How Dolch Words Cause Illiteracy and Dyslexia

[2001morrisfamily]

Children who live in homes with highly educated parents who read books and read to them learn to read well regardless of the approach. They have larger vocabularies and perform better on tests. Yes, there are exceptions, but this is generally the rule.

[reelphresh]

I think it's easier the young a child is to learn from sight. My 2 and a half year old reads close captioning.

[hilltopperchick]

Gosh, I wish someone had told me in first grade not to memorize words because it would cause me to have a learning challenge. How did I ever get through college? And what kind of idiotic teacher only uses one approach to teach reading or anything else. The key is using different strategies to reach all learners. Good grief!

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

@hilltopperchick What seems to happen for most people (e..g, you and me) is that they see the phonics inside the sight-words, and are thus spared the damage. But there seem to be lots of kids with low verbal skills, and they try their best to do what they are told, and in a few years their brains are hopelessly overwhelmed by hundreds of graphic designs, with the new ones suppressing the first ones. The US has 50,000,000 functional illiterates. That's why.

[hilltopperchick]

@BruceDeitrickPrice I am a true believer in phonics. I knew words from memorization from my family reading to me before I learned phonics. I love, love, love, teaching phonics but some children/people just can't comprehend phonics. I just don't think a teacher should concentrate on one strategy for anything. If you just use phonics and disregard sight words you are not reaching all learners.

[jasongillespie2]

My child's public school teaches some phonics for spelling tests, slowly. But then reading is a completely different subject, in which they employ Dolch words and sight reading. He has been diagnosed with ADHD, although I'm not sure I totally agree with this. He does fine with the phonics that he has been taught, but on most of the sight words he glazes over. I can see him being overwhelmed and quitting with the sight words. He remembers the phonics rules and can sound words out without issues.

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

@jasongillespie2 Please Google my "There Are Two Americas and One Of Them Can't Read"--good general article.

Here's an idea. As fast as they introduce a sight-word, teach him how to sound it out. Don't let him memorize the shape.

[cornwallgeezer]

I teach in Taiwan and the dolch books are bollocks, to make matters worse is that not only having to recognize the words they need to then put them into gap fill sentences. And remember English is obviously not even their first language and one of the only ways to prepare them for gap fill tests is to give them easier examples of how these words can be used in different context, usually confusing them further. Phonics with reading is the way to go, if this is an American curriculum? A joke!

[jenni9046]

The whole word approach works for a very few children - phonics works for everyone. but I don't think Dolch words are meant to be taught only by the whole word approach. They basically point out that these high frequency words do not totally fit the phonics model. It doesn't mean that the phonics in these words are ignored when teaching. The fact that Dolch words are listed does not mean that all words need to be taught by sight, in fact it is meant to be the opposite.

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

@jenni9046

Well, in Balanced Literacy the last 10 years, the so-called experts are always twisting and turning to make their sophistries seem sensible. But I do believe that, historically, Dolch Words, like Fry's Instant Words, were just variations on a theme; and that theme is Sight-Words.

[nubsit]

Wow! i did not know this is the English system to start reading. This video makes a good point. In Mexico we dont memorize the most common words, we learn to read them, so why and since when they implemented this method in the English system?...Anyone knows?

[mischnix]

I just imagine the awful pain it would be to learn Arabic with the "Whole Word" method. A, Bat, Tat... is the better approach. Thanks for your video.

[david5767]

the english language is french latin and greek some german words as well so it not just english words in the language

[sarahkm2]

The minute i hear absolute statements, I doubt. It is really tricky to make such statements because it is very likely the minute you do, a thousand people will show you examples of when your statement doesn't hold up. Sight Words is Dyslexia is such a statement. Left brain right brain is mumbo jumbo is another such statement. There are several rather large leaps in this thread.

