Phonics- Teaching Reading
Teaching children to read begins by introducing letter names and sounds. From there, blending letters, and their corresponding sounds into words, then teaching vowel and consonant combinations, are introduced. This initial instruction, in learning to read, is called phonics.
There are three approaches to teaching phonics:
1. Synthetic Phonics -This teaching approach to phonics teaches children to begin with the letters and synthesize them into words. Hooked on Phonics uses a synthetic approach to teaching reading.
2. Analytic Phonics – Rather than blend letters into a whole this approach to phonics teachers to take the whole word and analyze its parts. Houghton-Mifflin and Scott-Foreman reading programs apply analytical concepts when teaching reading.
3. Multi-Sensory Phonics – By tapping into a child’s sense of touch this approach is especially helpful for students who are autistic. Orton- Gillingham and Lindamood-Bell programs both use multi-sensory lessons, to introduce and teach reading.
Phonics is a “word attack skill” every child needs to have, in order to be successful in learning to read. Phonics knowledge will be used the rest of our lives— even excellent readers encounter words which are unfamiliar for them, from time to time.
For more articles on phonics and reading visit National Writing for Children Center
