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8 of 21
by Virginia
I learnt English as a foreign language in a small town school in India. The current boom in Business Process Outsourcing or call centers as they are known is just one of the ind...read more
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If the English language were fair, fish would be spelled ghoti: gh as in "rough," o as in "women," and ti as in "observation." Learning phonics is an important part of learning ...read more
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10 of 21
by Tom Parsons
After spending ten years teaching junior high and high school English classes, I believe that teaching language through phonics does not as adequately prepare students to use th...read more
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11 of 21
When it comes to learning English, a combination of whole language and phonics will work best. As the saying goes, two heads are better than one and a combination of whole lang...read more
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12 of 21
A young man woke up in his hospital bed. Just another mishap caused by over-tiredness, working too late. Just hit a tree. He wasn't even going that fast, but the doctors though...read more
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13 of 21
Phonics alphabets are a waste of time. Sure, they are meant to be logical and consistent, but, they are not standard written language. Books are not written in phonics alphabe...read more
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Learning a language is not easy. You can get around it by saying the words out loud. From an early age parents started saying small words to their children. Like "Daddy". Over a...read more
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15 of 21
Really, it shouldn't be one or the other. Over the past few decades we've seen exclusively whole language curricula come and go, and we've seen exclusively phonics curricula com...read more
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by Terry Booth
I taught my son to read by the time he was four. Some years later, I taught my granddaughter to read (my son's child) by the time she was three. I had never had any instructio...read more
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17 of 21
by Mentalfloss
I just want to disagree with Cheeseburger Commando. When I learned phonics we didn't break down words into component parts, at least not at first. We first learned the soun...read more
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18 of 21
by T.C Leonard
Whole language is a tried and true method of teaching reading; it dates back around many generations and is the chosen method of most academicians. Oddly enough, "old school" s...read more
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19 of 21
Using phonics is a very back ended way of learning any language. By breaking up words and back down the ways in which to use them you are affectively dummying down the system. ...read more
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Which is a better way to teach children to read: Whole Language or Phonics? Assuming we are talking about English none and both. As many researchers have proved that we have di...read more
Phonics
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by Sparx
As a parent volunteer within the school system, I saw first hand phonics vs. whole language learning. Phonics wins every time. My kids always loved to do what mommy was doin...read more
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Language is built upon a small collection of basic sounds known as phonemes, from which the word "phonics" derives. Every word in a language is composed of a collection of phon...read more
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by Abbi Sharp
The question "Which is a better way to teach children to read: Whole language or phonics?" is an argument that borderline obsolete. This question still floats around in the publ...read more
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by Betty Rodman
I had seven children. They all learned to read before kindergarten. The earliest was 18 months. I taught them the sounds of the letters first. Then I taught them words that s...read more
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by Carol Natoli
Imagine going to a foreign country and seeing letter as part of words that mean nothing to you, because you can't read the word. Pretend you are in Japan, as you see picture sy...read more
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by Schneider
Quite honestly, the question, "Which is a better way to teach children to read: Whole language or phonics?" is quite easily figured out if you understand the basics of the readi...read more
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by Joseph Malek
The use of phonics is the best method to teach young people how to read. Children learn the symbols that describe the sounds of each letter and word combination. So if a child k...read more
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In spite of literacy specialists, computers, standardized testing and other innovations, there is still a significant group of children who have fallen behind in Reading and Lan...read more
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Phonics is a widely used method of teaching children to read. It differs greatly from the method of rote memorization that many of us were taught. It is no longer acceptable to ...read more
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by Donald Moore
Whole language reading is somewhat akin to teaching a parrot to say "Polly want a cracker." Even if a scholar's parrot talks Greek if may never learn a new word independently an...read more
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by Kim Carroll
Phonics is a necessary method of teaching reading by breaking words up into letters or syllables in order to help children or adults read more easily. If reading is only taught...read more
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12 of 24
Words are made up of syllables and syllables are made up of letters. It only makes sense to start with the smallest component and work up to the biggest, right? Learn the alphab...read more
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13 of 24
First, let me say that teaching reading should respect the needs of the individual child, and a combination of whole language usage and phonics is best. Let me also add that no...read more
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14 of 24
Dave Barry once wrote that he majored in English because you could never be completely wrong or completely right. Let's be honest and admit our cherished mother tongue is full ...read more
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by Erin Yorke
Whole language helps kids see words in a context, thereby increases their understanding of words, but phonics is more valuable because it is much more efficient when it comes to...read more
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As a high school English teacher, I am not trained in the scientific specifics and intricacies of the reading process, however, I do see the long-term results of this debate in ...read more
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by John Beeson
When I started to school, it was a time of "progressive" teaching. The results for me were they dropped phonics and I've had to cope with that ever since. I was taught to me...read more
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Every mind sorts things in a particular way that makes sense only to that person. After observing and watching how my mind loves to take apart things and put them back whole, I...read more
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by Denise Bowry
I believe that the Best and easiest way for a child to learn how to read is using phonics. Phonics focus on the letters and the sound that goes with that letter. Once a child ...read more
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by Gena Nelson
Both are important to a real knowledge of reading, but phonics instruction equips readers to attack a word never seen before. Whole language has many beneficial aspects, but r...read more
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