Do Phonics Destroy Accents?

[johnpaul.ramsay]

Hi Tanya,

We've received our Kindergarten materials and are super excited! My wife is especially excited as she's realizing that she was educated in a similar way (some flavor of classical) in a private Catholic school in the Dayton, OH area. I'm far more intimidated by this material as I was not trained like this.

Being from central Kentucky, my brothers and I have always picked on my wife to some degree because she enunciates [I]everything[/I]. Our mom is from eastern Tennessee, so accents can be strong in our family (depending on who your talking to.) I've always been a firm believer in knowing proper grammar and showing yourself approved, but holding onto the accent of our Appalachian heritage. As I read through the Phonics material, I couldn't help but think that any chance my kids have of developing an Appalachian accent may be destroyed through the rigors of Phonics study. As I said, I am unfamiliar with type of training, though we clearly agree with it as this is the curriculum we are going to use. Do I misunderstand the study of Phonics? Can accents still take hold in someones language and still be considered to use good Phonics?

Any clarification, words of wisdom, or simple encouragement would help in this matter.

Thank you and God Bless,
JP

[tanya]

Hello.

I don't think you need to worry about your children losing their accents. I grew up in Georgia, and we studied phonics, and I certainly have a southern drawl. When you teach the sounds to your students, they will pronounce the words like you do, and they will retain their accent from their environment.

I'm glad you like the looks of our kindergarten program. I hope you have a great year!

Cheers,

Tanya

[Robyn]

So far I have taught two of my children to read, both with phonics. We all still have wicked bad Boston accents.

[johnpaul.ramsay]

Thank you all. This method of education is very new to me and it's nice to know that we have people at the ready for support.

God Bless,