Half of Americans can’t read

I learned through “whole word”, phonics are completely alien to me. But all of my age group that I know can read just fine - when confronted by an unfamiliar word we sound it out using bits of familiar words in exactly the same way as phonics although I certainly use slightly different individual bits.

So while I agree the scientific evidence is behind phonics being better and therefore that is what should be used now, I think it’s silly to suggest that those that learned through a different method are somehow illiterate. I’m sure there are a few, but I’m equally sure it’s not half of America!

It also helps with unfamiliar words that my age group learned Latin from primary onwards, so we’re pretty good at etymology in general.

It's possible to sound a word out using phonics and not know what it means.
Gleb.
Bamp.
You can read them...
Equally, some children did learn to read "whole word" and could read whole novels at 5.
So it's not about the method, and there's many different phonics schemes. All aspects of reading are important.

This is interesting actually- my daughter is 5 and just started year 1. I think she can read (or read as well as is expected at her age anyway), but sometimes she gets a word wrong and has said the word she thinks it should be from the context, when actually it's a slightly different word. In her case I think it's just her brain not quite going at the speed she wants it to, but I can see how it develops into a problem.

It really isn't.
Phonics is needed to read new words.
The US was very behind compared to the rest of the world in using phonics teaching.
This is a very good podcast @Balalabab .

I am dyslexic and am much better at whole word recognition - it's horse for courses isn't it ?

I think this shows that phonics is not how a fully fluent reader actually reads. We don’t sound out the words syllable by syllable in our heads, we “skim” the sentence visually and understand the meaning. If your daughter is transitioning to this that’s great, and yes of course she’ll make some mistakes on the way.

Do you mind if I ask which country that is?

I can't think of any national curriculum that would include Latin. Are you perhaps talking about a private school that you attended?

I imagine that you can get away with the whole word method if you've got someone who listens to you read and can correct you if you're struggling.

I think at least some parts of the US have no child left behind policies with reading which has given a bit of an incentive to dumb down what classes are expected to be able to read which can't be helping.

There was no national curriculum back in my day, that only came in in 1988. Latin was very common in state and private primaries.

My ds is 23.

I home educated him until he was 9.

I never taught him to read by using phonics. He stated to learn to read at 4 by learning whole words. Phonics never even entered my brain, I assume I learned to read whole words, but I don’t ever remember learning how to read, I could read well supply young (by 3, apparently, I’m not clever at all I’m thick as all fuck so I don’t know how I read early).

Anyway, don’t know what my point is, but ds got level 9s in English and English lit GCSE and managed to get though a degree, so I assuming he can actually read from learning that way.

My younger two children both went to school from nursery age and I’ll admit, I think phonics is a bit of a faff. My youngest is just turned 6, a fabulous reader, she hated phonics and naturally just wanted to learn whole words. She absolutely hated phonics in reception and last year in year one and used to ask what the point was.

I did Latin at my grammar in the early 90s and my 12 year old does Latin at her grammar school now.

I’m an American 1980s baby and I have no idea how I learned to read but I do remember these incessant commercials/infomercials for a reading program called “Hooked on Phonics”. I guess it was “revolutionary” because that’s not how it was being taught in schools 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm in my mid 50s and don't know one person who did Latin at their bog standard state school.

In my school we first learned to read using ITA, and then had to forget that and learn the standard way (definitely wasn't phonics in the 1970s!).

Yes i've seen this too it's all over Youtube if you look. It's generational though, not all ages are suffering so not half the population by any means, a sizable portion though.

It's a covid thing. Huge gaps in learning. It's definately a thing here too, i've been in contact with too many people who were "educated" during Covid to not recogise that this is happening. Including the 18 year old lad working on the childrens ride who couldn't work out 10 minus 3. Thats just todays example.

Ok. It probably varied area by area or school by school. Most people in their 50s and above that I know learned Latin. Its major advantage is that if you learned it the Monty python romans scene is hysterically funny.😁

Covid didn’t last long enough for this to be true.

I learnt to read with the "look and say" method, which I think is the same thing as the whole word approach. I can definitely read!!

I don't know how my dd learnt to read. She was self taught before starting school. I certainly didn't teach her phonics though who knows what she might have picked up elsewhere. I suspect that she learned via some version of "look and say" but she did later learn phonics at school.

I think the average reading age for adults in the UK is around 10.

I don’t understand the gaps in learning from Covid.

My middle child turned 6 a day before her school closed. They were at home from March to September and then what, December until March the following year?

How could some children, unless they were already struggling of course, be so behind with just a few months?

I used to travel for months at a time with ds when he was home educated, we only did minimal maths and English when backpacking the world, and he was bounds ahead when he started school in year 4.

I do know that some children struggle, but I don’t get these massive gaps in education.

This but op how can it be a political issues !!

That's mind blowing !

Phonics is absolutely a cult in the UK and it doesn't surprise me if this is the back ground that's it's driven by politics at all because something is bloody weird about the whole thing .

I have two DC . One learned to read very easily via phonics and one didn't. The one that struggled it had big effects on her and thanks to here i was advised to go back to whole words.

This worked for her and very fast.

Why oh why can't we simply have a few methods on the bloody go until the child can read.

It's utter madness to force one or the other .

I asked Google and is says in the early 80's that we used whole word rather than phonics in the UK. I do remember learning word sounds like ought, bought, nought. And a tv programme called Look and Read featured quite heavily with a little pen called Wordy. I think I read really well and always have done.

Why do you think Gen Z won't be able to read op?

• just remember there is a vast investment into phonics now and whole industry built around it .

Yes, DP did Latin in a state school. He's 62. L