Why I’m Hooked on Phonics in Early Reading Instruction

After 35 plus years teaching in primary and secondary schools, I have given a lot of thought to the teaching of reading and writing. I am fascinated how children use their spoken speech and make the step towards the written word. This is by no means an easy step and many children fall by the wayside.

It is those children who I want to support. For most children can learn to read and write if given the right support.

Inspiring children to learn is not always easy. School, teachers, and academic discipline, often rub children up the wrong way, so they refuse to cooperate. I have asked children why they didn’t learn to read, and the answer is often a flat, “I didn’t want too!” Believe me the saying you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force him to drink applies to many non engaged children. Adults also need to keep in mind that every child is unique with their own view of the world and themselves.

Most children prefer to learn when they are interested, and learning is fun. But often learning something is not fun and involves self discipline and persistence. Somehow we need to alert children to this. The children who realise this have the world at their feet.

I was fortunate in the fact that I learned to read from a reading program that introduced sight reading and phonics hand in hand. The books were graded. The stories were interesting and engaging. Somehow I realised that words could be both remembered and decoded. Writing was done at the same time. I did not write pages of garbled text thinking I had done a good job. I copied text from the blackboard and wrote hundreds of sentences of my own using correct punctuation and spelling. Handwriting was practised, and exercises were in a copy book. Many children today would benefit from this approach too!

Learning to read and write is not simple. I really wish we would squash the objection that a phonic approach to teaching reading makes it stilted and unreal.

Successful reading instruction that uses words in a child’s spoken vocabulary and systematic presentation of the phonograms (letters representing the sounds of English) would make reading a more engaging activity for many children.

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