-Caveat Lector- Bear with me, I'm answering a couple of days' worth of posts in one shot.
<<This will teach me to answer my email before im really awake>> That's why I didn't do this earlier. :-D <<There are many ways to teach reading, and phonics is only one of them. (whole language approach is another, as an example)>> Making phonics fun: the TV show Wheel of Fortune is an excellent tool for teaching the kids to read. Each letter is pronounced by the contestants, Vanna shows what the letter looks like, and, unlike teaching simple ABCs, the letters are NOT in alphabetical order. The viewer can see how each word is put together by individual letters. <<You are confusing levels here You obviously will not be having 1st graders read weighty tomes on diversity. But once kids get the basics, you can use more thoughtful materials, as part of a combined curriculum, that teaches reading skills such as comprehension, as well as whatever the subject matter is. Reading is more than being able to get the words right.>> Getting the words right is THE fundamental skill required for reading. Phonics breaks words down into individual sounds. When the reader comes upon an unfamiliar word, if he or she has been taught phonics, the word can be sounded out. If whole language is used, the person will not recognize the word, and probably have to ask "What's this word?" <<Reading is the ability to get the words, extract meaning, examine for consistency, and being able to reflect your own thought against the material, in order to come to some conclusions. Phonics only teaches getting the words right.>> The first 2 skills are indeed part of reading; however, the latter fall more under critical thinking than reading. One can read, do the first 2 skills, without being able to do the last 2. << Schools need to focus on the 3 r's - and also the additional r's of reason, rhyme, and respect.>> I'm assuming by "rhyme" a poetic description of the way things are. The second 3 r's, in a traditional education, would come about as part of the normal course of events, and would not have to be "taught." They are best taught by example. << Actually, I happen to agree completely with this. So do my parents, who, again, worked within the public schools for over 50 years, collectively. More than that, acutally, when I think about it.>> Just like everything else, they don't make teachers like they used to. <<Interestingly enough, my mother taught Humanities, which is American lit and history. She taught the lit portion - it was a two hour class. Anyway, there was a lot of discussion in the public school administration in that district about how students shoudn't be taught all these "dead white guys,">> uh, apparently the administration flunked American history and literature. Either that or it is a conspiratorial attempt to dumb down the curriculum. Probably both. <<and that they should be taught a multi-cultural curriculum, as American history and culture has more to do with other ideas than just the classical Greeks. Fine. But, the fact remains that the classical Greeks had a major influence on our Founders, as did the government of the Romans. And those "dead whiteguys" who wrote a lot did shape the minds and hearts of the people who helped to shape this culture. Now, of course that is not the only factor, but it is a major one. Like it or not, much of American lit is "dead white guys." Even so, there were people such as Maya Angelou that we read as well in Humanities.>> Precisely. My sons are familiar, not with Angelou yet, but with an assortment of non-DWGs. <<But it was never about teaching that these "dead white guys" had all the answers. Far from it. It was much more about "this is what shaped American culture." I mean, we even had to read James Fenimore Cooper, who is completely awful, but he did write the first American novel. And there was no pretense that he was a great novelist, just that he was the first one in the US. We also read Steinbeck and Walt Whitman, and many others. I say this in first person as I actually took the class, and it was quite good - and, no favoitism there. I had to work my butt off just to get an A- average in that class.>> BTW, Whitman was gay, not exactly the stereotypical DWG, although he indeed is all 3. <<But my mom retired some years ago, and the only thing keeping that class alive is her team teacher, who is getting ready to retire, himself. Once he does, American Humanities will be dead in this high school. It was my mom's cirriculum, drawn up in an age when teachers were allowed to do that sort of thing. >> I have friends who are teachers who have told me about intense frustration because they can't teach things that they think are important for the children to learn, because of so much state- and federally-mandates. In New Jersey, teacher performance is evaluated based on test scores and test scores alone. Guess where the emphasis is. <<And, it, too, will soon go the way of the multi-cultural education. Who knows if the students will read The Grapes of Wrath in that future class? Probably not. It's sad, honestly.>> Unless they use the poor, exploited worker's angle. << The job of the school is NOT to teach you everything you will need to know for the rest of your life - it is to give you the basics, basis, and techniques, so you can continue to learn for the rest of your life.>> Absolutely. And "teaching to the test" does exactly the opposite. << Tolerance is PC propaganda to keep the people decadent, mindless, and easy to corral. Diversity is to keep the people bickering, divided and unable to stand against the very same tyrants that are pushing this PC garbage on them.>> In political circles, it's called "balkanization." Look at how much time we've spent on this thread on this list. At least we are having honest discussions. I'll get to the rest of the posts later, I've got to attend to family matters. Tenorlove __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Autos - Get free new car price quotes http://autos.yahoo.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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