I get that once we know the words they're easy to recognize, but does that make learning them easier? I'm torn.

Torn is a good reaction. Apparently, some kids learn better one way, some kids another (which drive a lot of people crazy who can't seem to get their heads around the idea of there not being One Right Way).

I think that the best bet, for classroom learning, would be some combination of phonics and whole language, since there are bound to be some kids in each classroom who'd learn best one way or the other.

I taught myself to read at age 2 or 3, and it was totally just memorizing whole words. By second grade, I was reading at a fifth or sixth grade level, but still could barely sound out new words. My school taught completely by phonics, but the lessons were totally meaningless to me -- I already knew all of the words they were using as examples, so I didn't bother trying to pay attention to the letter/sound combination things they were trying to teach. It took me until about fourth grade before the "every letter makes a sound" lesson actually made any sense to me, though I never really trusted it -- when I encounter an unfamiliar word, I never pronounce it properly on the first try.

I never pronounce it properly on the first try

Heh. I don't either, and I learned to read entirely by phonics.

Joining the morning chatter, because I just have to blow off steam, even though I really should be getting ready for work, because I need to leave in about ten minutes and am not yet dressed.

I am very sleepy. I know that for most of you, this is a normal hour, but for me, this is 0 dark hundred. Except not dark. Because summer. Actually, I'd be tired anyway, because I got about three hours of sleep last nice. Because I stayed up to try for Serenity tickets in Seattle, which all disappeared in about five minutes (or less), somewhere between when I started buying two tickets and when I finished registering. I kept trying (isn't a definition of insanity something like repeating the same action under the same circumstances and expecting different results?). I got up twice later in the night (morning), in case it was really some weird technological snafu. I am so depressed, and feel kind of craxy for taking this so very seriously. This was my only shot, as I don't actually live anywhere remotely close to where they have had previews or might realistically have them again.

I definitely believe in the value of teaching any concept in as many different modalities as possible. Shoot, I've never taught in a classroom, but the little bit of supervisory work I have done (on a cleaning crew back when I was in college) showed me the value of it. If a custodian can get it, you'd think teachers could, too.

Oh, god. When I interviewed with the school director, she told me that people in social services don't know how to use computers. I'm updating their computer manual right now, and there is actually a file called "Intro: Using the Computer," which explains how to turn the computer on, log in, shutting down, accessing files, starting and saving a new document, printing, etc. People! What decade do you live in?!

you laugh, but I'd have been happy to have that for my previou boss so that I wouldn't have had to write it myself...

vw, that sounds like 90% of the people in my office. (The other 10% of us are fearless and will try anything on our computers, even if it seems foolhardy. "What? Load this program you downloaded from an unsecure Korean site? Sure!!!")

vw, let me preface this by saying that I'm not kidding. An Army recruiter called for you. He said you should go look at the Website, www.goarmy.com, and if anything there interested you you should give him a call. He left his number.

Oh, I know. It just...it shocks me. Even my grandparents know this stuff. I know we're a technological family and all, but...my goodness...