I received this message last week:
"I am trying to find a book to buy written in ITA. I learned ITA at school from 1965 to about 1968. I think it must have been pretty new then because when I went up to the junior school, there were only 6 of us who read ITA. They had to split the class and write everthing twice, once in ITA and again in English"
I replied:
Yes, it was a very odd period in British education - a really bold idea that was dominant for several years and then dropped rapidly from favour. Although I was born in 1964 so must be a bit younger than you, I managed to escape ITA, although my cousins (about 6 years younger than me and so learning to read in the early 70s, were taught using ITA and still blame it to this day for their problems with spelling! So that would span about a decade.
If you have no idea what ITA is - and many people look completely blank if I mention it - this picture above should give you an idea.
Ladybird were only following a widespread initiative in issuing books in the ITA alphabet; I remember most children's publishers doing the same.
As I say, I had always thought of ITA as an experiment of the early 1970s and considered that my cousins were 'hit' with ITA as a result of being that bit younger than me. But clearly this correspondent was a little older than me and she was taught to ITA. That must be the case, thinking about it, because some Ladybird books in ITA have dustwrappers - so earlier than 1965.
So what dictated the decision to adopt ITA? Why did some schools adopt it and others did not over quite a number of years? And why did it sink so quickly and almost without a trace? If anyone knows, do get in touch.
PS
Since writing the above I've learnt quite a lot more about ITA but the comments on this post are, I think, a really valuable resource for anyone reasearching this topic so please keep them coming.
Here are a couple of links with more information:
http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/the-initial-teaching-alphabet
http://s320709369.onlinehome.us/about-us/what-is-i-t-a/
97 comments:
I learned I.T.A. somewhere between 1976-1978 in a school in Rochford, Essex. Normal reading and writing was referred to as T.O., though I can't remember what that stood for. The local library even had a special section of I.T.A. books.
My mum tells me I was kept back from progressing to T.O. by my teacher, even though I was reading normal books at home. The teacher advised against this!
I was finally moved off I.T.A. a few weeks before moving house and school. It was only a distance of 5-10 miles, but seemed much further at the age of 6. I was amazed to find everyone in my new class was on T.O., and figured they must all be very clever. It took a while for me to discover they never learned I.T.A.
My spelling has always been excellent (he says, checking through his comment...), but I wonder what might have happened had I been kept on I.T.A. until I moved.
I still remember some of the weird letter forms, but most people I meet have never seen anything like it! Thanks for the nostalgia trip, and proof I didn't make it up.
Thanks for this. I wonder what T.O was meant to stand for? Why is there so little information about ITA today? It seems to be seen as a bit of a skeleton in the British literacy cupboard; something of an embarrassment.
I never learnt ITA so, although I can't spell for toffee, I can't use it as an excuse.
I was taught ITA in the early 70's, at Christchurch Infant school in Dorset (name and shame) and experienced many of the blank looks from variuos people i've mentioned it to over the years.
I would love to know where I can buy the Sally and Paul books i remember so well.
I've enjoyed looking at the text and it all came flooding back to me. That explains alot! I thought.
Part of me thinks "Lets reclaim it " and see how everyone else likes it.
I learned ITA from 78-80 in a primary school in Scotland. I would also love to know where I could buy a Paul and Sally book - they were fabulous. I discussed the ITA spellings with some friends and they though I was going mad! Thankfully, you guys have proved that I'm not!
I am looking for Billy and Betty Pig book?????
I still have a ladybird ita book "the party "I learned ita at school ,then moved to a school where they didnt teach it , I now blame my dreadfull spelling on the experience !
Wow, This brings back memories from when I started primary school in 1971. This was my first book and I remember it very well. Although supposedly easy reading, I think this actually held us back a bit. I can see where they were trying to go with this, but when my family moved house and I changed school to one that taught normal reading and writing, we had to learn over again. I don't think it made much difference to me as I only learned it for 2 years. My spelling and grammar are very good and I did very well in my English exams. I told my colleagues about this book and they thought it was a joke. Only now they believe me. I read out one page which I found very easy to read, and also gave the spellings for the words. My friends were amazed that this was ever published. Thank god we have normal books now.
I was also taught ITA: at St Peter and Paul Primary in Bristol. It would have been around 1974 - 76.
We read Zip and Wendy books.
I used to think I was a guinea-pig in some government experiment but now, working in Primary School office, I am shocked at the poor spelling and grammar abilities of the teaching staff - most of whom are in their 20s and 30s!
I was taught ITA, using Paul and Sally, from the mid 70s at a school on The Wirral, Merseyside. (The 'proper' English books were referred to as "traditional", IIRC.)
