Teaching reading by a pure whole-language approach is like trying to train a house builder by showing him a manor house, explaining to him how to construct those parts that catch his interest—a chimney here, a porch front there—and then leaving him to figure out the rest on his own. A classical approach first explains the properties of brick, wood, concrete, plaster, and steel; then teaches the prospective builder to read a plan; and only then sets him on the task of house building. A builder who knows his work from the bottom up can fix a leak or a sagging floor, instead of staring helplessly
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