Duped and Deceived

Further below, you will see that I have typed in instructions that my daughter's teacher has provided us as parents.  If you know what whole language is, the whole language method will jump right out at you from these instructions.

But prior to realizing we had this problem, I had no idea that such a thing as whole language reading methods existed.  I assumed (bad mistake) that because I learned phonics and it worked so well for me and other members of my family as well as all of my friends and acquaintances, that phonics would have a big role in the reading education of my daughter at school.  I do kick myself that I being an educated person (I'm an attorney and have an MBA degree) did not see this for what it was.  But again, I never heard about whole language until around Christmas time this year.  And to be honest, although I briefly read these instructions at the beginning of the year, I did not pay close attention to these instructions.  To me phonics is how reading should be taught and I was prepared to assist my daughter with sounding out words.  Given my predisposition for phonics, I really didn't pay attention to what appeared to me to be unnecessary instructions.  I also didn't pay much attention to the instructions about talking about the content of the story, etc.  It was and still is my view that my child should be able to read the story and then talk about it - not use such a discussion to help her remember memorized words as her crutch to rely on for pseudo reading.  Again, my assumptions about how reading would be taught along with some clever deception in my opinion, in the instructions contributed to me not discovering that this faulty method for teaching reading was being applied.

The only good things I can point to about whole language, which in my mind is a method which defies common sense, are some of the value systems of it, such as how important it is for reading to be fun and to foster confidence in reading.  However, from my personal experience at least, for my daughter, whole language reading fostered a hate for reading, a complete lack of confidence, and no ability to independently read without already knowing the story and having a cache of memorized words to rely on.  And, as for the methods which make up whole language- I have no regard for any of them.

Now for a few comments on the instructions below.... Note that there is no suggestion that I have my child sound out any word, only a suggestion that I should not have her sound out "every word."  I think this mention of sounding out here is meant to keep parents from realizing that phonics is playing little or no role in this teacher's reading method.  What she really means, in my opinion, is that I shouldn't help sound out ANY word.  Also, if I were to tell my child what a word is every time she does not know,  how does she ever learn out how to read independently?  Further, I am offended with the instruction that I should not "try to teach."  This is my child, and I will teach whenever and however I like.  Further, reading is too important of a foundation for all other education to come for me to not do any teaching, particularly when I see a teaching method that is clearly not working, and is not based upon any scientific evidence  

Anyway, here are the instructions that I received at the beginning of the year:

Before Reading

1.  Talk about the title, author and what the child remembers about the story.  Discuss the story and talk about it.  DON'T HURRY THIS STEP - it activates the child's knowledge of the story, helps him/her focus on the story and his/her interpretation of it.  Develop a connection between his/her knowledge of the story and the print, thus building his/her confidence as a reader and making the shared reading experience pleasurable.

2.  Recognize that beginning readers rely on memory and it is OK that many of the stories are memorized - this is a stepping stone to reading.  Your child will switch from "saying" the book to actually reading some words and this is perfectly natural and very similar to stages your child went through in learning to speak.

3.  It is perfectly acceptable if your child finger points at the words.  It is easily eliminated as the child becomes a more fluent reader and is actually a directional aid for many beginning readers.

During Reading:

If your child is stuck on a word:

1.  Remind him/her to use picture cues.

2.  Suggest he/she read the sentence again and ask him/herself what would make sense.

3.  Help your child incorporate the picture clue, meaning of the sentence, and the beginning sound of the word to figure out what the word might be.  DO NOT SOUND OUT EVERY WORD!

4.  Do not tell unknown words right away.  If your child can not figure a word out, use the above three hints, and count to ten silently.  This will give your child time to think and apply strategies readers need.  If he/she still can not read a word, tell it to him/her . . . then go back and reread the page TOGETHER to reestablish the meaning.

Above all, keep this reading an enjoyable experience and always be positive.  You didn't insist on perfection at first in his/her speech, so praise his/her attempts at reading a word, giving an idea, etc.

REMEMBER:
IT IS BETTER FOR YOU TO SHARE THE ENJOYMENT OF THE BOOKS WITH YOUR CHILD, RATHER THAN TRY TO TEACH!