A few years back I did a little digging online to find out about this strange alphabet from my childhood, and found a study suggesting ITA was quite successful. From what I recall of the findings, kids who started with ITA had a bigger vocabulary, read more, and wrote more, than kids who did not when tested in later years. The main objections against ITA were the scarcity of material, and parental suspicion of the unconventional alphabet.
as usual ill have to change writen words because i cannot spell them and have to change direction
I Agree its the worst reading I ever had to learn,as when you them had spelling tests.you always seem to get things wrong.to this day,it is a nightmare for me as i still tend to make simple mistakes.it was even harder because i didn,t go to school untill i was 6 years old as we had lived Australia befoe this. but could read and write normal.but was forced to read I.T.A
ITA should not be to blame for poor spelling in adulthood! I learned how to read under the ITA program in the early 70s and I was at an advanced reading level; it didn't affect me one bit in spelling. How about people today who never had ITA and can't spell to save their life? ITA was never the issue, it's the person, and if they can't spell properly, then they obviously have a learning disability. I see too many adults who misspell commonly used words. It is pathetic!!
ITA was part of my first grade (6 yrs old) reading curriculum in Western Pennsylvania in 1976. I don't know if it was a teacher preference or if the school administration wanted it used. I started reading children's books (Dr. Suess) at home at 4 years old and was reading and understanding newspaper in first grade, yet my report cards show U's (unsatisfactory)in reading and spelling. Also two younger brothers were held back because of reading problems. Gee I wonder why?
i learnt i t a in 1973- 1976 in downside infant school in luton .. most of my friends have never heard of it either .. and i am a rubbish speller too :)..i can still read it now and when i show it to my kids they think its a crazy way of learning to read , almost like learning 2 languages
I learned I.T.A between 1965-1967 at a very small village school in Leicestershire. I was taught by my mother to read and write normally before I went to school so this was hard but I had to do it. Then the school closed and I Had to go to a bigger school of which nobody else had learned with I.T.A apart from my brother and my cousin, we never had any help to help us convert back to the normal way of reading and writing, none of us can spell well and I can't pronounce things because I Wasn't taught how to sound out the vowels correctly amongst other things. I feel very angry at being used as a guinea pig as it has effected me all my life, if people see you can not spell they presume you are less intelligent, It also affects my confidence. I have since I left school got my English O level but I still can't spell thank god for computers and spell checkers!
I learnt ITA at St Andrew's school in Hove Sussex from about 1973 to 75. This system was then dropped with no support, who ever decided to use us a guinepigs should be shot. I learnt to read with no problems but then within two years I was having difficukties, it took me 4 attempts to pass GCE English. I wonder if I could clain compensation?, I'm serious!
I went to Cedars first and middle school in Harrow Middlesex in the 70s even though it is one school only the first school use ITA . I can still remember the shock I had first day of middle school when I found out I had to learn to read all over again as we had been taught to read wrong .
I went to Stourfied Junior School in Southbourne, Bournemouth, I learnt to spell with ITA when i started there in 1970. My spelling has always been pretty good so I don't blame the ITA system.
I have collection of 8 Ladybird books that are printed in ITA, they are quite rare i think as most of them were pulped when the system failed. It's good to know there are plenty of other people out there who learnt via the system!
I learnt ITA from 1972-1975 in Belfast. Trying to remember who and what the reading books were about? There was a story about ice-cream. Would love to see those books again.
I was taught I.T.A. at a Catholic grade school in Topeka, Ks. I still remember the symbols that stood for certain sounds. I was born in 1962 and my school only did it my 2nd and third grade years and then stopped. I am a great reader and speller. It did not hurt me but I always remember it as being very odd.
Ah, ITA! Sally and Paul, Zip & Wendy, Ronnie Rocket!
I would love to buy any ITA reading books if anyone has them in good enough condition. Stick them on eBay please!
I used these books too. 1975. In Alton Illinois. I can write with both hands. Then and now. The school thought was weird!!! Left hand could write upside-down and backwords. Right hand was regular.
Oh my goodness! I learned ita reading as a kindergarten student in cleveland ohio in 1965. I already knew how to read, but I loved Sally and Paul! I would love to see a copy of those sweet little books.
I was born in 1962 and was tought to read and wright usuing the ita system ..Zip & wendy books were great ...but found it hard to change to normal english .. though when i later went on to learn Latin found it very simillar and my memories of primary 1 2 & 3 came back into use ..would love to se a copy of an old Zip & Wendy or Paul and Sally ..though still use ita as an excuse for my poor
spelling ..
I went to school on The Wirral and also learnt ITA. Whilst I am not a very good speller I am an avid reader. I found it so surprising that I could read the Fisherman page on this site straight away. I do think that ITA effected my spelling but it did give me a better volcabulary.
