ITA (Initial Teaching Alphabet). Anyone else a victim?

[Keith 66]

Im 61 & cant say i was ever taught that thank god, however i was way above my peers reading age because my parents bought me books all the time & taught me to read very early, Something for which i will ever be grateful.
But like BM101 i wasnt very good at maths & just scraped a cse pass. Fast forward to college & we had to do A level equivalent maths, I was stuffed. Unfortunately there were no papers from clever bstards to copy, So i wrote my name on the top, fudged a few answers & left the rest blank.
Somehow I passed. I remain convinced to this day that my lecturer filled most of the missing questions in himself!

 

[Jameshow]

I worked with a contract systems analyst, a very clever guy. He had been taught to read using ITA and as a result could not spell and had a terrible time trying to learn to read normal english which affected his exam results. He put it all down to ITA.

I went to a normal primary in the 50's and was taught using old school techniques but I have never been able to spell despite being often able to recognise incorrect spelling but I don't know the correct spelling! I suspect I recognise the pattern of the word. However I am an avid reader and have been since an early age.

I also went to a secondary modern but it did enable me to get 6 O levels and I then went to a grammar school for A levels and got better results, but not brilliant due to my laziness, than some who had been at the school since passing their 11 plus. Many of my contemporaries at the secondary school have had successful careers or own businesses so I do not accept the relentless criticism of secondary moderns.

Good point 5 of my sibling went to SM ones a IT guy in Hitachi, another's a director of Lego and the other 3 are nurses.

My school was different from thiers as I was older and my parents decided the otherschool was better so enrolled them there but left me at the rough school!

 

[Ozi]

 

[Ollie78]

Never came across ITA either myself or for my daughter - we must have been either side of the fad.
My daughter (36 years) wasn't taught the times tables when she was at school - she was at home though !!

I see that times tables are to be tested http://schoolsweek.co.uk/nicky-morgan-t ... is-summer/

Brian

I am interested to see I am not the only one, I am sure we didn`t do times tables at school either, but people don`t believe me, it felt like schooling when I went was a constant succession of new ideas.
My school had fantastic metal and woodworking facilities but we were told everything would be I.T. from now on so we barely used it. Luckily I was not a victim of that mad spelling strategy.
They are still experimenting now, my kids are learning maths in all sorts of confusing ways, though they do learn the times table it is not done as a "system" or all in one chart but they learn a couple per year. This to me sort of defeats the object of the "table" part where you can see the relationships between them all.
My near 80 year old parents can still do any multiplication immediately and without thinking as they learned it by rote every morning.


Ollie

 

[Cozzer]

I am interested to see I am not the only one, I am sure we didn`t do times tables at school either, but people don`t believe me, it felt like schooling when I went was a constant succession of new ideas.
My school had fantastic metal and woodworking facilities but we were told everything would be I.T. from now on so we barely used it. Luckily I was not a victim of that mad spelling strategy.
They are still experimenting now, my kids are learning maths in all sorts of confusing ways, though they do learn the times table it is not done as a "system" or all in one chart but they learn a couple per year. This to me sort of defeats the object of the "table" part where you can see the relationships between them all.
My near 80 year old parents can still do any multiplication immediately and without thinking as they learned it by rote every morning.


Ollie

I came across this many years ago.




No wonder the pyramids were spot on!

That said, I remember my young son coming back from school one day, and asking me to help with his homework. I started to wonder what on earth was going on when he told me the answer to one of his questions was "two-ty two". He didn't know what "twentytwo" was....

 

[Adam W.]

That's how I work it out, the times table never worked for me at all.

I do like the 11 times table though, as I like the way it changes when you get past 11X10.

 

[Cozzer]

"Seven sixes, 42 pence, 3 and 6"

The hours we spent trudging through the times table, and in those days, converting the answer to shillings and pence as well!

What always tickled my old feller was that I could trot all these out without (eventually) any problems, but I always got stuck at working out "six sevens....", even though I knew it the other way around!

 

[Cozzer]

U

 

[Thingybob]

I came across this many years ago.




No wonder the pyramids were spot on!

That said, I remember my young son coming back from school one day, and asking me to help with his homework. I started to wonder what on earth was going on when he told me the answer to one of his questions was "two-ty two". He didn't know what "twentytwo" was....

And the guy in the vid is now team principal of mercedes

 

[Cozzer]

And the guy in the vid is now team principal of mercedes

Really?
The lad done well!