Frank Smith's book Ureading Without NonsenseU was an easy read. He made some valid point some of which I agreed, and some I did not. As a future Business teacher, I have not really though about reading and how others read. This was my first experience on how to get children to read and understand what they are reading. The following is my account of what I agree and disagree with Smith in his book. .
In chapter four "Phonics," Smith clearly disagrees with children learning to read based on phonics. He goes onto say that we must recognize words like we do visual objects . "How is it possible to recognize written words without sounding out? The answer is that we recognize words in the same way that we recognize all other familiar objects in the visual world"(48). I completely disagree with that statement. When children do not know words, they rely on the alphabet and its sounds. Children are taught what sounds letters make, therefore, when they see a word, they can rely on those sounds to figure out meaning of the word. When Smith says that we see words like we do in the visual world, I don't think he could me farther off. Even at my age, I rely on phonics for words that I do not understand. Even though I can read, it does not mean I know every word. Not using phonics will only work if a teacher can use a word and a picture of that word for children. For example, horse. A teacher can place the word horse underneath a picture of a horse, and the child will say horse. That does not mean the child can read, but that he knows what the picture is. Children need to be taught what the sounds h, o, r, s,e sound like in order to read it. I wonder what Smith would do when teaching a child how to read a word like "that" there is no picture that, how then will a child read? Phonics is an important necessity in reading, take away phonics, and children could not read. .
Smith writes in chapter one, "Unhappily, although every method of reading instruction seems to achieve some success with some children, no method succeeds with all children.