I also learned ITA when at primary school on the Wirral in the late 1960s. I have had no problems with either reading or spelling so it didn't affect me. I could read before I started school (normal way), had to relearn with ITA when I started and then move on to TO! Never saw it as a problem myself at the time. I can see how it would have affected some people though who were less confident readers. But as others have said, we have poor spellers today who have never learned ITA so it can't be held wholly to blame. Glad my boys didn't have to learn it though! They did do Jolly Phonics, which was another strange reading experiment! We read the Paul and Sally books and in fact it was Googling "Paul and Sally books" that led me to this site!
I was taught how to read using the I.T.A books in my primary school in Moreton on the wirral. I must say that our class learned to read very quickly and then moved into normal reading easily. We where taught that the ch and sh sounds (which in ITA where joined together) no longer spoke to each other and so they seperated them to become ch and sh, so we found it easy to adapt. Our class where given daily spelling tests and spelling was drummed into us as being a very important part of education. By the age of 7 we could read anything and our spelling was of a high standard. My opinion and that of other school friends who remember I.T.A say the same it was an easy and brilliant way of teaching. It has to be said, we did have excellent teachers in our school and English grammar was a high priority. We never suffered from it and in fact we all found it easy to adapt and our spelling was excellent. I loved it and can read an ITA book now without any problem at all. My opinion a brilliant way of teaching
ha i was taught ita too , just goes to show how stupid the people who are left to teach our children really are , mr pitman should of been dragged out of his home screaming and kicking :)
It did not affect all kids the same way. to say it is not an excuse for poor spelling is false. Some kids were not affected, but a certain percentage were. That is why it was discontinued. It weird some kids wrong.
Have just come across the blog. I was taught to read using ita in the early 1970's. Like most children if you are taught to do something then you learn to do it. The porpblem was when you changed to reading traditional English. I struggled to make the conversion. It put me off reading as the new, correct English was alien to me. I also think that it hindered my education whilst at school. Truely I did not enjoy reading until I was in my teens. I am now an avid reader. Also I am now a Primary School Teacher. Experiments are set by those in government who have no real understanding of education and learning. THEY only want to leave their mark- to justify their big salaries. I think compensation for the failed experiment should be in oreder...Funny thin is I could read the extract from the Fisherman. The spelling is atrocious. In an experiment, it is said that most people can decipher words in their own language if the first and last letters are in the correct place. (the others can be jumbled) such as; Why Can You Sltil Raed Tihs Haeldine?
I can honestly say I had never heard of ITA books until I did a house clearance this week in Dorset and found a whole shelf of very strange children's books. I was born in '62 and, according to you bloggers, should have seen them at school in Middlesex, west London but maybe I just missed out. Anyway, anyone want a weird book? plenty of titles to choose from.
Yes please, Gillian. I'd love to get my hands on a few more! I find the whole episode fascinating. Please email me if you have any for sale: nmccar1063@aol.com
Hi all ,my school pal and I were the only ones at our Junior school taught ITA in around 1971-3. We were deemed the good readers so we were taught ITA and it was thought it wouldn't harm our reading as we were above average. Our
reading ability at the end of almost 2 years became the same as our class peers so it was abandoned. I still have 1 book called book ov pets Shame I cant write it the way its spelt on here. I can still read it tho
Would love to see the books I read so if anyone has any going spare! Ill send me details.
Gillian, if yo still have these books I would also be very interested. I'm a special needs teacher and was talking about these books in a spelling staff meeting - they thought I was mad! I'd love to be able to show them real copies!! I went to school in Isleworth Middx and was taught conventionally but my cousin who went to a nearby school was taught ITA. We were both born in 1963 and learning to read at the same time - I can remember us both having the same book with different spelling and arguing which of us had the real book! My email is: debmccutcheon@yahoo.co.uk
I was just talking to my parents and we were discussing dinosaur Ben. That was the ITA book I learned to read. I was taught ITA in a small town in southeastern New Mexico. That was in 1965. I believe it was only taught for one year. I was always a good speller but not a very good reader. I have no idea if the ITA had anything to do with it or not. I haven't thought about ITA in a long time. This is the first time I have even looked up any information on the subject. It has been interesting reading the posts.
I was taught to read with ITA at Lineker Street Primary school in Southport England in the early to mid 60's. I think I could read before I went to school.
I don't remember transitioning and suspect it happened when I changed school aged 6, but I don't recall having a problem with it. I do know that I always had a reading age and vocabulary many years above my actual age all the way through primary school (when these things seemed to matter very much!) Is that because I love reading and writing like breathing, or is it because I am a perfect product of ITA? Which is the chicken and which the egg? Who knows? That said, I still cannot with any confidence spell a word with a diphthong. They all look equally wrong whichever way I write them.
I started as a teacher in 1970. I won't say where.... For three years I taught ITA and then we were told that because there were problems with it the school was abandoning it. it gave me a very cynical view of teaching when I realised that I had probably delayed or even destroyed the reading ability of my three (very large )classes. I did keep my cynicism for forty years as a teacher though.
