> Don't kids ask those things when you teach them to read with phonics?
Pronunciation rules are taught along with the words that follow them and then you learn the many exceptions. Just in Chemistry class you learn the ideal gas law and then you learn the deviations.
Phonics is a strategy to deal with unfamiliar words and it works pretty well as a starting point.
English spelling and pronunciation has to be memorized, fortunately young kids have an enormous capacity for memorization so it works ok.
Many school programs use the opposite strategy now. They don't teach phonics and they don't teach spelling. "Inventive spelling" where kids just make up spelling and they aren't corrected is used for the first two years. At the start of the third year they are suddenly judged on spelling. But they just spent two years practicing incorrect spelling!
Pronunciation rules are taught along with the words that follow them and then you learn the many exceptions. Just in Chemistry class you learn the ideal gas law and then you learn the deviations.
Phonics is a strategy to deal with unfamiliar words and it works pretty well as a starting point.
English spelling and pronunciation has to be memorized, fortunately young kids have an enormous capacity for memorization so it works ok.
Many school programs use the opposite strategy now. They don't teach phonics and they don't teach spelling. "Inventive spelling" where kids just make up spelling and they aren't corrected is used for the first two years. At the start of the third year they are suddenly judged on spelling. But they just spent two years practicing incorrect spelling!