TO PHONICS OR NOT TO PHONICS?

That is the question that has been contemplated among reading educators for many years. My basic philosophy is:  Everything in balance. Tedious phonics programs with endless worksheets that belabor phonics rules are not the answer, but neither is throwing out phonics instruction entirely. 

Solid foundational phonics training is a crucial connecting piece of the reading puzzle. Regardless of how convoluted our language might seem, there are enough patterns of sounds and language to justify learning phonics.  Of course, to gain smooth, fluent reading with comprehension, good readers must gradually incorporate sight words into their repertoire, but learning certain patterns of the language will help children decode and spell words. 

Basic vowel and consonant sounds can be learned via a variety of programs.  You can choose a program to teach phonics, or create your own, but make it mostly fun and games with lots of manipulatives. Remember that children learn in different ways, some auditory, some visual, some tactile. The best instruction incorporates all three senses, but concentrate on the learning method that best accommodates your child. 

As I delineated previously, music enhances learning by stimulating endorphins, and movement, well let’s just say kids are made to move. I Googled phonics song and phonics dance and was immediately inundated with a plethora of resources. Looks like fun!  Of course, you’ll want to do some worksheets to develop small motor coordination, and it has also been proven that writing by hand helps solidify learning better than typing on a keyboard. Also, remember that color can be used effectively.  Vowels one color, consonants another.  Or easy letters one color, hard letters another.  Customize your instruction to meet the needs of your child; that’s the beauty of teaching your own child.

Yikes! I just listened to one of those phonics songs, and they committed the phonics cardinal sin. NEVER EVER teach your child that the letter R says “er!”  ER, IR, and UR say “er.”  If you teach a child that R says “er,”  he/she will add an extra syllable to every R word.  You will have, “erats, terucks, and erings.” R is pronounced with the vowel sound following it.  “Ra  -  Rat,.  Tru -  Truck, Ri  -  Rings.”  Okay. I just had to get that off my chest.  I feel much better now.

As I started writing this, I discovered I had more to say about phonics than I realized. So I’m going to start with this as the first part to a three part series.  Part two will be how to teach word reading through making words.  Part three will be how to teach phonics skills to older children.

This is the School Marm,

 Ringing her bell. 

School’s out!