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Oh, boy are you right with that observation, MrMcQ! Educational trends are changing all of the time.
Educators try a method for a few years and then move on to something else because they did not get the expected results.
I have found teaching youngsters reading and writing skills that it takes a combination of methods to be really effective. I love to have them understand the phonetic makeup of words, but they must also bite the bullet and memorize so many nonconforming words, as well as learning derivation and how the word is being used (rode/road; two/too/to; right/write, through/threw, et al).
A good reader will almost always use multiple modalities to decipher a word to be read or written. And, some children simply have better innate skills than others.
As long as your son is a happy reader, encourage him to rely on Webster's website and spellcheck!! I teach these skills and still rely on my little "crutches"!
Oh, boy are you right with that observation, MrMcQ! Educational trends are changing all of the time.
Educators try a method for a few years and then move on to something else because they did not get the expected results.
Many younger teachers either don't understand or don't know this...and consequently don't always understand some veteran teachers' rolling eyes and scowls when the hottest newest silver bullet program gets rolled out. If you're in the business long enough, you'll see some idea that didn't work the first time come back around re-labeled and all shiny and "new and improved".
Education has long reminded me of a puppy in a field full of rabbits. The pup will take off chasing one rabbit because that's THE ONE. Then a different rabbit will jump up and take off in another direction. The puppy then decides that one looks better and that it's THE ONE. Then a different rabbit will jump up...etc., etc., etc. Eventually the puppy will chase the same rabbit more than once. And it'll never catch it.
There have been huge improvements in teaching reading over the years, but it's been tough getting there. From the "one size fits all" approach to throwing out and ignoring the value of methods (such as rote) that has worked for many years with most students, it seems to have settled into kind of a groove where it needs to be...improved diagnostics using whatever teaching approach that best fits the student.
But, primarily, the leading indicator of having a life-long reader is if the parents were readers. If that was there, good odds the student will be as well. If not, well...often not.
I am amazed by people that I know that can read, but always say they do not have time or do not like to read. I guess I cannot imagine a life without reading and books. I always find the time anywhere. Has anyone else experienced this phenomena? Just curious.
It occurred to me as I was reading the many responses to this thread that most people, apparently, read fiction considerably more often than they read non-fiction.
I guess you could say I am a non-reader when it comes to fiction. I bet in my entire lifetime I have not read more than four or five novels. The concept of spending my time reading about another person's life (someone that does not even really exist), does not interest me in the slightest.
If I am going to find the time and make the effort to read, I am certainly going to learn something valuable by doing it. Not reading a bunch of made up stuff that is meaningless to me.
Now, I will read biographies if they are interesting and factually historical books. And, of course, Walden by Henry David Thoreau is one of my all-time favorites.
I guess you could say I am a non-reader when it comes to fiction. I bet in my entire lifetime I have not read more than four or five novels. The concept of spending my time reading about another person's life (someone that does not even really exist), does not interest me in the slightest.
If I am going to find the time and make the effort to read, I am certainly going to learn something valuable by doing it. Not reading a bunch of made up stuff that is meaningless to me.
Not everyone enjoys fiction, and that's fine, but when you watch TV or movies do you watch only documentaries and news programs? There's a lot of fiction that is entertaining while also being thought-provoking and even educational.
Fiction vs. Non-fiction. One is as wonderful as the other.
That's an interesting take on fiction vs. nonfiction, Branson. I think that I often learn as much from the fiction that I read as I do from the non-fiction.
A wonderful, well-informed author of fictional literature can weave a tale that stirs the emotions, imagination and horizons of his reader. I think of such books as Moby Dick, Reading Lolita in Tehran, Hamlet, or Gone with the Wind.
I know that I carry life lessons and far reaching thoughts as a result of engaging myself in these wonderful stories.
We can sometimes read a piece of non-fiction and walk away poorer than we were before we let the author into our minds.
I think this shows again that we are all very individual in our tastes, our needs and our loves. I do enjoy many non-fiction books (particularly historical or scientific), but do live for a well crafted novel that sets my mind into motion with a vision in my mind's eye to complete it.
Not everyone enjoys fiction, and that's fine, but when you watch TV or movies do you watch only documentaries and news programs? There's a lot of fiction that is entertaining while also being thought-provoking and even educational.
I do not own a television set. I have not seen a movie for many years. For exactly the same reason that I do not read fiction.
It occurred to me as I was reading the many responses to this thread that most people, apparently, read fiction considerably more often than they read non-fiction.
I guess you could say I am a non-reader when it comes to fiction. I bet in my entire lifetime I have not read more than four or five novels. The concept of spending my time reading about another person's life (someone that does not even really exist), does not interest me in the slightest.
If I am going to find the time and make the effort to read, I am certainly going to learn something valuable by doing it. Not reading a bunch of made up stuff that is meaningless to me.
Now, I will read biographies if they are interesting and factually historical books. And, of course, Walden by Henry David Thoreau is one of my all-time favorites.
20yrsinBranson
Can't really speak for anyone else here, but for me reading - especially fiction - is a way to escape from the problems and pressures of life. Yes, I find learning something new to be exciting, but that is not really my primary reason for reading. And I have found that even in fiction can be found the occasional 'nugget' of valuable new information. For instance, I sometimes read and post in the religion and philosophy forum and, in one discussion, I was able to refer to an interesting philosophical concept I found in the first of Stephen King's Dark Tower books. (I won't repeat it here, as this is not a philosophical discussion. ) Now I don't think anyone would argue that SK is any kind of 'philosopher', but this one particular passage was simply rife with philosophical meaning.
I think this shows again that we are all very individual in our tastes, our needs and our loves. I do enjoy many non-fiction books (particularly historical or scientific), but do live for a well crafted novel that sets my mind into motion with a vision in my mind's eye to complete it.
I have tried, with an open mind, to read novels. I cannot get past the first couple of chapters. Even best sellers. Famous books. Books that have lived in infamy. Moby Dick? Someone has actually read Moby Dick? Hamlet???? really??????
How on earth do you maintain your interest? How do you keep going when it sloggs along? I've not yet discovered how to do it.
(I did get to chapter THREE of "Interview with a Vampire", which was some kind of record for me. But I couldn't even get through the FIRST CHAPTER of Harry Potter!)
I do not own a television set. I have not seen a movie for many years. For exactly the same reason that I do not read fiction.
20yrsinBranson
I actually feel sorry for you, the same as I would feel sorry for someone who doesn't read at all. I just cannot imagine a life so void of imagination that one cannot enjoy a good story.
How on earth do you maintain your interest? How do you keep going when it sloggs along? I've not yet discovered how to do it.
A good, creative author can make a subject interesting, whether it's truth or fiction. I studied history in college/grad school and have read quite a few non-fiction books then and since that made me want to throw the book across the room because they were so dull and dense.
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I teach these skills and still rely on my little "crutches"!
Just curious.
Fiction vs. Non-fiction. One is as wonderful as the other.