[liangjz]

You believe that you can teach a child "strategies" before a child can actually READ, when the things that good readers do come from their skill--not vice versa. This is like saying that skillful ice skaters can do a triple lutz, so all we need to do to make our kids good ice skaters it make sure they are doing triple lutzes every time they get on the ice, and that all this time spent on balance & basic movement is wasted because skillful skaters don't think of these things.

[liangjz]

Are you disingenuous or just stupid? Please show me one lick of evidence that phonics produces such readers. There are fallacious "what if" arguments and "aha! this does not follow the rules!" NON-examples (for most of the letters, if not all, DO follow known rules), but there is no EVIDENCE. Dogma isn't the same as evidence.

OTOH, there is a mountain of evidence that demonstrates quite clearly the repeated failures of "whole language" of "balanced literacy."

[liangjz]

My ds has an auditory processing disorder and read at a 5.2 grade level at age 5 years, 7 months.

It's called phonics. Whole language nonsense can't get you there.

And, yes, WITH comprehension.

What grade level do your students/children read at at a similar age, pray tell?

[SepherStar]

I have to also say though, while I don't approve of the dolch method for mainstream teaching, there are some students with certain learning disabilities who might benefit from this method, such as those with certain forms of dyslexia.

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

To SS: this is a really dangerous idea. Typically, the Dolch words cause the disability in the first place. Also see video "Dolch Words: Dumb and Dangerous."

[SepherStar]

I was only meaning that it might be an alternate method to try if the person has a learning disability and is having too much difficulty with the traditional method.

As I said, I learned using the traditional method and did very well with it. The school I was at actually started to teach reading in kindergarten, and we had spelling tests. Before entering first grade we were expected to know how to spell words like stop, dog, red, and so on.

[SepherStar]

The teacher would also sit with the whole class and go through the alphabet and ask us all the sounds the vowels could make.

In 1st grade we had early birds and late birds, and the point of this was, for an hour in the morning, the teacher would sit with the early birds and we'd take turns reading our "see spot run" book, and the teacher could help us if we had a problem. Then she'd do it an hour after class with the late birds. We were in groups of 10 I think. But it was a private school.

[liangjz]

Look, you can never get beyond 3rd grade reading level with sight words. Not EVER. Those who do and are taught with sight words figure it out. Those who struggle with phonics will become completely disabled and permanently illiterate with a sight-approach, as they will NEVER figure it out without explicit instruction.

Just because it's hard doesn't mean we should damn people to having no more than a 3rd grade reading level, even if it is easier to pretend to teach them than to really do it.

[sarahkm2]

It is interesting to me when any person makes a radical black and white statement. Your first sentence. My reply to that is that it all depends on how you teach. If you use sight words as an end in themselves, you are right. Kids who learn whole to part HAVE to have the whole word, then you break it down into the elements of phonics so they can apply what they learned to a myriad of other words. I have found that strugglers far surpass grade level expectations this way.

[liangjz]

What???????

This is the REVERSE of the truth. The most dyslexic, the more important phonics is. The deaf who are taught by sight words read at a 3rd grade level and are considered a "success". Even deaf people can be taught to read using phonics, and they read much more like hearing people.

The ONLY children who should be taught using sight words are those with IQs below 35. Maybe even 30. Certainly, people with Don syndrome who learn phonics are far better readers than those who aren't.

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

Also see new video called "The Strange Truth About Dyslexia." Marva Collins, Siegfried Engelmann, Mona McNee, Don Potter--all the experts I trust--teach children to read in first grade. If cowgal is also achieving the same results, fine.

[SepherStar]

The w sound in ONCE comes from the O sound which is the name of the letter O.

The transition between that sound and the N is achieved by modern english speakers by adding an "uh" sound. The silent E probably used to not be silent and make an "eh" sounce but now just facilitates the S sounding C.

[SepherStar]

I started kindergarten at a private school and there was a strong emphasis on phonics and spelling. When I transferred to a public school in 1st grade, I was at the same reading level as 3rd graders there, and by 3rd grade I was at a 9th grade reading level.

