Dumbing Down

[jmspbro]

OK, I'll admit this may be a bit flippant, but I couldn't help noticing that some of the titles of our Chip Biff Kipper books (which are several years old) that are stated at being level 5 are now classed as level 6 on a new set just purchased!

Probably aligned them to the govt coloured book bands.....

Because ORT books in one level used to cover 3 diff coloured bands.

Things change. The focus changes. Without knowing for sure, maybe it's because of the last government's obsession with synthetic phonics- ie being able to read sounds rather than words/ looking at the pictures. The ORT are a good start (in my opinion- they tend to polarise) but a lot of children do look at the pictures as their primary decoding method. Under the Labour government's reading policy, which hasn't been updated, picture reading is not recognised. So perhaps that's why the banding has changed.

Personally, I hate the phonics only reading approach. I think it is one of many useful ways to learn to read. Maybe it's my age- I've been qualified 2 years. I'm past it, blatantly.

I've never used them (DD starts reception in sept) but from what I've seen on MN aren't those books supposed to be awful anyway? Because of not being phonicsy enough and using sight words? Or something

As a student teacher (ITT) I was given an assignment to prove why the Rose report was so awful. A slightly weighted debate, but I found numerous reasons to frown upon the new reading method.

Before the framework, when we had the national strategy, there were four types of early reading which we were meant to encourage: phonics, sight words, picture clues and context. Nowadays, phonics is the one and only method taught.

Personally, I think this is massively flawed. You see children trying to read context clues or picture clues, and you're meant to encourage them with the phonics. I think whatever works for each child should be the method.

The ORD are formulaic and old fashioned, but I still think they're the best scheme we have.

I'm not saying this as an old fogey, either.

kAT1111

I'd love to know which ITT you attended. I wonder if the students are getting the same advice two years on?

Thanks for any help you can give. I'm starting to look at ITTs and the teaching of reading.