| The phonic approach to the teaching of reading has | | | | really matter which way round they are taught. |
| been used for centuries. In the 19th century. The | | | | Children can learn the sound and the names at the |
| approach was named 'phonics'. Since this time it has | | | | same time with ease. |
| been developed and modified to what we have | | | | Once the letter sounds and names have been |
| today. | | | | mastered it is time to move on to the sounds that |
| Today, a phonics approach is used to varying | | | | two or more letters say together. This is called |
| degrees, in most reading methods. A phonic approach | | | | 'blending'. For example. a-t, a-m, c-a-t and m-a-t. |
| to reading is an which teaches the relationship | | | | Lots of practice is needed to make blending smooth |
| between the sounds of the letters and their written | | | | and easy. Grouping words into families is the best |
| form. It is a form of de-coding. The words can be | | | | way to learn to blend in a logical and sequential way. |
| de-coded by learning what the letters say. | | | | The next stage is to learn the sounds that two |
| The phonic approach is based on two assumptions. | | | | letters make. For example sh, th, ph. Then the vowel |
| One is that the sound or phoneme of a letter has a | | | | combinations. For example ow, ou, oa etc. The best |
| correlation to the letter or graphemes. The second is | | | | way to learn to blend words is by repetition. |
| that once children have learned the relationship | | | | Not all words in the English language can be decoded. |
| between the letters and sounds they can say the | | | | There are irregular words which need to be learned |
| printed words by blending the sounds together. | | | | as this is the only way to read them. |
| The teaching of phonics begins with the teaching of | | | | In summary, teaching reading using phonics as the |
| the letters of the alphabet. Beginning readers need to | | | | primary method is the best way to teach reading by |
| learn the names of the letters and the sounds of the | | | | giving readers the ability to de-code new words and |
| letters. This can be done by reading alphabet books | | | | have a strategy for attacking difficult unfamiliar |
| and pointing out the shapes of the letters and saying | | | | words. |
| the corresponding sound and letter name. It doesn't | | | | It is essential to any successful reading program. |