I completed my teacher training in July 1964 and started teaching 6 year olds in Sept 1964. The head of my school immediately sent me on ITA training (not my choice!) and I subsequently taught reading using ITA from early 1965. I still have a number of readers in good condition if anyone is interested in buying them.
1964 ITA Teacher
This brings back so many memories. I, like Bigland was taught ITA in Rochford, Essex between 1976 and 1978. I still have an old 'news' book. I too remember progressing to T.O when I was in the 3rd Year infants. I have always wondered what T.O stands for. I am currently teaching literacy at a High School. So ITA is of great interest to me.
Hello,
My name is Yasmin Amico. I am British. My sisters and I learned to read under the ITA system and we have continued to excel in all of our literacy endeavours. It is unfortunate that so many people were not able to adapt to this system. I am an educator pursuing an Ed.D Education Leadership: Curriculum Instructional Design, & Assessment degree. I have earned an M.A.Ed., and an M.F.A.W. My siblings are Superintendents, Medical Doctors, and Bankers. Thanks to Harrow Public Schools, Middlesex, England.
My American friends in Marion, Iowa also learned under the ITA system with successful outcomes.
Thank you for making this blog and helping me to revisit my childhood through the ITA system.
Best regards to all.
The ITA system does work. It helps students to sound out words phonetically. Spelling accurately comes afterwards. Many students who encountered problems were unable to make the connections between letters and the sounds they make. These students might have encountered problems with reading due to what is now call dyslexia, dysgraphia, or a reading disability that went undiagnosed.
Literacy is the platform for my dissertation. It would be interesting to see how many people were taught using the ITA system and where they are today.
I note many ITA students are educators. So the system must have worked somewhat!
T.O. stands for tradtional orthography. I learned preschool on ITA as my mother wanted to experimen; which is why my dyslexia never showed up because I transferred without trouble and never had any trouble with spelling save the tendency to spell 'of' as 'ov'. It also helped me when I was 13 and was learning shorthand. I just came upon a heap of ITA Ladybirds when I was clearing out and I wondered if they were in demand to the collector as I hesitate to just bin them. I think it might be something to keep in reserve for the severely dyslexic especially those on the Autistic spectrum as it's totally logical. My AS son learned on TO but then, he had the excellent Ladybird Puddle Lane series so was reading fluently by the time he was 3.
I learned ITA in primary school in Bacup in Lancashire in the late 1960s and haven't come across anybody who has heard of ITA. it mustn't have suited everybody but I moved up a class year when I was 5 and was top of that class every year until I left primary school at the age of 10 having passed my 11+. I have always prided myself on my spelling and cannot understand why others are unable to spell. I have a love of foreign languages and speak four languages albeit qualified to varying levels. As a child I was a keen reader and still am. I used to write "stories and books" I learned shorthand to a high speed including French language shorthand and I am qualified to teach shorthand. Although this was not Pitman shorthand (it was Teeline) there were similarities to ITA and I am sure this contributed to my ease at learning it. I believe ITA was of great benefit to me. Perhaps the studies into the success of ITA didn't look far enough ahead.
Barbara, I agree! it was written off as bad without proper studies, and the teachers my mother spoke too wouldn't use it because they reckoned that it was too difficult for them. My Great-aunt, who left school at 13 and considered herself uneducated, picked it up very quickly to read with me, and in fact started reading more T.O. books as a result of confidence in her fluency in it. I really wish someone would do a study of it with dyslexic adults
On BBC breakfast news this morning they were discussing whether we need to change to more American spellings,particularly dropping silent and double letters. It was suggested using two systems and I remembered being taught i.t.a in Liverpool in the 70s. I found this blog on a hunt on the Internet. I made the transition easily and consider myself good at spelling but my brother blames his poor spelling on this system.
I learned to read in Scotland then when I was 7 was moved to England and was put in the bottom class because I couldn't read ITA! After a couple of weeks I found Janet and John (which I could read perfectly) on the library trolley and was then put into the top class.
Another victim of ITA! I learned in Burton on Trent in 78 (first year infants) and then it was dropped so in second year infants we had to learn reading and writing all over again! I never did find out why. My cousin learned it for 3 years (2 years older than me) and she cant spell worth a damn, despite being very famous as the UK's foremost expert in her field!
Both myself and my sister had a trip down memory lane yesterday talking about ITA, although no-one else in the room had heard of it.
My spelling has been severely affected by the whole process...strange what they thought was a good idea in the 70s could still have an affect in the 2010s!!!
Born in 1965, I learned to read with ITA and my mother maintains to this day, my reading was incredibly good and I progressed extremely quickly. It's too easy to blame the tool and not the craftsman.
