Re: CHAT: learning to read

On Wed, 16 Jun 1999, Barry Garcia wrote:

> fortytwo@ufl.edu writes:
> >I'm amazed that people on this list can remember what system they used,
> >I don't remember learning to read, other than a single, possibly
> >unreliable memory, of a sudden breakthru in understanding; my memory is
> >of struggling with reading, then suddenly "getting it", and not having
> >problems, but I don't know how reliable that memory is, probably an
> >exaggeration of a period of rapid learning, is my guess.
>
> Well, at the time i didn't know what it was =). However, since my mother
> worked at the school i went to, she knew what the style of teaching
> reading was.  Also, my mom says that I pretty much picked up reading quite
> fast. She can even remember me at three years old asking what the words
> were on things like cereal boxes, etc. My own personal way was just to ask
> what a word was, then when someone told me what it was i would remember
> the word (and how it should be pronounced, so i read by remembering the
> whole word, not just figuring out its sound and then figuring out what the
> word should be (is that clear?)) . That's probably the reason my 9th grade
> reading level was somewhere around College level. However, the system used
> in my school at the time was phonics.
that's how I learned to read too.  At least, I remember being taught
phonics and not understanding a bit of it, but still being able to read.