How I learned language when I was little

Well I had to call my mom to see how I learned language and she said I used a blend of both phonics and whole language. She said I used more phonics though and that I had a phonics game at home I used to practice sounding out the letters. My mom said she also believed I learned phonics at school and that I learned how to read fairly quickly. She said even when I was little my parents would read books to me and before long I would have them memorized so if either of them accidently fell asleep, I knew what part they missed and I could turn the pages on cue. I believe it is very amazing how children can easily memorize their favorite book and know when to turn the pages. When I was little I enjoyed reading so much that I made my parents tape me reading. Rewatching that video it seemed like it took me a while to read, but I was able to sound out and read all the words well. My mom said I never really struggled with reading but I do remember struggling a little with speech. I had a tough time saying "library" and had to go into speech therapy for a little bit. My speech never hindered my reading though, that I am aware of.

My previous learning has impacted me greatly today. I enjoy reading and am a fairly fast reader. I have noticed that when helping students read I tend to get them to sound out the word to help them learn it. I guess phonics helped me a lot and I try to help students the way I learned to read best. All of my classes this semester in college have a lot of reading for them so it is important that I use those beginning reading skills to help me. I believe phonics helps students learn language better so I believe I am going to teach that in my classroom. Teaching students memorization is not completly effective in my mind. Although if a child is struggling learning with phonics then I will teach them using whole language. All children are different and some children might learn differently, so I believe as a teacher it is my duty to find the best method of learning that works for that student. As long as my students are able to effectively read, I will be a happy teacher. The method doesn't matter as much as the learning does, that takes place within the child.