My favorite way of thinking of phonics is as a “decoder” of written language. Early on children realize that there are patterns in how we read words. These patterns can be made into rules and the rules can be taught in sequence. This is the main idea of phonics. Teach reading rules in sequence to help children attain the knowledge quickly and with less difficulty.
Phonics does not only help your child learn how to read, it also lends itself to greater spelling skills, better reading comprehension, and word identification. Usually phonics is taught from kindergarten through 2nd grade, but programs are popping up earlier and earlier now and we are seeing parents teaching phonics skills before their children even reach pre-school. Additionally, if children are having more trouble than usual learning their reading skills, it isn’t uncommon for phonics to be utilized through 3rd grade.
And that, my friends, is a quick summary of phonics! Any questions? Please post in the comments below…
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