Did anyone do 'ita' in the 1970s?

[MaudlinMews]

Yes, I know it was a long time ago but I was discussing this with friends last night (mainly five or more years older than me so they didn't do it).

When I started school in 1973 in the Midlands, we were taught to read using a system called ita (initial teaching alphabet). I could already read as my mother was very bookish but I remember taking a book home and my parents hitting the roof that I was being taught in this way. My mother complained to the school but we continued to be taught in this way and then later transitioned to standard alphabet.

I didn't have a problem making the transition to standard alphabet but I remember a few who did and I just wondered if anyone else did? It seems very odd looking back. I've attached the alphabet for anyone who's curious.

I remember in the public library our mother showing us some books in the 70s of ITA. I think she made some comment (she was a teacher and did not like it) that we were lucky our school (private school) did not go in for that.

I went to a tiny village school in the 70s with ancient teachers. We learnt by very traditional methods. I remember reading books featuring Jack and Dora and May and Nip. And there was much chanting of tables.

A new school opened nearby. They did Ita and no learning of tables. It was all very swing your pants. There was a bit of a freak-out locally when it transpired that none of this school’s pupils were passing the 11+.

We learned with Janet and John books.
I remember the first one started "This is Janet. This is John. See Janet's mother. See Janet and the can."

I remember they had a stand in our library with some ITA books on it and my mum explaining what they were - I do remember looking through them and being fascinated by the different letters but thinking even then it seemed complicated to have to learn to read twice. We didn't use them at my school.

I learned to read with ITA in Birmingham in the early 80s. From what I remember the books gradually transitioned from ITA to T.O so that by the time you finished the reading scheme you didn't need ITA. My favourite was Ronnie the Rocket!

Oh that takes me back! I was at teacher training college in the early 70s and dreaded getting a placement in a school with ita - I avoided it, but a couple of friends found it hard-going.

North East here I didn't learn that way but remember my aunt handing down a load of my older cousins books & some were ITA, I was quite fascinated by it tbh.

I can only hope that the 'new maths' system goes that way & reverts to the 'old' & infinitely better way!!

Maudlin - yes, Catholic state school, mid-60s. However, only one of the two infant staff taught it. One-class entry but our system was that you stayed with the same teacher for the two years. My siblings both had the non-ita teacher, so families could be split between the two methods.

Yep. My dad was in the navy and had to learn it so he could write to me

I was in Devon btw

I’m going back to uni (for the millionth time) soon to retrain in Speevh Therapy. I think my ITA may help me with phonetics (judging by a trial lesson we had). Who knew it would ever be useful

My favourite word for some reason was always shwz - ie had red wunz

IrmafayLear

A new school opened nearby. They did Ita and no learning of tables. It was all very swing your pants. There was a bit of a freak-out locally when it transpired that none of this school’s pupils were passing the 11+

That's both funny and sad. I remember nothing about the 11+ but was top of my class and went to a comprehensive school. I don't think we had any grammar schools near us in the west midlands in the 1970s. None were ever mentioned as far as I recall. We did do tables though. Fascinating to be part of an educational experiment.

We had this at my primary school in the mid 1970s but I didn't learn it because I had been taught at a different school when we were living abroad. I also remember looking at the ITA books in the library and wondering what they said. A couple of children were still on the ITA books when we were in the juniors. Mad idea really, teach an entire alphabet and then learn something else.

From memory they had certainly given up on it by the time I was about 9 because I remember seeing the infants using cards that you put on a board to build up the sentences.

In those days you didn't have to bring books home with you for reading practice which you wouldn't have been able to do anyway because none of our parents would have understood the system.

Messed up my spelling until mid 20s. I could already read fluently, then had to learn ita then had to re learn English - although I had been reading English books at home and ita at school. I remember cat in the hat ita and took me a long time to appreciate any Dr Seuss. Hated it.

My mum kept some of my school work!

Oh god nellie that bought it all back.

Why? Just why have children lesrn that rubbish and tgen have to learn things the correct way? It just added an unnecessary layer of nonsence!

That’s made me nostalgic. I think I have one as well

Those who struggled to learn the real alphabet afterwards, how did it affect you in your day to day life? When did you feel you’d mastered the real alphabet?

It completely ruined most of my life, as did learning to write Wenesday rather than Wednesday. We seemed to have a lot of different ways of doing things, and it was all so quick paced. Learn it one way and then another.
I'm dyslexic, slow, with a low IQ. Gosh I'm clever
Felt confident with alphabet and words in my 30's

gilly it’s rubbish isnt it. What a thing to do. Ive never seen a convincing argument for ita.

My school didn't, but the other school in the village did, which I believe formed a huge part of the decision to send us to the further away one.

It may have been that, or possibly other teaching, but whenever we met up with the other school it was clear even in year 6 that loads of them struggled with reading/writing in comparison to us. They would have had a (mildly) better intake too.

Just why have children lesrn that rubbish and tgen have to learn things the correct way? It just added an unnecessary layer of nonsence! (sic)
I feel exactly the same way about the grid method for long multiplication and chunking for long division nowadays.

I learned it at my Catholic state school in the North West late 60’s. I remember that by the time we were in top infants we had two blackboards, one for children still using ITA and the other for those who had transitioned to normal English. It must have been awful for those children who struggled to transition as it was very much the view amongst us kids that ITA was for ‘babies’. It can’t have done much good for their self esteem!

I started school in the Midwest in 1972, was taught ITA and it took me years to unlearn it, and still have problems with spelling, my older siblings did not have to learn this way, and they all spell correctly, and it was no longer taught the next year…..