School teaching "sight memorisation" rather than teaching phonics...what to do?

[Greythorne]

We live in France and are a bilingual family (English - French).

DD1 is 5.9 and in Year 1 in a French school. Last year, in what would have been her Reception year had we been in the UK, I taught her to read using phonics. Thanks to lots of advice on here (waves to mrz and others) it worked really well. It seems to me like DD made the two big leaps in learning to read: she has "got" the concept of sounding out sounds (not letter names) then blending them AND she has learnt a lot of the sounds, so she is reading pretty well. Still a long way to go and we have not covered all sounds yet, but we are getting there very surely.

So, in French school, this is the year they start to teach reading. They are supposed to use phonics, according to government guidelines, but I have heard that many teachers are wedded to older methods, esp the sight reading / "méthode globale" / look and say approach.

It is only day 3 and DD has already been given three lists of words to memorise, not read, just memorise. She has memorised them, but as soon as they are in a different context or even a different font, she is struggling, as she has obviously just memorised the shape.

I keep suggesting that she sounds and blends, but she has never been taught the French sounds, only letter names so far. I have avoided teaching her much in French as I am not French and to be honest, I have got enough on my plate teaching her to read in English! I really thought I could rely on the school to teach her to read in French, esp as she already has the concept of reading down pat.

Any advice?

and what if that method is the same one stipulated by the curriculum but not being followed by the school/teacher?

mrz can I ask a quick q? I'm a nqt and have been advised to display key ORT words for children and teach them to sight memorise in addition to phonics - won't this conflict with Letters and Sounds? how useful it is to teach them how to memorise the word Biff anyway?

Yes it will conflict. The problem is ORT books were written to be taught/learnt by sight and introduce words before children have the skills to read them.
I agree Biff is hardly a vital addition to anyone's vocabulary.

For example, DD (7) was told to put a white sticker on her notebook and write her name on it although she already had a printed name tag on it which she chose and stuck herself. Her teacher said she had to put the white tag on like everyone else, and suggested that she place it over her own beloved name tag.

Do I really need to be a teacher to recognize that this is not great pédagogie, assuming that the goal is to encourage students' individuality & self-confidence, and graduate self-sufficient free-thinkers

that's what I thought! But HT is very into it and everyone looked surprised when I said questioned it, oh, they need different strategies ...

"But surely you would not judge their methods if you do not have a precise idea on how your DC should be taught? I do not, it is not my job and I trust teacher with theirs."

You illustrate my main problem with the French education system, which is that it produces adults who kowtow to authority and cannot fathom the possibility that anyone might question it.

DD is in a special school for gifted children at the moment where we feel benefits outweigh such shortcomings, but we will put her in an international school afterr primary school.

Cote: The sticker thing does not have anything to do with the children's self-confidence, it is more about being able to follow the guidelines the teacher issues. Which is one of the "targets" set up for the CP/CE1. Too bad she had already chosen a tag, but it is an exercise just like the others.
I suspect there is also some "equality between the children" concept involved as well (everyone has got the same tag, regardless of whether their parents took the time/had the money to buy them special stickers).

mrz: I would be quite happy actually (see my answer to OP above on the not-so-brilliant idea of focussing on the phonics in French).

So it is OK for the teacher do their "own thing" regarding your child's education even if it is contrary to the curriculum and your own expertise? How strange!

DD had name tags on her books, just like all the other kids in her class, because we were given written instructions to put her name on all school supplies (even pencils). This is an exercise in conformity - another little incident teaching children that their choices don't matter, it is no use objecting, and that they need to obey even when the "instructions" don't make sense.

I realize that you can't see this, because to you this is normal

"being able to follow the guidelines the teacher issues. Which is one of the "targets" set up for the CP/CE1."

What do you mean by "guidelines"? "Stick this on your book" is not a guideline, it is an order.

These kids understand French, so of course they are already able to follow the teacher and do what she tells them to do. But that is not what you mean, is it?

By guidelines, I meant respecting the instructions (or "consignes" which you will probably hear more often than not) - the ability to understand and do something properly when asked, which is a skills kid need to master before they start doing exercises.

I understand that asking parents to mark everything and then providing the tags is contradictory. But then it is up to you to decide whether you want to back up your DD with the sticker issue and fight every single thing that contradicts your expectations. I cannot see how changing stickers damaged your dd's self-esteem

Maybe that is because I am such a French bred sheep.

mrz: Parent's expertise..yes, sure, when it comes to your child, not when teaching to a class of 25, taken as whole, that is teacher's expertise and parent's experience. Not the same thing at all. Except when they home-school and then change their mind about all teachers being crap

mrz has it in a nutshell: "and what if that method is the same one stipulated by the curriculum but not being followed by the school/teacher?"

The biggest problem I encounter with teachers is old ones who are stuck in their ways, are sure that their methods are tried and tested and good and refuse to countenance any form of pedagogical innovation.

I really don't see how the number of children in the classroom is relevant to the teacher's decision to teach globale. Phonics isn't taught because it results in better classroom discipline (although it may well produce better discipline as a result of more children learning to read properly).

ok, I didn't express that very well, sorry, but my point is that I don't see why the fact that it's a classroom setting would in itself cause the teacher to use globale. Unless teachers are so unsure of how to teach syllabique or phonics that they are hesitant to use it in the classroom for fear of not being able to manage the class, but that's another issue.

MagdalenaAlec it may surprise you but teachers are allowed to be parents - so I have "expertise" of not only my child but hundreds of children I have taught to read and write over the years.

Magdalena - No, I'm not about to pick a fight with school management over some stickers. This is just one example. There are many such examples.

