I loved reading, writing, listening and research in literacy and earned an Ed.D. in Literacy and Curriculum Development. I still love reading and writing. I was a Title IV Reading Teacher in Spokane Public Schools, taught elementary and middle school Language Arts/English and was an administrator. Skills to read, write, speak and listen are vital to success in school and in life.
I will discuss the importance of children learning phonics in the elementary grades. My son learned phonics in early elementary grades and could read and attack polysyllabic words. My daughter learned to read by the whole language method of teaching reading and writing that emphasized learning whole words and phrases by encountering them in meaningful contexts rather than by phonics exercises. Different methods work and are successful with different children.
Phonics instruction plays a crucial role in literacy development for elementary readers. By learning phonics, students can decode unfamiliar words by sounding them out, which helps them become more confident and independent readers. Understanding phonics also helps students improve their spelling, reading fluency, and overall language skills. Phonics is important because it allows children to read on their own and builds up a good print word dictionary that can be quickly assessed. The English language can be challenging so once students understand the letters and letter combinations that represent each sound, it’s easier to learn how to pronounce and/or spell the words. It is also an important factor in a child’s improvement in reading comprehension, as it is difficult to understand a word you cannot pronounce.
The Department of Education states that deploying a phonics education at an early age can also help children develop culturally, socially, and emotionally. Research shows that phonics when taught correctly is one of the most effective ways of teaching children to learn to read and can lay a proper foundation for the success of a child. This foundation supports their fluency and with practice, the action becomes so automatic that they can easily understand the overall meaning of words while they are reading.
Reading is a complex mental task as students learn to read and read to learn. Phonics allows children to see letters written on a page and provides them with the tools to understand it properly. Syllable structure is important as it allows students to understand polysyllabic words. Beyond reading and writing, it helps children develop general thinking skills such as reasoning skills. Children who practice reading through phonics often develop reading fluency. Children can develop into fluent readers who can quickly recognize unfamiliar words and easily sound out new words they encounter. Being a fluent reader increases comprehension and academic performance.
Children who learn reading through phonics will have an excellent phonemic awareness-which is the ability to hear and identify letter symbols with their appropriate sound. Extensive reading helps children broaden their vocabulary and general knowledge. During my experience in teaching, students who had a strong foundation in phonics gained confidence in reading as they progressed through school.
Learn more about the impact of reading instruction that does not use phonics at therighttoreadfilm.org.