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School basics ought to get a boost they need
Zafar Bhat. Dated: 9/26/2017 11:49:08 AM
Zafar Bhat
Jammu, Sep 25
Unknowingly parents taking a child to school for the first time will not know it, but they are entering a battleground. The war being fought here amid the desks and books and blackboards is not physical but intellectual and professional – over the best way to teach reading.
Particularly, should children sound out each letter of a word, learn to combine them, and discover reading that way? Or should they use clues from the context, pictures and hints in the shape and initial letter of the word to reach the same objective?
Whereas this war has raged in some places for decades. But turning point is required here that to represent a major advance for the first method – phonics. It is a good move – but it may still not end the war.
Usually, children assess about halfway through year 1 for their reading and numerical ability. Many teachers will already be doing assessments of their own, but others may not, and states and school sectors differ in their approach.
However, a standardised national assessment conducts one-to-one by teachers to gauge each pupil's level of understanding would thus provide baseline data from which to measure their progress and identify problems – not just of individual children, but also of schools, systems and regions. The need is urgent.
Notably, the check of children's reading level will require teachers to judge each child's phonic knowledge – that is, ability to read words based on the letters that make them up. This may seem obvious, but English spelling, which is often not phonetic, complicates matters.
Moreover, some children find it easier to learn to read by recognising whole words, not by sounding out each letter. They may use hints from the context, pictures, and initial sounds of words as props in this process. Whether one process or the other is better is the basis for the reading wars which have – unaccountably we believe – become bedevilled by politics
Pertinently the report quite reasonably backs phonics as a basic indicator to check all children's reading progress. Knowledge of the sounds of letters is a necessary precursor to reading and a reliable indicator of future reading performance.