Just been in my lot and found a ladybird ITA book I was awarded from school in 1965 for "consistently good work". The book is from the series "peepl at work" and called "the fireman". Just as a note I can't remember struggling with the change to normal English and went on to achieve exam passes at a high level. Maybe that's just my brain works in a funny way which has been demonstrated by living in 15+ countries over the last 40 years and picking up various languages.
I was always a prolific reader as a child and always read ahead of my age group. I changed schools at one point - about 1967 - and on my last day the teacher took me aside and told me they would be trying a new reading system soon - what did I think of it? She showed me an ITA book and asked me to read it to her. I had absolutely no idea what it said, which she thought was quite funny. I remember her telling me not to worry and that I was better off carrying on as I was. I never forgot the book but I never saw them again as my new school didn't use the system.
i was taught this indulgence in the mid 60's. After 4 years of being taught it we were flipped into writing in 'English". The first spelling lesson i had after 4 years of this nonsense i was hit with a ruler for not being able to spell in English. That moment began and defined my complete lack of respect for teachers, adults and authority - as John Lydon (Rotten) was to say in '77 "ever feel like you've been cheated". I have no traditional teaching in my own language in understanding the structure or origin of words and this also affects my abilities with other language. I see continued efforts in schools of my children to create new brilliant ways of teaching our shared language but the people charged with this responsibility still walk a thin line between teacher and tinkerer. Rules are rules as they say. Funnily enough this nonsense tinkering opened my eyes to the fallibility of those in charge - maybe thats a good thing in the long run but when i hear people say how great their school days were i feel like an alien. i still feel like anyone who got taught this rubbish should get compensation
I was born in 1967 and was kept behind at Hamstel School (Southend-on-Sea), in the infants with I.T.A. It was very frustrating and have often put it down to discrimination. There were 2 of us. My parents were poor and the other kid was the only black boy in my year. As a result, I've always been a slow reader and still feel bitter towards the system and 'teachers' to this day.
Instead of learning 2 variations of English, I should have been learning English and a 2nd language!
Who do I sue??!!???
I spent about 18 months learning ITA at Rawcliffe School in York, UK, then because of a family upheaval, I was away from school for almost 6 months before starting again elsewhere.
During those 6 months I found a combined of Alice In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass and somehow managed to plough my way through to the end, to the amazement of the teachers at my new school who thought I was some kind of child genius being far and away the best reader in the class of six and seven year olds.
I can't tell whether ITA did this, or the freedom from the classroom which gave me a chance to learn for myself, but since then I haven't stopped reading and I'm usually to Go To person when people want help with spelling.
I came across a small box of these ITA books at a jumble sale recently, having never heard of this way of learning I found them fascinating but very easy to read. I remember 'The Party' from childhood I now have the same book in ITA, what innocence!
I was taught ITA in the early sixties, 64 to 67, I very good and read every book in the series. Then in 1967 I was moved into the juniors and the teacher said to us "no more mambi pambi reading books from now on, now it's time to read proper English"
I can remember opening the reading book and thinking 'I don't recognise half the words' from that point I struggled in school failing my 11+.
It was done on purpose to stop working class children going into further education and getting better jobs, the government of the time was determind that the working class children could not go into blue collar jobs.
And it was a big success, it has been kept quiet and all evidence has disappeared.
I would love to research on this, because if I am right the government could be made accountable.
I was taught ITA in infant school in kirkby England. I thought this was a normal way to learn to read and write and didn't have any issues with my reading or writing growing up ( I am actually a great speller). As an adult I realised this was an unusual style of learning after my children started school and they learned how to read and write differently from me. For a long time I thought maybe I had imagined my experience of reading and writing wrongly,but seeing the Ita alphabet on this, website brought it all back. I have nothing but fond memories of my time in infant school and really wish I could get the paul and sally books so I can share them with my family ( who think this is a weird way to read and write..lol ) I live in the USA and no one I know has heard of this either.. whatever the reasoning behind this method of teaching was I am glad I was a part of it.. did not hurt me in anyway..just gives me an interesting story to talk about ..lol
Me, and my sister and brothers, were taught ITA at Calshot infants school in Birmingham in the mid '60's. Three of us older children had no problem reading 'normal' writing as we often visited the library and there were no ITA books in there. We just thought of it as 'school' reading and 'home' reading, we knew no different. But my youngest sister had appalling problems with reading, in the days before dyslexia was recognised, non of the ITA ever made any sense to her and she could not transfer basic reading skills to normal books. To this day, this woman who successfully runs her own business, cannot read without help and I do wonder if ITA hindered her chance of learning to read well.
I was taught ita in Gobions Infants School in Collier Row Romford Essex, I was born in 1961 and have no problems with my spelling (although getting old now so my memory is going so can blame poor spelling on that now lol). I still have 2 ita pale green books Janet and John ones if anyone can remember those, and I can still read them lol.
