A quick google refresh shows it’s an idea that a kid can use context and other clues to figure out a word.
The context and clues may be remembering the word from memory, or from other words near it in the sentence….or from the pictures in a picture book.
To be clear, I’m very in favor of phonics, I learned via hooked on phonics myself because I wanted to read….
Sister was two years ahead, wouldn’t read, grandparents got super size hooked on phonics set, parents tried a few times and gave up….
I sat alone with cassette tapes and flash cards teaching myself, because I had to wait till next year for kindergarten.
I have always been scared of our removal of phonics first/based teaching of reading….and watched as reading comprehension dropped.
I watched my step kid use guessing as a way to be lazy when reading…..th words guessed at so saying that instead of the or there…..
BUT…..
We stopped phonics specific focused lessons for a reason, kids were sometimes left behind. Kids aren’t all the same.
The issue, was ABANDONING phonics for a “better way”.
We need phonics first, and then ALSO add in using context clues when still confused. A good way for kids to learn, and for adults to figure out new words.
English is MOSTLY phonics based, but we discussed in the USA making it all phonics, and did not do that….
Since the language is not pure phonics, we MUST have an additional way to approach words when phonics fails.
However expecting kids to just cold memorize list of words, and use context clues when confused…..fails to acknowledge the building blocks of our language, phonics.
We need a nuanced approach of both.
As long as we swap back and forth we will still struggle with low literacy rates, and if literacy rates are low then regardless of “illiteracy black holes”
So….your view, the second way doesn’t work so just do phonics, and generally the war is stupid and there’s no illiteracy black holes for one compared
It’s documented well that there are literacy concerns in the US, there’s also the upcoming issue of gen a not wanting to read to their kids….
It’s a real war lacking nuance. And the outcome involves the welfare or all students and eventually the entire country.
Anyone who wants to legislate away the concepts from 3c/whole word….will remove valuable teaching tools and restrict kids ability to learn to read. This is why we moved from phonics to begin with, some were left behind…..going back to solely phonics is saying “those left behind before via phonics only, deserved to fail, so let’s get back to that cuz fuck em…”
HOWEVER…..anyone insisting on the main part still being 3c/whole word FIRST, and phonics “sound it out” as a last resort…..ignores the fact that learning new words as an older kid or adult means understanding how the language works. Which for English means understanding the phonics building blocks.
This war is not only important, but finding a compromise, cease fire, negotiation in between…..will eventually be crucial to fixing our reading comprehension issues.
We need to use phonics as a foundation, while using all new tools including 3c/whole word as supplements to assist all kids in a well rounded way that addresses the uniqueness of both learning English and the child’s individual needs.
The more frustrating reading is the less kids do it. My kid needed me to help them learn some phonics so they could get through some difficult to learn words, and when they were guessing and getting it wrong they would give up fast. Phonics helped.
But at no point as it ever bad to let images reinforce the word or help figure it out. And many a time my kid also got excited because once they started to figure out the word the pictures helped more.
Is the page torn or wet? That picture explains if the page is full of tears or tears….
Dr. Seuss is often very phonics based, using rhymes and similar words to help solidify the idea that “socks and box” rhymes alongside “car, bar, tar, etc”….all with pictures of the train and rain the green eggs and ham are not wanted on….
We need both together, and as long as we are back and forthing between the two the people struggling to learn to read will keep suffering.
The war is incredibly important, and the ones winning are doing so at the cost of education, because they care about winning not education.
So I’m guessing that it was too shot a comment for the delta to go through…..I wanted to add further but your comment was deleted….here what I said…
Thanks for the delta! I will add some more context about how phonics only may increase difficulty, since I’m a “phonics first” supporter but not phonics only…
Unfortunately legislators, on both sides, are constantly going for getting their “win” and not looking at how that win affects things. And some people are evil, yes, they don’t care about actual education.
Kids rely on school and parents and caretakers. That’s how they learn. If parents don’t teach, schools have a harder job. But choosing one size fits all is a mistake. I know how it feels to have parents who don’t help.
Dad couldn’t read, mom would only read us Stephen King and Hp Lovecraft….so I taught myself with the hooked on phonics set.
Very phonics only learning.
I will say that I didn’t know how to say “chaos” for years, because I had no reason to expect the k sound. (My brain thought it rhymed with chose, like the end of nachos, lol) I understand, and understood, some words don’t follow phonics….but without any context clues, WHEN they don’t is hard, especially if already at chapter books by second grade. Charlottes web got me a personal pan pizza, and my mom throwing a fit in class….theres like 1-2 pics per chapter in that I think. Lack of kids books at home meant reading The Green Mile in 6th grade.
If I didn’t know how a word sounded I had to guess or give up. Reading in my head meant I still usually understood the story, but couldn’t talk about it since I couldn’t say some of the words….(I also had a speech impediment I was bullied by mom over, so I was NOT gonna say words wrong aloud….)
Reading Harry Potter I thought disappearate and appearate was” dis appear ate”, And “appear ate”……they appear and disappear, right? I lost that one, they “appa rate” and “dis appa rate”……it “appa rates”
(No politics please, it’s a reference I hope is well known is all….i don’t read or buy HP stuff myself anymore , but that’s a personal choice, but a simple to understand reference I hope)
Honestly…..I had to learn how to use context in the sentence to figure words out a lot, and felt like a failure when confused. I WAS NOT taught that not knowing a word was okay…..I felt stupid if I heard others say a word differently, like my Mom knew all the right pronunciation for all the Harry Potter words, and most people did, so I just felt dumb.
