Remember Hooked on Phonics? The reading program was such a success back in the ’90s that you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing an ad featuring a child proclaiming, “Hooked on Phonics worked for me!”
Phonics has been an important part of teaching kids how to read for generations. Even with the increased emphasis on “sight words” and other factors like context cues, young children discover the sounds that letters make and use what they’ve learned to “sound out” words.
“Plenty of evidence shows that children who receive systematic phonics instruction learn to read better and more rapidly than kids who don’t,” writes Emily Sohn at Science News. Phonics is a key component of a balanced approach to teaching kids how to read.
But not too long ago, the reliably left-leaning Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) decided that phonics wasn’t the way to go. Like all things tried-and-true, the hip, modern educators at the OUSD decided to throw out what worked and replaced it with something more multicultural.
A recent article in Time detailed what happened in Oakland.
“This seems dehumanizing, this is colonizing, this is the man telling us what to do,” teacher Kareem Weaver explained how teachers felt about the curriculum at the time. “So we fought tooth and nail as a teacher group to throw that out.”
This move happened after the program the OUSD used helped the district see the fastest growth in reading skills of any urban school system in the state of California. But the teachers weren’t satisfied, because what was actually working was “dehumanizing” and “colonizing.” Because it originated from “the man.” The horror! more
Lemme’ guess…
Ebonics be funnamental & shit, yo.
Fooked on Ebonics!
Well the one that did use it in Oakland had units that were stuck on F.
LOL?
Muffukkas be lunchin’ an shit, yo!
Unbelievable. The single most important thing that children should be learning, sacrificed to ‘wokeness’.
“So guess what? Teachers in the OUSD — including Weaver — are pushing to re-incorporate phonics into the school’s reading curriculum.”
So does Kareem admit she’s a fucking idiot and should not be involved in any policy discussions from here forth? Probably not. You know, The Man and all.
It’s almost like education was deliberately sabotaged, or something. Weird.
All those “woke” child molesters had to know was that “Hooked on Phonics” advertised on the Rush Limbaugh Show.
I’m a 2nd grade teacher in a California public school, my teacher’s manual calls it “African-American vernacular“, there’s a whole section on it so it must be “impotent”.
By the way, I believe I’m two counties south of Brad. There are still many conservatives here.
Walnut1
That would put you in San Joaquin County. I’ a Delta Rat so one of my favorite counties.
“There are still many conservatives here.”
Yes there are. For the most part, inland California is hard right.
““African-American vernacular“, That’s some great info.
Thanks.
Starts with an A, foothill County. Also the first word in my employer’s name.
I also farm and I do have one orchard in San Joaquin County still.
I was very fortunate to have been in a one room schoolhouse for first grade. ’65-66. My teacher had been born in the 1890’s. Grade 1-5. She had phonics flash cards she had made using index cards. It worked. I learned to read very well that year. Unfortunately the school closed and I went to LBJ Elementary school for second and third grade. Yes, they actually named the school for the sitting president. This school used all the latest “progressive” methods including “New Math.” I’ve struggled with math ever since then, but I read and spell very well. Thanks, Mrs. Haskins!
Walnut1
Got it. Ultra Conservative County. I should add I have a few friends that are conservative school teachers A tough job, but we sure need you guys there. You deserve combat pay.
My first-grade teacher Mrs. Hamburger (yes that was her real name) in 1960 at Wilson Elementary (named after you know who) school on Spokane’s S. side thought that I was retarded because I didn’t understand all the Dick and Jane look/say bs where we were supposed to learn to read by sounding out words. Fortunately for me she became pregnant and had to take a leave of absence and my next teacher Mrs. Benham along with my mom taught me to read and write phonetically which made a world of difference for me. I became an excellent reader and speller and could out read and out spell (and still do) most of my classmates. Dick and Jane (and their dog Spot) drool and suck, phonics rules every time it’s taught.
NIdaho Catholic, the new math which they started teaching about 1962 or 63 also screwed up how I learned math. I am much better at it now than I was then because I’ve had to learn how to do math correctly on my own, no thanks to all the progressive assholes who ruined teaching the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic back in the early to mid 60’s. I’m still lost on algebra, geometry, calculus and other higher forms of math.
I think it was in grade 2 about 1960 that my Catholic school started teaching us English comprehension using phonics.
It made reading and writing so much easier to understand
The first word I learned to read was ‘look’. I thought the O’s looked like eyeballs. My education was all downhill from there.
If maff be ray-cyst, Engrish be dubbly ray-cyst!
mortem tyrannis
izlamo delenda est …
Actually, the taskmasters of Oakland don’t want the denizens of Oakland thinking clearly or to be able to successfully express themselves. The denizens should be able to chant slogans and repeat meaningless rhymes: “Hey hey, ho ho, Orange Man Bad an he gotza Go!”
And they certainly want to discourage them from reading – for reading is the key to knowledge – and knowledgeable slaves are dangerous.
It was forbidden to teach slaves to read … hmm … I guess it still is.
mortem tyrannis
izlamo delenda est …
Hey, Kareem, if “the man” tells you to jab some unknown shit into your arm and wear 5 masks and isolate yourself to the detriment of your mental health, will you balk at that too?
I’ve maintained that teaching “Common Core” was the beginning of the end – the drive to intentionally corrupt the minds of the next generation and turn them into functional idiots! Sounds like it started much earlier!
What, no Phonics book in Ebonic? Hispanic?
The written version of this.
https://youtu.be/kdcFHsEiBbg
I learned to read at 4, somehow cracking the code myself because books fascinated me. They still do.
When I went to first grade in a very small school, there were 3 of us in the class who could read so, during reading period, we met with the principal who had us devouring big books while our classmates learned phonics.
I entered big public school the next year and always got A’s in reading and composition but struggled with phonics, which seemed pointless to me. It still does.
My story and this one in Oakland are both about the failure of large, institutional approaches to teaching individuals. Public schools are factories, churning out standard but mediocre results –at best. At worst (and often), they kill the joy of learning.
I don’t recall learning to read in school at all. Everyone I knew learned to read at home before starting school. 1950s white supremacy rules.
I’m just surprised they admitted they were wrong. They usually buckle down and persist doing what doesn’t work. could this be a sign of open mindedness?