Such lovely memories of learning to read ita and then being told you could now learn real writing and read proper books lol.
Thanks for sharing. I still use ITA strategies to help students who struggle with reading. It works!
I found ITA logical and roared ahead in infant 1+2 then I had to learn english and it completely ruined me I was angry and could not handle going from the top to the bottom of the class if I could I would sue all involved crazy idiots
I too learnt ITA at Westborough Infant school Southend Essex and like Angus Knox said it left me and every one I know who learnt this way struggling with English.
ps the letter land reading scheme was another disarster my niece was taught this one at the same school I went to.So I made sure my son could read before he started school.
I was taught ITA back in the 1960's. It still returns even now in the 2016's. No ink Not a good way of learning to read and one that should rest in history as being a failure.
I was taught ITA back in the 1960's. It still returns even now in the 2016's. Not a good way of learning to read and one that should rest in history as being a failure.
I was taught ita in the 1980s at St Robert Bellarmine Primary School, Harris Drive in Bootle under the headmaster Mr Lionette. I would be interested to know if ours was the last school being subjected to it at that point. I am under the firm opinion that it should never be allowed to be re-introduced. It took me many years to regain confidence in my reading and spelling once we switched to normal English spelling. I have not encountered any problems with my spelling or reading abilities as an adult, but I do feel that using ita set me back and has not had any benefits other than helping me with the phonetic pronunciations used in dictionaries etc.
I'm feeling quite nostalgic for Zip and Wendy! I was taught ITA in the mid- to late Sixties in Exeter. I did OK with it (my younger sister less so) but once I'd mastered it I wanted to read the ordinary books at school because I thought ITA was 'babyish' and I was no longer a baby! I was practically bi-lingual, as it were, because I had normal reading books at home and ITA at school, so I made the transition without any problems.
So, if anyone has any Zip and Wendy books they don't want...
I was taught the I.T.A system in 1966 at school but moved to a different school in another area on the Wirral. I was called stupid, idiot and fool for months and ridiculed by teachers because I couldn't read or write, finally on parents evening after talking to my mother they found out I was taught I.T.A. A few days later the teacher held up a picture of the last supper with the title written in I.T.A., she asked if anyone could read the title and mine was the only hand to go up. the feeling that I could read and wasn't stupid was amazing and the other kids in class thought I knew an other language. The teacher then explained it was a different way to learn things and the poster went on the wall but the title was covered with a properly written title and I was the started on the process of learning to read like the rest of the school, I wasn't stupid either I jumped from being bottom of the class to the top in a year. I can still read I.T.A but I think it was a very bad idea to teach it on a wide scale as it did screw up so many kids
My primary school (mid 1970s in England) taught ITA but I could read and write proper English before starting so I was allowed to continue. It was very strange at first, not understanding why 'the kids' (I didn't really know I was one!) used this strange language not seen anywhere outside school! I used to casually read their books as well as my own though, so I was reasonably 'bilingual'. Soon enough other people started transferring over so I had comrades in proper English.
I do remember some kids still on ITA age 8 or so, which was a real social stigma for them. A failed experiment I'd say. Everyone I know who learnt ITA grew up to be a terrible speller.
I was the youngest in my family and as a result could read well before I started primary school, competition among siblings is an excellent incentive.
However, in 1968, as soon as I started at Lee Manor Infants School in Lee, London, we started to use I.T.A for reading. It was very confusing to me, especially when the teacher wrote these very strange symbols on the board. I found that so long as I didn't think too hard about the words, I could make the right sounds, even though it all looked totally wrong.
I'm a bit hazy about how long this lasted at my school. I'm pretty sure that my teacher, the lovely Mrs. Hart, soon realised that I could read perfectly well and that, for me and some others, the I.T.A thing was just a bit of an annoying distraction.
I'm interested where others believe that I.T.A has led to them to have difficulties with spelling, that has not been my experience. Now, if I could blame I.T.A. for shocking handwriting........
As with many radical methods within education, I would love to see whether the post-implementation study decided I.T.A was a good thing or not. That is, assuming someone bothered to do a follow-up study.
I run a page at www.facebook.com/InitialTeachingAlphabet/. I have a small collection of i/t/a books, including Zip and Wendy, mostly picked up from Biblio. If people are interested they are welcome to peruse my images, including some complete books. Very many people comment that i/t/a ruined their lives, so I am always happy to hear from contributors who have something positive to say about it. It was a genuine attempt to correct a problem that existed with reading in English. The transition to TO was wrongly imagined to be without problems, but it proved a huge problem for many. Paul
I was taught ITA in school till the age of 6, then when I went into the juniors at 7 I was given an English reading book.
This was done on purpose to stop working class children going into higher education and getting blue collar jobs. I believe it was successful because what you learn up to the age of 5yrs stays with you, it is your basic programming and can never be changed.