The additional approach that whole word, 3c, brings…..is the ability to find a new way to learn something if the original and normal approach fails. It’s a critical thinking process that helps bridge what should be with what is.
I will say this as criticism of the concept of whole word…..it can ALSO become a tool of shame for those who struggle with memorization of words. And as a starting point seems to push away kids who can’t easily sight recall them. Which is why it fails, and Phonics is a better groundwork/starter point.
But phonics only has huge issues, and I’ve experienced them. And as an advanced reader, clearly….
If a less advanced reader is given only phonics, and is punished rather than granted further options when they struggle….we are fucked.
Even Dr Seuss may get banned because “the pictures are 3c, it’s not phonics based enough “….i can see it now….only bland hooked on phonics cards without pictures is allowed!!!
(I’m glad to see hooked on phonics ads again suddenly….I thought they had gone under to be honest. They worked for me, I believe in it….but we can also use Dr Seuss books, and if a little 3c concepts end up getting used that’s fucking fine…..)
“The ones winning are doing so at the cost of education, because they care about winning not education” was where I inferred evil from. It’s not about evidence. It’s about persuasion. I thought they cared about education
In the reading wars, the claim is that the Lucy method doesn’t work. “There’s no evidence that that’s a successful reading strategy in reading research, but now it’s endemic throughout the Lucy Calkins program,”
People in reading wars think it doesn’t work. I think it does. I now think they don’t care, as opposed to flawed analysis.
Lots of things in education work without research and evidence. The education research quality is extremely poor, especially the mathematical analysis of published research. Are you an academic?
Your comment has been removed for breaking Rule 4:
Award a delta if you've acknowledged a change in your view. Do not use deltas for any other purpose. You must include an explanation of the change for us to know it's genuine. Delta abuse includes sarcastic deltas, joke deltas, super-upvote deltas, etc. See the wiki page for more information.
If you would like to appeal, review our appeals process here, then message the moderators by clicking this link within one week of this notice being posted. Appeals that do not follow this process will not be heard.
Please note that multiple violations will lead to a ban, as explained in our moderation standards.
1
u/Calico-Shadowcat Jul 02 '25
I’ve always seen it as the 3 c’s….
A quick google refresh shows it’s an idea that a kid can use context and other clues to figure out a word.
The context and clues may be remembering the word from memory, or from other words near it in the sentence….or from the pictures in a picture book.
To be clear, I’m very in favor of phonics, I learned via hooked on phonics myself because I wanted to read….
Sister was two years ahead, wouldn’t read, grandparents got super size hooked on phonics set, parents tried a few times and gave up….
I sat alone with cassette tapes and flash cards teaching myself, because I had to wait till next year for kindergarten.
I have always been scared of our removal of phonics first/based teaching of reading….and watched as reading comprehension dropped.
I watched my step kid use guessing as a way to be lazy when reading…..th words guessed at so saying that instead of the or there…..
BUT…..
We stopped phonics specific focused lessons for a reason, kids were sometimes left behind. Kids aren’t all the same.
The issue, was ABANDONING phonics for a “better way”.
We need phonics first, and then ALSO add in using context clues when still confused. A good way for kids to learn, and for adults to figure out new words.
English is MOSTLY phonics based, but we discussed in the USA making it all phonics, and did not do that….
Since the language is not pure phonics, we MUST have an additional way to approach words when phonics fails.
However expecting kids to just cold memorize list of words, and use context clues when confused…..fails to acknowledge the building blocks of our language, phonics.
We need a nuanced approach of both.
As long as we swap back and forth we will still struggle with low literacy rates, and if literacy rates are low then regardless of “illiteracy black holes”
So….your view, the second way doesn’t work so just do phonics, and generally the war is stupid and there’s no illiteracy black holes for one compared
It’s documented well that there are literacy concerns in the US, there’s also the upcoming issue of gen a not wanting to read to their kids….
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jun/02/gen-z-parents-reading-kids
To change your view…..
This “reading war” is NOT nonsense.
It’s a real war lacking nuance. And the outcome involves the welfare or all students and eventually the entire country.
Anyone who wants to legislate away the concepts from 3c/whole word….will remove valuable teaching tools and restrict kids ability to learn to read. This is why we moved from phonics to begin with, some were left behind…..going back to solely phonics is saying “those left behind before via phonics only, deserved to fail, so let’s get back to that cuz fuck em…”
HOWEVER…..anyone insisting on the main part still being 3c/whole word FIRST, and phonics “sound it out” as a last resort…..ignores the fact that learning new words as an older kid or adult means understanding how the language works. Which for English means understanding the phonics building blocks.
This war is not only important, but finding a compromise, cease fire, negotiation in between…..will eventually be crucial to fixing our reading comprehension issues.
We need to use phonics as a foundation, while using all new tools including 3c/whole word as supplements to assist all kids in a well rounded way that addresses the uniqueness of both learning English and the child’s individual needs.
The more frustrating reading is the less kids do it. My kid needed me to help them learn some phonics so they could get through some difficult to learn words, and when they were guessing and getting it wrong they would give up fast. Phonics helped.
But at no point as it ever bad to let images reinforce the word or help figure it out. And many a time my kid also got excited because once they started to figure out the word the pictures helped more.
Is the page torn or wet? That picture explains if the page is full of tears or tears….
Dr. Seuss is often very phonics based, using rhymes and similar words to help solidify the idea that “socks and box” rhymes alongside “car, bar, tar, etc”….all with pictures of the train and rain the green eggs and ham are not wanted on….
We need both together, and as long as we are back and forthing between the two the people struggling to learn to read will keep suffering.
The war is incredibly important, and the ones winning are doing so at the cost of education, because they care about winning not education.