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In a message dated 05/01/2001 12:03:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
kumbach@UNLIMITED.NET writes:

> I recall using the Dick and Jane readers when I was in
>  elementary school (what, first grade?  1953 or thereabouts), but we
>  definitely also learned at least basic phonics -- the two worked together
>  hand-in-glove.   Although Dick and Jane and their dog what's-his-name may
>  not have been cutting edge literature, I have never felt that they deprived
>  me of a sound foundation in reading.

In the early 60's, I was also instructed through the Dick & Jane books, and
was given a solid phonics foundation.  I dropped out of high school to care
for my mother and MR brother in 1973.  I saw no need to delay my own life, so
I married, and my son was born in 74.  My husband & I were so poor (his
minimum wage job paid $1.65 an hour) we could not afford luxuries like
televisions, movies, and a car.  We walked our son to the library and took
books to the park to read while we ate wish sandwiches (2 slices of bread,
butter, mustard, wish we had some meat).

I also taught my son to sound words out.  By age 3, I could give him an
encyclopedia and he could read it (even if he had no idea what the words
meant).  When he started school, I was told by his teacher that he "sounded
out his words" and that I should never have taught him that.  I was told to
stop allowing him to read at home and that she was going to have a hard time
"breaking him of his bad reading habits."

Being a high school drop out, I deferred to her opinion.  He became
uninterested in school very quickly.  By 2nd grade, he was failing, acting
out, and could not pay attention.  They tested him and said he had ADHD and
advised me to get him on Ritalin.  Instead, I took him down the street to the
nearest Catholic school, begged the tuition money from my parents, and sent
him there (No, we're not Catholic, but my son did convert at age 13).  They
had a strong phonics program.  Within a month the behaviors were gone and he
was excited about school and learning and reading again.

I don't know why I'm even telling you all this, except to say that no single
program "works" for every kid.  I have seen kids thrive on whole language and
end up frustrated with phonics too.  Whole language does not mean (and never
has meant) that basic skills such as phonetics are ignored.  Kids do not
learn by osmosis.

Dawn Sardes
YA Librarian
Euclid Public Library
Euclid, OH
dmsardes@aol.com

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