When was the Look and Say method prevalent in reading instruction?

The Look and Say method was prevalent in reading instruction during the mid-1950s. This approach emphasizes visual recognition of whole words rather than phonetic decoding or the systematic teaching of letter sounds. During this time, there was a strong push in educational practices to focus on more holistic and immersive ways of teaching reading, aligning with the methodology that Look and Say represents.

This method gained traction as educators sought alternatives to phonics-based approaches and was widely adopted in various educational materials. The emphasis on recognizing words as whole entities allowed for a different kind of engagement with text, where students would rely more on the context and visual cues rather than decoding each word phonetically. As a result, its prominence in the 1950s marked a significant period in the evolution of reading instruction methodologies.