Pages 151-170, WIlliams

This chapter gave me a bit more insight into how children learn to read and write, and how that can affect adolescence. I learned that (which makes sense to me now) children have little motivation to read and write. "Friends and play usually- and rightly- are their first priorities. The brightest child will choose playing with a friend to reading an exciting book({Kindle ed. p 3490-95})". And then, as a child grows older, their pleasure in reading will decrease. The argument of whether children should be taught by phonics or the whole language continues to be a question that needs answered. Because every child is different, thus learns a little differently, I do not think that the parties will ever come to a conclusion. The chapter does a very good job of deciphering the separate spheres of phonics(bottom up) and whole language(top down). It highlights the positives and negatives of each. It would be mildly interesting for the class to have a debate on this topic. I think there are pros and cons to these theories that could be argued.
WIlliams also discussed the connection between reading skill and writing ability. The idea that "composition skill is similar to second-language : Mastery requires comprehensible input over an extended time({Kindle ed. p 3758-64})" makes sense. For each of these, composition skills and to learn a second language, you have to have the basic steps learned before you can add to your skill-set.