For instance, if you are teaching reading and you come across the words “comb” and “tomb,” I would consider it poor teaching if you did not point out the common denominator—a silent b. That of course doesn’t seem like a very big thing to you, but it is a major connection in the child’s mind. Then, when you get to the word “knowledge,” and point out the silent k which is just like the silent b, only a different letter, he is one level of abstraction up. He is making an even broader integration.
