XYPT.ORG
Systematically-taught phonics
Because nearly every child, if given the chance,
is able to learn—and to learn well.
Direct Instruction (DI)
Precision Teaching (PT)
Other Things
Phonetic spelling was the invention of the ancient Phoenicians, some thousands of years ago, hence the name. The Greeks followed this practice. Their alphabet started with Alpha and Beta, or A and B. This in turn was adopted and adapted by the Romans and their successors who speak and write the various Romance languages.
English, heavily influenced by the French language after England was conquered in 1066 by William the Conqueror, can be considered a Romance language at least in part, although its origins are mixed, including Germanic and Scandinavian elements.
Zig estimates that there are between 30,000 and 50,000 words in a reasonably well-educated person’s active vocabulary, words that most speakers know. The language has a great many more, somewhere estimated as over 500,000 words. It would be wholly impractical to have a written form of the language, which depends on ideograms, or even on “sight words.” Teachers, who stress “sight words” without teaching how the language is written and spelled, are limiting reading to a set of written-out ideograms.
The phonetic principle is essential to the growth and use of such a huge vocabulary, which includes all manner of scientific terms invented in the last three centuries. It means that words can be written which the reader may not know or understand, but can still pronounce and look up in a dictionary if unsure of the meaning. It also means that correct spelling, following a system that is widely agreed-to, is a key component of being able to read and write.
Written English is written code for what is to be pronounced and understood. Good readers have mastered the rules of the code until it is now automatic. Like driving an automobile, they just do it.