Some words just escape the brain. Personally, I think most words should be spelled phonetically. Then school would be skul. Or if you insist, skool. Wouldn't that be easier? All "ool" words would be spelled with the ool. skool, kool, rool, mool... And the "k" sound would always be a "k" only. So chek, kik, sik, lik. Much easier!I was reading last weekend with my younger granddaughter. She had no idea of the relationship between old, gold, sold. We were reading a Dr. Seuss book and she caught on pretty quickly that the words rhymed, but not that the same sequence of letters sounded the same.
This puzzles me because that was a big part of how I was taught to read. Reading is a matter of "knowing the code". So if you know "old", then you also know how to add the letter in front to make other words like mold and fold.
I wonder why they don't teach the code anymore?
anny
My little one did that last year, sort of...his reading words had a worksheet in which they changed the first letter to make new words.
ReplyDeleteBut you're also right; my two older ones were never taught phonics; they were taught to memorize words. And got mad at me when I'd try to get them to sound them out. Thankfully, it seems my youngest is being taught to sound out the words instead of guessing. I hope his other elementary teachers continue this!
My older two were taught to memorize too. Drove me nuts trying to teach my son to sound out words. My daughter caught on eventually.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Anny. I think we should revamp the spelling of English. Phonetic spelling makes sense to me. I have a friend (a writer) who is so annoyed by misspelled words. But it's such an impossibly difficult language to spell! Everybody is bound to slip up occasionally.
ReplyDeletereading reference material from the Regency when there were no rules for spelling is fascinating. Even names could be spelled however you liked, which is why I probably have some distant relatives named Spenser, with 2 s-es.
ReplyDeleteLearning to read phonetically seems the way to go. Makes sense.
ReplyDeleteBecause kids these days write in code - ICAM, brb, gtg - shorthand. Kids aren't taught the way we were - plus the school's are underfunded all across the country and teachers are very stressed. (and out of jobs out here!)
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