2022.12.28
On the one hand, there's the political elephant in the room with these cueing-based-strategies which sound like a left-y thing (even though the best lefties want evidence-based approaches, which "Units of Study" seems to have lacked) - like a reaction to the back-to-basics education some conservatives back (diverting all resources into things we can have tests for over other crucial enriching parts of the arts and what not.)
But putting politics aside, it's interesting to think about different styles of teaching reading, and their philosophical implications, especially my fascination with balancing holism vs reductionism; cueing strategies lean way heavily into holistic context; phonics go the other way into the pieces parts of reductionism.
Here's the thing though: as far as I know, phonics does a MUCH better job of leveraging the sound-based language almost every kid has acquired organically. Once you bridge the visual-audio chasm, the world's your oyster, and yeah, that bridge probably has to be built out of some rote-based-learning girders.
It's all right, children. Life is made up of meetings and partings. That is the way of it.