This program was designed to mess with children's ability to learn, I would love to have the money to do research on all those who was taught this way and to look at what careers they ended up in.
Wow this is strange to see how many parts of the world used this, I was taught in Millbrae California in kinder and first grade, but I remember no two vowels in any word and no two letters to make one sound. I must have blocked out the special alaphabet as I do not remember that. I have a hard time reading and can not spell. I will say that when we reached high school almost all of my kinder class were back together in a special English class as we were so far behind. I was amazed when a boss of mine more than 15 years my younger had been taught ITA as I thought the state would have dumped it after we all failed. I did not go to college because I struggled so with English, spelling, and reading. Yes that meant I never was able to land a good paying job or career. I can not believe that today their are still schools teaching it and that the organization that promotes it is still around. Please if you gave a child that is being taught this pull them and if you have to home school them, it is cruel to teach this and continue to use children as experiments. My class is living proof that it failed as well as most of those whom have posted here.
I was taught ita at primary school in the 1960s and found it really easy. We switched at the age of seven to (if I remember rightly the green and blue books from number one onwards) spelling was really forced onto us on a daily basis and the switch over was quite simple. We where taught to change the sound symbol to a letter. Personally and talking to friends I started school with, we never had a problem with it. We all found reading and spelling no problem at all.
Hi All, I was taught ITA from the age of 4 to 7 (1963-66)near Preston Lancashire. It was strange as there was a normal alphabet displayed on the wall around the class room! Then we had to read miss spelt words with upside down and back to back letters. We had Janet and John books to read. First problem was my parents could not help me as they could not read them nor my older brother and sisters! We moved and I went to a new school and was considered almost backward as I could not read! I was stuck like this for a year until the age off 8 when I'd been stuck on Blue Book one for most if the year and when lined up waiting to read to the teacher the girl in front of me who was on Green Book 6 (12 books ahead of me) and I could read it. Told the teacher I could read that, the disbelief was written all over her face! but she gave me a go and that was the day I could finally read, at the age of 8! Mr Pittman should have been hung out to dry in my opinion. I still cannot spell as I spell things how they sound, still to this day.The school dropped ITA just after I left as I think they realised it was causing more damage than good.
Adrian
Oh my ITA. I received 3years of this in 70s at Drumlandrig school in Hawick....Scottish Borders.
It was some time after those 3yrs that I became able to spell correctly!
We were discouraged from reading 'normal books at home which in hindsight was crazy.
I was in 3rd grade in 1977-78 and we had one class learning in ITA and another in common Alphabet. We had notes sent home to see if our parents were on board with us learning this new method. I remember the kids in my class got called out once a day for ITA I was so sad I couldn't go. My mother was a school teacher in a different district so I never attended school where she taught, but I remember her answer to that note. Hell no! They are not going to teach you how to spell wrong! I'll be damned if they are gonna start teaching a new alphabet and confuse you after learning standard for 3 years. I am glad that she did now that I am older. I have always been able to spell just about anything and I read pretty fast. I have heard many people that took ITA have difficulty still. Thanks Mom
I remember learning ITA at my first primary school, which would have been 1975-6, in West Kent. I could already ready when I started school, so I don't think it did me harm, but I have friends who swear it messed up their spelling! I moved schools in the summer of 1977 when my parents moved to a different village, and I don't remember ever coming across ITA again, so assume the school where I finished my primary education didn't use it. Interesting!
I started school in Oldham in 1961. We were the real guinea pigs as this was the first time ITA had ever been used. Learning to read for me was not difficult and the transition to TO aged 7 was seamless.
I have never had any problems with spelling or English and enjoy reading.
My husband, on the other hand who is four years older than me, learned to read and write the traditional way. He has always had problems with spelling and reading fluently.
In my opinion ITA was a very efficient method of teaching children to read and write who would have probably learned the traditional way without any problem. However, to blame ITA for poor spelling and low educational achievement is spurious. These people would have had the same problems with or without ITA. It never did me or my classmates any harm.
I remember using this in the early 70s in Burnfoot estate school (can't remember the name) in Hawick (in the Scottish Borders) I can't say it ever caused me any problems but that was maybe because We moved to Carlisle where my new school didn't implement it;
Any time I've mentioned this to anyone, they've looked at me like I have four heads;
I cant quite shake the feeling that we (in the North) were just part of some social experiment at the time, I also remember being 'converted' from using my left hand to using my right, with the result being my hand writing is disastrous.
I'd dearly love to get my hands on some of the old books though, just to show my kids, so if anyone can point me in the right direction I'd be most grateful.
I was taught ITA in the late 60s at chapel end infants school in east London, My spelling to this day is still very bad.When I tell people about ITA they say they have never heard of it.Many of my friends that I went to school with also still find spelling very hard.
