Comments on: Sight Words + Phonics = Reading Success

By: Diane

Diane — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:13:17 +0000

Rebecca,
Thank you for your comprehensive response; I understand whole language theory much better now. Real literature is the cornerstone of our home school, too, and your students were (and are) blessed to have you in their life! Books, glorious books!

By: Rebekah Nutter

Rebekah Nutter — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:22:46 +0000

This is mostly for Diane, because she asked, but also for anyone else interested:
Whole language posits that if you start with real literature, whole stories, as opposed to syllables in isolation (strict phonics) you will capture and hold a child’s attention better; there is a better chance of making children into lifelong lovers of reading. So in whole language, we start as a base with a story, and from the story we take our individual lessons, which should be some phonics, some reading in context, using picture clues, predicting and verifying, etc. The problem with strictly phonics-based reading programs is that by the time a child is ready to read, their imaginations and their language abilities far outstrip their abilities to decode words. So do we only give them “Hip and Hop are happy,” because that’s what they can sound out? This does nothing to build their narrative skills or their vocabulary – both of which will be crucial to academic success in the not too distant future. And, I would argue, it’s BORING – doing little to motivate the child to want to read more. Instead, we should engage them with real stories and poetry, written by respected authors, that have meaning beyond phonics. Out of these books we make little mini lessons, teaching children that the chunks of letters in the book are words, and that words are made up of syllables, and syllables of letters, which have their corresponding sounds. We teach about rhyme and rhythm, about description and sequence. We teach, in fact, all they need to know about reading until they become independent readers. Whole language has a bad rap – and deservedly so, I think, because when it first came into vogue, it was more or less thrust upon teachers without adequate training or followup – in some cases, just the injunction to throw out the basal reader and use real books. Educators were not prepared to use the method as it had been designed, and predictably, failure sometimes resulted. But there are those of us who were fortunate to be mentored by people who understood it, and demonstrated it, and taught it as a holistic system – and our students were our daily proof of our success.

By: Diane

Diane — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:14:16 +0000

Thanks for your thoughtful comment, Rebekah. We used all of the strategies that you mentioned. You sound like you’ve had some experience teaching whole language theory. Would you mind expanding on your understanding?

By: Rebekah Nutter

Rebekah Nutter — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:38:45 +0000

I’ve read about phonics, and I’ve read about sight words, but I haven’t read anything addressing whole language instruction, and by whole language I DO NOT mean “Look-say” or “just read books to them.” I’m talking about the importance of teaching children not only phonics and sight words, but also strategies like context clues, reading on and then going back and seeing what would make sense (and then verifying the prediction with, you guessed it, phonics), using picture clues, etc. Reading is a complex process, and I think we owe it to our children to put as many tools in their reading toolboxes as possible. I wish whole language instruction were more fully understood – I think, when done properly, that it offers a very broad and comprehensive method of reading instruction.

By: David

David — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:03:29 +0000

Homeschool parents have many obstacles to face including teaching a kid to read. It is one of the issues we faced in our household too.

When I first taught my children to read, I used a method of phonics, but quickly realized this worked for my eldest but not my youngest. She didn’t grasp reading. So after trial and error I began to realize she was a visual learner who needed both elements to learn to read. She only became successful in learning after the sound and visual were combined. And now she is reading at a higher grade level than her fellow students.

I have seen a huge improvement, and suggest for anyone whose kid is struggling with reading to try using both sound and visual to help their kid overcome it too.

By: Denise B

Denise B — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 19:19:20 +0000

Try playing a board game called Er-u-di-tion that incorporates both sight words and phonics.

This award winning game helps children learn to read, spell and understand the most common words in the English language while playing an entertaining board game.

Cards are categorized so children of all reading levels can play together!