Yesterday I posted what I thought was a neat little mind trick. The post is entitled "Mind Games," and it basically consists of jumbled up words that readers can pretty easily breeze right through. It has come to my attention that this post may have sent out a mixed message to the world (or at least to my 25 readers a day).
I do not support sight reading for young children. The phoenetic method is the only way to teach children to read.
I was personally the victim of so-called educators who adopted the sight-reading method of teaching children to read. It's true that grown-ups don't sound out every letter. Adults do read words in their entirety (as demonstrated by "Mind Games"). However, the idea that children should start out with this method is ludicrous. The beauty of the Arabic alphabet and the English language is that there is a system to it. Complex words are made manageable because they can be sounded out. Sure, there are instances where pure phonics doesn't work out perfectly (ch, th, etc.), but these are the exception and not the rule.
If phonics is disregarded, written English becomes just as difficult and confusing as Egyption heiroglyphics and Chinese characters. Depriving a young child of phonics is the equivalent of setting you or I loose in the Valley of the Kings without the Rosetta Stone.