I was taught ita at 5 years old. I found that it furthered a desire at university that led to me studying phonetics as part of my English degree. I am an English teacher at a secondary school and I think that this way of learning definitely encouraged my progression. I am from Liverpool, England.
I was taught ita at Summerbee school in Bournemouth in the late 1960's and I still struggle spelling :( We were not allowed anything but pencils! some a and e where joined together to make i and after 2 years the school dropped it but we were just left with no help to change to TO it was awful and to this day it makes me so mad that we were given no help to change back, would like to strangle the person that invented it :(
One key thing that I've noticed recently is that new people ask: "So what's your job/what do you do?" instead of "how's school/college going?" That question really makes me realise that I'm growing up and it makes me wanna scream a bit and show them my entire Disney DVD collection because this girl is always going to be a child at heart. Electrical Installation
I learned ITA in the 60's it was to help with dyslexia it ditroyed me for life
I learned ITA entering school in the 1960's and did it for a couple of years, then like so many I was just dropped in a regular classroom left to catch up/relearn on my own! As a result, I've struggled my whole life with spelling and pronunciation. Its effected my confidence in many ways. My younger sister was in the program also and she struggles as well. Awful! I've thought about getting tutoring to help, maybe some day. I wish my parents hadn't agreed to it, assuming that's what happened.
Hiya to all ITA sufferers,
I was taught to read using this system at nursery school in Oadby in around 1965-67. I seem to remember being quite pleased I could read before school and I don't remember the transition to the regular alphabet.
I do feel that I was a bit slower at completing work than a lot of the class at Sandhurst St. then Langmoor, but maybe that was just me.
I've always had trouble with ending words with se and ce, tion and sion, not sure if that is similar to others spelling problems.
I've been hunting out books as well, one of those things with getting older and remembering your early days I think.
All the best.
I remember I.T.A them moving to T.O. I actually remember the day I moved from one to the other and read perfectly. The transition worked well for me and English has always been my top subject. Always remember writing 'Wun dae...'
I only read ITA for first my two years at school, 1971, 1972 then my family moved house in Feb 73 and the new school I attended had normal books. I don't remember ever having a struggle to read regular books and like the person in the previous comment my English is excellent and was also my top subject at secondary school. I can read the ITA books just as easily now. What a weird time it was. Stay safe everyone.
I was taught to read using ITA and most of my life blamed my poor spelling on this fact. This was until about 8 years ago when I changed role within my work and took on intense data analysis job. I struggled with this and frustrated by my poor performance, I paid to be tested for dyslexia. It was found that I have always been mildly dyslexic. Perhaps a the combination of ITA and dyslexia is the root cause of poor spelling in children who were taught to read using the Initial Teaching Alphabet.
Like an earlier post I also attended Linaker Street School in Southport Lancs where ITA was taught. I was there in the early 70s and although I could read perfectly well before I started school I then had to learn this ridiculous language with made-up letters that deliberately used the wrong spellings. Then after a year or two we were then told to forget everything we had been taught and learn standard English instead ready to start junior school. The one thing ITA did teach me at a very early age was that adults could have ridiculous nonsensical ideas and it was good to think things through for yourself rather than blindly trust everything someone told you. That stayed with me.
I was born in 1968 and started school at Becontree Heath Infants school in Dagenham, Essex, 1973. I was taught to read and write using ITA. My mother was disgusted when I brought home a reading book with everything spelled wrong and went into the school to complain. She was fobbed off the with the statement "they will have no problem transitioning to reading and spelling correctly". Complete rubbish. The ITA books were taken away after 1 or 2 years and we were supposed to magically be able to spell properly overnight. I don't remember any real help being given by my teachers to transition to correct English and spent many evenings with the help of my mother relearning reading and spelling, fortunately she was extremely good at English. I am far from stupid, can spell and am an avid reader but ITA made me feel like a fool as a child. It is only through hard work and a diligent parent that I am one of the lucky survivors of a terrible idea.
My 5 year old granddaughter has just started coming home with simple spellings to learn and be tested on (seems too young). The way she wants to spell some words does remind me of ITA which I was taught in around 1968/9 although I don't remeber how long I used that system. I have no problems with general, day to day spellings myself, thankfully.
My 1st grade class in 1964, Powell Wyoming (USA), was a test class for ITA. It worked phenomenally well yet was dropped immediately. I often ask my mother why it got dropped and her answer was always due to so many parents protesting it as being akin to "communist" brainwashing.
I am confident if one was too follow the progress of my classmates through graded 1-12 a very clear and very positive correlation would be seen. I and many of my classmates were reading standard 12th grade level standard English books in 4th grade.
I am convinced the failure of ITA was due 100% to the combination of teachers not knowing how to teach with it and close-minded parents (and administrators) stuck in the world of "that's just not how we do it".
Post a Comment