Another statement I found interesting is located on page 99 of Teaching and Learning America's Christian History: " We have the means of success but we are not successful. Why? One teacher knew when she said 'The purpose is to take away our ability as a nation to read the Word of God.'"
The emphasis for literacy began in the Reformation. As the Bible began to appear in the language of the people, there was also a push to make certain that everyone could read so that they could enjoy the truths of God's Word in their own languages. During the early years of our Republic literacy rates soared in the 90th percentile. Children were taught to read using the Bible as their primary text.
When my oldest son was in kindergarten in a public school, the teacher told him it wasn't important at that time to learn to spell (she was a proponent of the whole language movement). He carried that with him and he still works on catching that up today. Many that started in his class are extremely weak in their spelling even now. Literacy rates in our country continue to drop.
Why is literacy no longer important? I know that many would argue with my even writing the preceding question; however, we know historically that when it was important, almost without exception, everyone could read.
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I have recently begun to look into the Principle method to teach my daughters, and my question is this: on spelling- how do you improve the spelling? I know that I expect them to spell correctly but when they are using a notebook to teach themselves, how can I ensure they are spelling correctly there and not reinforcing wrong spelling?
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