Hmmm. The awful thing is that schools have had to demand that parents read with their children. I think most children would be asking to learn to read and picking things up naturally if it were normal in their homes for people to read, and if they were read bedtime stories.
Perhaps it isn't so much that parents should teach their children to read, if parents can't be trusted not to make reading a horrible chore instead of fun. I suppose what I meant is that it is shocking how few parents bother reading with their children and making it enjoyable to learn to read, then! Obviously I wouldn't think it great if parents were putting their children off reading by making it stressful for them. My mother did that for me and science by trying to make me do an Open University technology course when I was eight. Huge mistake!
A book-a-day programme! I don't know if they manage as many books as that here. I imagine one a week is more likely!
I find the phonetic method frustrating. I tried to help a friend's child with his reading homework recently and could see that he was getting very upset because he had been taught that pronouncing the letters in turn would sound out the word, which unless the word is "dog" it often does not. I showed him how to recognise frequently occurring words by their shape and context, and within half an hour he was reading whole sentences by himself and smiling.
Being a primary school teacher would be great in terms of being able to help sweet small children, I think, but I would find it way too hard and stressful! Much admiration for nice teachers who do it, though.
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Perhaps it isn't so much that parents should teach their children to read, if parents can't be trusted not to make reading a horrible chore instead of fun. I suppose what I meant is that it is shocking how few parents bother reading with their children and making it enjoyable to learn to read, then! Obviously I wouldn't think it great if parents were putting their children off reading by making it stressful for them. My mother did that for me and science by trying to make me do an Open University technology course when I was eight. Huge mistake!
A book-a-day programme! I don't know if they manage as many books as that here. I imagine one a week is more likely!
I find the phonetic method frustrating. I tried to help a friend's child with his reading homework recently and could see that he was getting very upset because he had been taught that pronouncing the letters in turn would sound out the word, which unless the word is "dog" it often does not. I showed him how to recognise frequently occurring words by their shape and context, and within half an hour he was reading whole sentences by himself and smiling.
Being a primary school teacher would be great in terms of being able to help sweet small children, I think, but I would find it way too hard and stressful! Much admiration for nice teachers who do it, though.