Gnys at Wrk: A Child Learns to Write and Read
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Book Overview
When he was five and a half years old, Paul Bissex wrote and posted this sign over his workbench: DO NAT DSTRB GNYS AT WRK. The "work" from which this "genius" refused to be "disturbed" was the work typical of all children, namely, the task of learning how to write and read. In Gnys at Wrk, Glenda Bissex goes far beyond the chronicle of her son's accomplishment to provide the first in-depth case study of a child's confrontation with written language, rich in revelations about the nature and processes of the mind.
Paul begins by writing notes in a system of his own invention--like IEAVGAWNTOOTHESTOR for "I have gone to the store"--and this system becomes more elaborate as he goes on to create stories, games and signs. Eventually, the system merges with conventional written English as Paul learns to separate words and to associate letters not with their names but with sets of possible sounds. Glenda Bissex shows how the evolution of Paul's writing ability is closely intertwined with his reading development--in Paul's own words, "once you can write a word you can read it." She also makes an intriguing comparison between Paul's schoolwork and his endeavors at home, and explores the influence of his personal interests and world view on his facility with words. Her study is a unique, detailed account of the "genius" that is, quite simply, the human capacity for language.Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0674354907
ISBN13:9780674354906
Release Date:October 1985
Publisher:Harvard University Press
Length:240 Pages
Weight:0.86 lbs.
Dimensions:0.7" x 6.0" x 9.2"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
Facsinating Case Study for the Right Audience
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 14 years ago
This is the story of a mother chronicling the written development of an inquisitive little boy. The mom is a teacher, so it is full of technical terms to support what she is seeing, and classroom implications about the way we teach writing in comparison to how it often develops naturally in children. There is some support for the inventive spelling movement in what she discovered, but we need to bear in mind this was a highly literate household where the child received support he may not have gotten in other settings. The child added cognitive rules to his process with each new discovery, and the development is clearly traced as we watch him mature. She also explores his reading development and some of the parallel discoveries. As a reading specialist, I found the book fascinating. My daughter found it very theoretical, but she does not have the foundations I do as an educator.
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