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

To Cowgal: Children arrive in first grade recognizing as many as 20,000 words and names. When children sound out a word (e.g., A-ma-zon), they instantly connect to meaning. If they do not, they look up the word. The notion that they--or we--routinely decode words but do not comprehend meaning is fanciful. (This sophistry was devised decades ago by the Look-say gang, so they could claim that successful reading is, in fact, only word-calling. Flesch analyzed this gimmick in his 1981 book.)

[sungl0]

Hey hold that!! don't throw baby out with bath water!

such lists are good COMPANION for reading books. and good TO HAVE to monitor children's spelling of common words they need to write right.

Its very handy for parents & young learner to focus to get start fast! I get tremendous success with young learners using Fry s

DON'T BLAME THE TOOL!

[liangjz]

You get great success when measured by those high-frequency words, with no thought to long term damage done through the disassociation of sound and letter.

Much greater success would be found if your goal was to make sure all your 1st graders were reading at a strong 3rd grade level by the end of the year if you only used phonics. It's quite possible with phonics--wholly impossible with whole language.

[sarahkm2]

I submit respectfully that you are confusing two terms "whole language" is totally different from utilizing sight words in teaching phonics concepts. Just want to throw that into the mix.

[exceedingreading]

Brilliant! My new motto is 'free the sounds!" We could 'free' a lot of children from the heartache of reading disability by teaching them to 'free the sounds'

[StopTheBob]

If you would take a small child and ask her to read a word that she learned with sight words, say 'mouse', she would recgonise it in seconds. But say we gave her the word 'stewarsesses' She would go 'what's that?', when a child properly taught how to read (sound-letter recognition) would, within a minute or so, say the proper word.

With this argument in mind I say that English is a wide and comlex language and sight word could not possibly cover all of it

[sarahkm2]

Although you make valid points, I think you still have not hit the target. Dolch is not dyslexia. Whole language was an incredibly bad idea. Phonics alone does not work either, although it works better than the former. The key lies in the fact that reading is a left brain function and only about 1/3 of children function primarily out of left brain. So, teach reading in a way that simultaneously engages mutliple areas in the brain, esp. visual cortex & cerebellum. Go to child-1st(dot)com for info

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

You're making money selling Dolch words? I'll continue to trust Samuel Blumenfeld's analysis that once children start seeing words as shapes rather than sounds, they won't become fluent readers. I've seen arguments that a few sight words can't hurt, but I'd rather err on the side of caution and warn parents against any sight words.

[sarahkm2]

Our students don't see words as shapes. This is vastly different from that. Did you go see? Are you by any chance a teacher of students who struggle? Have you worked specifically with students who are visual learners, dyslexic children? and found solutions for them that worked for the first time in their lives? I have and there is absolutely nothing like it. We teach with the stylized word first and for kids who also learn from whole to part, the approach is vital. THEN we teach phonics.

[liangjz]

Whole to part is the urge of incompetent readers, and the habit should be broken, NOT reinforced. Whole language looks like it works--up to about the 3rd grade level, where it stalls completely.

My son has a very strong urge to see words as sight words, and it was crippling for him until we worked him through it and got him to read properly, letter by letter. Now, he is MANY years ahead of his age-peers in reading level.

[liangjz]

Are you by chance a person whose struggling students are satisfied with mediocrity when compared to complete failure before?

[sarahkm2]

Well, I am one who learns from whole to part therefore I understand first hand how it might work for those children who learn the same way. I would like to know (segway) if it is possible to have a discussion acknowledging that there are many points of view. I thought we were discussing a TOPIC, but in reading this thread, i see it is a lot about slamming each other. I don't think this is very productive.

