Dick and Jane or Phonics?

[mix]

Poll question: Dick and Jane or Phonics?

[11 Bravo]

1. "Oh, oh, oh! See the funny, funny, Dick!"

50+ years later, and that still cracks me up.

[mix]

6. They were very odd to me, as I am sure they were to others.

But there was something undeniably entertaining about them. By the time I came across them in the early 70s before phonics eclipsed everything, they seemed from another time altogether. In a post-sixties world, Dick and Jane made no sense anymore.

I could not relate to them at all--who were those people?

[AsahinaKimi]

2. My mother was an English Teacher..

So she was teaching her child and her husband to speak English!

[mix]

3. That is an incredible skill and how lucky to be a bilingual family.

I can remember very clearly that one year we had nothing but Dick and Jane and then suddenly phonics and all these colored cards with single and double letters on them.

So my vote is that I learned to read via both systems.

[triguy46]

4. In the mid 50's I was started on Dick and Jane...

then this new "phonics" thing showed up and I quickly went from being a reader to being a non-reader.
I suppose the correct answer is that which the learner is best suited. However, my knee jerk reaction is that since so many wacko home schooled Christian nut jobs like "hooked on phonics" that it must suck.

My kids just became readers. That simple. Because we read to them at least an hour a day beginning before they were born. And we are readers. So they grew up in a reading family, its what we did and what we do. If you don't set a reading example, good luck having your kid be a reader.

[mix]

5. Modeling behavior, by reading to them for example, is important to their development.

I have a niece and nephew, 5 and 3, both very literate, "reading", manipulating letters and sounds, and shockingly conversational...I think in large part this is because their parents, my brother and his wife diligently read to them every night and continue to do so. They model independent reading as well and there are books everywhere.

[Captain Hilts]

7. In the '60s I had Dick and Jane.And Spot and Puff. I thought all dogs were male and cats female.

I've actually talked to university professors that thought the same thing!

[mix]

9. that's hilarious! nt

[Iggo]

15. Me, too!

[raccoon]

8. In the 1950's I started on Dick and Jane. Wish I'd had phonics.

Dick and Jane taught you to memorize the word, like a Chinese character, not to sound things out.

First time I saw word "wages" I thought it was "wags." Thanks to Dick and Jane.

I guess Dick and Jane aren't around anymore, if so they're probably in nursing homes. :silly:

[mix]

11. The Dick & Jane series is pretty interesting historically.

They tried to change with the times by adding an African American family in the 1960s.

http://awrungsponge.blogspot.com/2007/04/dick-and-jane.html

I had the benefits of both systems, I think, since I was in elementary school in the early 70s when the switch occurred.

[seabeyond]

10. with both kids, dick and jane was right on for them. both excel at reading

i think the phonics for the kids that dick and jane doesn't work for.

there are other areas that creative teaching, especially in math, had to be used for oldest son. i would see the new way have to be taught to him, and the old way taught to youngest.

feel it out and see, with the child, what works best.

[noamnety]

12. Neither!

Dick and Jane - sexist. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19750506&id=Nz00AAAAIBAJ&sjid=gOsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5904,2367490

Phonics - at least the Hooked on Phonics folks: just say no. Someone charged hundreds of dollars of shit to me from there. They wouldn't give me the address of where it was shipped to (so I could file a criminal complaint) even though it was charged on my g-d- credit card. Cited the "privacy" of the people who stole my credit card. While I was on the phone complaining about that, they freaking tried to give me a hard core sales pitch. NO, you morons, I don't want to do business with you at all, ever, the last thing I'm gonna do is have them charge more shit to my card.

Better: A book called Give Your Child a Superior Mind. I didn't use it with the level of discipline the authors demand or even close. But the ways of explaining abstract concepts to infants and toddlers were brilliant and effective.

[Bucky]

13. A variety is better. Different strategies work for different kids' various learning styles.

Kids want to read when they're pre-reading, so exposing them to a variety of books and making reading a pleasureable activity is what will work best. Let them find out what works best for themselves.

[TrogL]

14. Why doesn't Dick have his hands inside the ride? ...and what is Jane doing with hers?

I always thought Jane was showing waaay to much underpants and Dick kept ending up downstage from her, looking up.

In this case, she looks like she's look down inside the car, not where Dick's pointing and he looks like he's about ready to pass out.

Yes I have a filthy mind.

[tigereye]

16. hmm don't you want to get the whole language debate in there, too?

:D Cool question, made me look up some references, since the history of reading education is fascinating!


I really think it depends on the child-most kids need to learn the phonemes in order to decode other words.


Here's some research analyses, a little dense, but show the complexity of the questions....

http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ779647&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ779647



and an interesting book on Literacy - with some historical perspective and overview of research...

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=22q3QstotOwC&oi=fnd&pg=PA193&dq=phonics+versus+whole+language&ots=yO7wlNHUSK&sig=Nv2A-FvDcaqqOGfjvfmCOXvodAc#v=onepage&q=phonics%20versus%20whole%20language&f=false

[mix]

17. thanks...I'm also curious which method or methods most people here learned by. nt

[Mz Pip]

18. I learned with Dick and Jane

I remember when it all "clicked" and I couldn't put the book down. I read the whole thing in one sitting. I don't remember much of a plot but the big deal was that I was reading! I must have been about 5 at the time and still remember it.

Mz Pip

[tigereye]

19. it's a really cool question - I learned with Dick and Jane

but I think a lot of people also had phonics thrown in there, but they just didn't realize it. You have to learn to recognize the letters, and then the sounds they make, and then get the meaning of phrases and sentences. And for people who have whatever kind of reading disorder, that's the problem. I think so many of us simply began to recognize letters and whole words and sounds early due to environment and innate neurological ability the way that language is learned or comes about (ala Chomsky and Pinker)

I think if you live in a household where reading and words are important, it's much easier. I do some testing, and it's really cool to see if kids can recognize nonsense words and sound them out. Fascinating, and even more so is the MRI/PET scans folks are doing to see what sections of the brain are activated during reading and for diagnostic purposes.


:hi: