Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong

Re:Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong by tivert on Monday April 17, 2023 @10:42AM (#35601474)

> It didn't even remotely occur to anybody in the family that learning to read was special, or that there might even be any way to teach it other than phonics. English has a phonetic alphabet after all, right?

> Moreover, learning to read at home was just part of our culture. When kids were deemed "ready," they learned to read. It wasn't a special thing.

> I think my parents learned from whatever material they could lay their hands on. I learned from a 18th century reader that my mom found somewhere. My first word was CAT.

Can you be more explicit about the resources (and kind of resources) your parents used? I learned to read in school, so I'm not very aware of them. Articles like the OP make me think I may have to get acquainted to fill in deficits in the school curriculum.

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Re:Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong by mlyle on Monday April 17, 2023 @11:25AM (#35602174)

Not OP, and it definitely isn't an 18th century reader... But "Bob Books" are a homeschool mainstay and a big part of how my kids developed initial reading skills.

https://bobbooks.com/

They were very interested in books / reading and were pretty motivated to practice the books and flash cards.

We also used the free version of starfall.com occasionally.

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Re:Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong by analog31 on Monday April 17, 2023 @11:22AM (#35602128)

Yes. It was called Mcguffey's First Eclectic Reader. After that, the kids books at the public library, which we picked out ourselves.

Still in print almost 200 years later.

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