[liangjz]

There is no child, anywhere for whom "whole language" works. EVERY child either figures out phonics or gets stuck at a 3rd grade reading level. Period. No exceptions. You can either hide the phonetic system (through the sham of "balance literacy" or "whole language") and leave it to kids to figure out, or you can teach it directly and explicitly. One leads to success; the other risks failure.

[sarahkm2]

this "discussion" will go no where unless you are also willing to 1) read other people's responses thoughtfully and 2) stop using this as a platform from which to launch personal attacks on people.

Having said that...I AGREE with you about whole language. It is what has contributed to illiteracy. I am not talking about whole language. I also think that you are using the term "phonics" in a way that is a bit too broad. Each person using that word might be referring to vastly different ideas.

[liangjz]

Children who REALLY try to approach written language from a whole-to-parts need phonics more than ANYONE so that they do not get stuck using a strategy that leads them to dead-end at a VERY low reading level. My dyslexic son had strong urges in those directions, and they caused all sorts of problems until the issue was remediated. It is dead-end strategy. Period. Just because you have a point of view doesn't mean you're not wrong.

[liangjz]

Additionally, a whole-to-parts mentality encourages poor attention to grammar, usage, and spelling--and I don't mean typos. I am also dyslexic, like my son, and yet my spelling, grammar, and usage are far better than yours. Given that the topic is the educationally efficacy of different teaching methods, I believe that it is appropriate evidence rather than a simple ad hominem attack to point this out. Literate results matter.

[sarahkm2]

This will be my last comment because I see you are unwilling to have a conversation without making personal attacks. I use sight words as a base for teaching because those are the words that will be needed the most in early reading. THEN I take the sound spellings and teach them in a way that these right brained, whole to part kids can apply those rules to ALL words.

[liangjz]

Actually, you just hurt the whole-to-part kids deeply, in a way that will likely have to be remediated by better teachers, because of your unwillingness to do the hard thing and teach phonics for kids with unproductive impulses. (You should know, even if you don't, that "left-brained/right-brained" is pop psych nonsense.) The LAST thing you should do with a child who has urges to look at words as whole is encourage it--because they DON'T switch to parts once you get them down the wrong path.

[liangjz]

The low level of reading you're aiming for is the ONLY reason you don't see this coming back to harm the kids.

[sarahkm2]

what i see and what i hear is that you are a very angry person dying to fight with SOMEONE.

[sarahkm2]

By the way, I am able to reach this type of learner all over the globe because of the internet, and when I have parents writing me to say that their children are making sense out of reading for the first time in their lives, I am proud and grateful. I have been in the school system with the role of "mopping up" after all the testing, sorting and labeling and have been there with the kids who have no confidence left because of the label they have been given. I am glad to have a solution to offer!

[liangjz]

"Left-brained/right-brained" is fake psuedo-science mumbo-jumbo that no one with the slightest academic integrity would mumble about. There is no reading method that does not "engage multiple areas in the brain," and your implication that you're doing something special is insincere, to say the least.

[BruceDeitrickPrice]

Probably the "decline" is a matter of parallax. I suspect the other kids are sprinting ahead (i.e., grasping phonics, really reading). Some kids in Whole Word remain stuck at the age 6, 7, or 8 with regard to reading. You observed this phenomenon in the video where a father pushes more Sight Words at his own son. A mother here in Norfolk told me about a 9-year-old who sees "the" and says "it." (Both being short Dolch words.) Age 9 but frozen at age 6 by a derelict elementary school.

[collegeman1988]

I wonder if this helps to explain what I have heard as "the fourth grade slump", where children experience a sharp decline in their reading and writing abilities in school. Often, educational techniques have no practical application in a child's life, which makes the content confusing and irrelevant. No wonder children learn how to hate reading and writing.

[liangjz]

"Whole language" can successfully teach a child to read up to the 3rd grade level. Anyone who goes beyond is taught or figures out some level of phonics understanding. Those who don't get phonics instruction and can't figure it out get stuck at 3rd grade and are labeled learning disabled.