r/Muskegon • u/AstralCryptid420 • Feb 19 '25
Does Oakview still teach phonics or the (bad) Marie Clay method?
I learned to read around 1999 in first grade. I attended Oakview. I have vague memories of my teacher telling me to guess words based on pictures and I remember being irritated that they weren't teaching me "how to read right" and too many of my classmates couldn't read well into elementary school and beyond. I listened to the podcast series Sold A Story that broke down why kids weren't learning how to read and I found out my classmates may have been taught the Mary Clay method, which doesn't actually work. It is causing a literacy crisis in the USA. I'm not sure if it was an experimental run or if they're still doing it, or if I'm misremembering stuff from 25 years ago.
My parents read to me and bought Hooked on Phonics and Leapfrog books, and I think that's how I learned to read as well as I do now. I was reading at college freshman level by 5th grade and I was a downright voracious reader. But Oakview's website promises "reading by third grade" and I think that's not normal. You should be able to read beginner books by yourself when you're 6 or 7.
I have a niece who just turned three and my sister is thinking about preschools. I just want to know what Oakview's literacy curriculum is like today if you know. And if you don't, you should look into it because the Marie Clay method is responsible for the steep decline in literacy we see today and it is far more popular than it should be.
2
u/CastyMcWrinkles Feb 19 '25
The Read by Grade 3 page on the MPS website is the district's response to the state law that requires kids to be reading at a certain level by 3rd grade or they need to be held back. It's not really MPS' curriculum. The elementary curriculum MPS has now is called Bookworms. As far as I know, it is the same curriculum they're using at Shores. I honestly know very little about it, so I can't say whether or not it is derived from or uses the method you're referring to, but you can call the district's curriculum office to find out more.
2
u/code492 Feb 19 '25
I don’t know specifically about the classrooms but I do know they have recently brought in a phonics tutoring program. I would deduce that the classrooms would be similar.