Buh, Muh, Suh
Well, it sure looks like the kids won't be going back to public school. I will formally withdraw them tomorrow if things continue to go well today.
Last night while taking a bath Clementine informed me (not in so many words) that she knew more about teaching phonetic principles than her first grade teacher.
"My teacher thinks the letter `s' says `suh'. She puts an `uh' after all the sounds."
This is the very biggest no-no in teaching kids to read. The letter `s' says `ssss'. Those `uh's can be a major impediment for kids who are having trouble getting the concept. They try to sound out "sat" and they get "suh a tuh". Sure, it is hard to say plosives like "t" without any vowel sound after it, and voiced plosives are even harder (b), but you do your best to minimize the after noise. But what is up with `suh'? S is a sibilant. You can hold the `s' sound as long as you like without introducing any vowel sound. She should have to sit on the red dot while the teachers blow their whistles and the kids hiss. Ssssssss. She'd remember after that.
Last night while taking a bath Clementine informed me (not in so many words) that she knew more about teaching phonetic principles than her first grade teacher.
"My teacher thinks the letter `s' says `suh'. She puts an `uh' after all the sounds."
This is the very biggest no-no in teaching kids to read. The letter `s' says `ssss'. Those `uh's can be a major impediment for kids who are having trouble getting the concept. They try to sound out "sat" and they get "suh a tuh". Sure, it is hard to say plosives like "t" without any vowel sound after it, and voiced plosives are even harder (b), but you do your best to minimize the after noise. But what is up with `suh'? S is a sibilant. You can hold the `s' sound as long as you like without introducing any vowel sound. She should have to sit on the red dot while the teachers blow their whistles and the kids hiss. Ssssssss. She'd remember after that.
posted by Susan at 10:54 AM
1 Comments:
Muahahaha!! Sorry, that laugh was aimed at the image of the teacher sitting on the red dot with the kids hissing at her. That would be perfect! The part leading to it, along with the your prior blog post and great comment including the Harry Chapin lyrics by someone -- summed up the public education system all too well. Doesn't it make you want to cry? That's how I felt. If you enjoy blogging, and it's not too much of a distraction from your novel, it's very fun to read! Just letting you know that you would still have an audience here without the purpose the blog was designed for, if it feels like a creative outlet for you and not a burden. :)
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