CHARLES BEAMS spoke of Transitional Spelling to ERICA LONG on 10-08-96
CB> Has anyone commented on the influence of phonological constraints on
CB> the child's ability to spell at this age? I've asked the question
CB>twice.
CB>I can't comment as I know nothing about it.
One of the problems with teaching phonics in isolation is that most 
young children have no idea how the sounds they are connecting with 
letters relate to reading.  The sound of a letter is useful only in the 
context of a word that is already embedded in a meaningful sentence.  
Also, since there are many exceptions to the phonics rules, the reader 
often needs to see the word in a broader context to determine its 
pronunciation.  
Children can often recite the letter sounds from flashing individual 
letter cards (teaching in isolation) but, when a Big Book is read to the 
children and they are asked to find a word that begins with one of the 
letters they were studying, they are unable to make the transfer to a 
real reading situation.  What these children had learned was an isolated 
skill which they could not transfer into a reading strategy.
Learning letters in the context of real words provides the children with 
meaning.  Children also learn reading strategies when we teach skills 
within a context.
Phonics is but one part of the cueing system we as readers use to get 
meaning from text.  (and is probably the least important)  
Can kids just "pick up" phonics without instruction?  Probably not.  
Students need to be guided (by the teacher) to discover and apply 
phonics generalizations by using literature and the children's needs to 
determine the phonics that are taught.
Dan   
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