I'm that I even have to explain this, but in a school where individuality, independent thought, and initiative is encouraged, children would not have to have the exact same name sticker on their books. And they certainly wouldn't have to stick it over their own, colorful, hand-picked name tag. All this sort of thing teaches is conformity and obedience. Presumably, so they will grow up to be parents who wouldn't dream of questioning their DC's teachers.

"Maybe that is because I am such a French bred sheep. "

Possibly. If it's any consolation, you are no different in this respect to most French parents I have come across. It's sad.

The desire for conformity is a whole other thread. My best friend (American) walked into her child's petite section class where all the parents had been convened for a parents' meeting. As she perused the walls, covered with the children's oretty paintings of a yellow sun with six yellow rays, she noticed that she could not see her son's artistic effort.

She mentioned this to the teacher and the teacher responded that he had not followed the consignes; instead of one big sun with six rays, he had painted three little suns with no rays. The teacher shrugged and said she could not put it on the wall as it was not as directed.

When my friend kicked up a mega fuss, the teacher produced the offending painting and very reluctantly agreed to pin it up but not before she drew on the correct number of rays.

In France, stories like this are legion. I also witnessed for myself a teacher telling off a child for not following instructions when, the week before Christmas, the children were deciporating baubles with screwed up tissue paper. One bauble was "meant" to be red and the second "meant" to be decorated with green screwed up balls of tissue. One child had (gasp) taken the decision to do one of his baubles a mix of red and green. He was severely chastised by the teacher for not listening and following her instructions. He was 3.

Once a little boy went to school.
He was quite a little boy
And it was quite a big school.
But when the little boy
Found that he could go to his room
By walking right in from the door outside
He was happy;
And the school did not seem
Quite so big anymore.

One morning
When the little boy had been in school awhile,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make all kinds;
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats;
And he took out his box of crayons
And began to draw.

But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make flowers."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make beautiful ones
With his pink and orange and blue crayons.
But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And it was red, with a green stem.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."

The little boy looked at his teacher's flower
Then he looked at his own flower.
He liked his flower better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just turned his paper over,
And made a flower like the teacher's.
It was red, with a green stem.

On another day
When the little boy had opened
The door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make something with clay."
"Good!" thought the little boy;
He liked clay.
He could make all kinds of things with clay:
Snakes and snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.

But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make a dish."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make dishes.
And he began to make some
That were all shapes and sizes.

But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And she showed everyone how to make
One deep dish.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."

The little boy looked at the teacher's dish;
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again
And made a dish like the teacher's.
It was a deep dish.

And pretty soon
The little boy learned to wait,
And to watch
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon
He didn't make things of his own anymore.

Then it happened
That the little boy and his family
Moved to another house,
In another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school.
This school was even bigger
Than the other one.
And there was no door from the outside
Into his room.
He had to go up some big steps
And walk down a long hall
To get to his room.
And the very first day
He was there,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
And he waited for the teacher
To tell what to do.
But the teacher didn't say anything.
She just walked around the room.

When she came to the little boy
She asked, "Don't you want to make a picture?"
"Yes," said the lttle boy.
"What are we going to make?"
"I don't know until you make it," said the teacher.
"How shall I make it?" asked the little boy.
"Why, anyway you like," said the teacher.
"And any color?" asked the little boy.
"Any color," said the teacher.
"If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colors,
How would I know who made what,
And which was which?"
"I don't know," said the little boy.
.And he began to make pink and orange and blue flowers.

He liked his new school,
Even if it didn't have a door
Right in from the outside!
Helen Buckley

Greythorne - the examples you give of the sun picture and the bauble are illustrations of a cross-cultural misunderstanding.

In England when children paint pictures at school, they are doing art. Hence creativity is encouraged.

In France when children paint pictures at school, they are doing pre-writing skills. Hence following precise instructions (in preparation for letter formation and spelling) is the objective.

By the way, it was DD's extra-curricular art teacher (who also happens to be a part-time grande section teacher) who explained that to me. She was actually pretty good at encouraging creativity during the art classes (in her home) as well as teaching the DC to draw and to use a wide range of techniques and materials. But as a class teacher she expected and needed the whole class to follow precise instructions and produce an identikit result.

There is a sadder version of the piece posted by Mrz which ends:

"I don't know," said the little boy.
And he began to make a red flower with a green stem.

When I taught in the UK a delegation of teachers went off to an American school to study 'creativity'. They reported back. Needless to say, they decided the UK was stiffling creativity as we might say the same about French schools. It is all relative. At the same time, I do feel worried at the potential lack of opportunities for creativity in French schools. Parents have explained about music, for example. In the UK, out schools had bands and subsidised music lessons. There are lots of opportunities to put on shows, sing in choirs, play in orchestras etc. Where I am in France, eveyone pays for their private weekly lesson. Is this something you lot have experienced?

Yes, if you want proper music in France you won't get it at school - that's what your local conservatoire is for.

My DD does a mass of activities outside school, which we pay full whack for - partly because she is at a private school. Children at local state schools have easier access to the activities that are subsidised by the council and the least well-off families really don't have to pay much for these. French parents know that school won't offer proper art/music/drama/sports and expect to organise and pay for these outside school.

H, Bonsoir, I quite agree. For the teacher, it is not that she is squashing creativity, she is just ensuring the children do the exercise designed to encourage manual dexterity or learning of colours or whatever it is. But it does not detract from the fact that abive and beyond pre-writing exercises in class, there is no opportunity for creative thinking. Which is a mighty shame, and fosters the sheep-like conformity you see when 17 year olds underline their title twice is red pen and the date twice in green. Every time.