The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1962-08-31
Education
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sounds of the consonantS. some
consonant-vowel blends, and q
few phonetic principles. In this
way word analysis is begun BE-
fore q sight vocabulary has been
built.
Children are therefore given
an early ability through the
phonetic method to unlock"
new words. and the general
level of their scholastic attain
ment is correspondingly found to
increase in all academic fields.
"Details of one phonetic ap-
proach to reading will be dealt
with in a future article relating
to its recent adoption in local
schools.
Just as interesting is the fact
that reading with phonics can
be taught to many children long
before they reach the age Of six
and one-half or seven, which IS
supposedly the necessary ma
turity level for tackling the sight
reading approach. (See Article
III on reading in other English
speaking countries). Moreover,
in his book Why Johnny
Can't Read" Rudolph Flesch
charges that boys in particular
do more poorly with sight-read-
ing, because it does not make
sense to the male brain or tenn
permanent. Many of those who
have worked with the phonetic
approach in teaching reading
feel that it presents more Of the
aspects of a game or puzzle
that attracts the minds not only
of girls but also boys.
Another point concerning read
ing in the United States has
been the advance of a tightly
controlled vocabulary in pri-
mary grade readers. Until the
192O's, when the word-recogni-
ton method of reading became
popular. children were expected
to read material far above their
level of experience and under
standing. This in itslf led to
Illustration and apathy on the
part of many youngsters. It be-
came apparent that children
would enjoy reading more if the
stories and words could be I'M
derstood easily. Words in early
readers were therefore selected
for this purpose while retaining
a fairly wide variety.
Word Use Slower
When sight-reading techniques
with emphasis on memory work
appeared on the A m i c a n
scene. and teachers complained
the old readers were too hard,
it became important and even
necessary to cut down on the
actual number of new words
introduced in the early readers.
Vocabulary lists were published
setting forth at what grades GER
tain words should be presented
to children, and most publishers
Of children's school books fol-
lowed the recommendations. The
result has been a steady de-
crease in the number of words
introduced to the pupils each
year with a corresponding de-
crease in the interest of content.
Reading for Effective Liv-
ing published by International
Reading Association, Vol. 8,
1858, states that since 1920, the
vocabularies of all grade read
ers have been cut to about one
half. and the decline has rapid
~ increased in recent years.
For instance, in 1920 the usual
first reader textbooks used some
$50 different words. In 1910,
$50 words were introduced; in
1850, 1926 words: and at present
the rate is about $50 words.
In other words. first graders
taught by the sight reading
method have been expected to
read with facility about 28O
words by the end Of the year,
and that's all. Compare this
with the approximately $40
words not counting sight words
read with ease by the average
first grader using one of the
new phonetic systems and they
have the tool to figure out many
more. This tight vocabulary
control has led to a type of
reader that can hardly be call
ed stimulating nor one designed
to enhance the desire of young
sters to learn to read: "Sit, Jim,
sit. Sit down. Down on the
bench. Jim sits. See Jim Sit"
etc. This quote has been made
up, but the style can be recog-
MID as TYPICAL.
Fortunately. publishers have
realized the need for simple but
interesting books at the primary
level. We are now witnessing a
rapidly growing flood of easy
reading and well Illustrated