Phonics, Phonicks and Fonix
I have it seems, spent a lifetime trying to come to grips with the role phonics has in teaching a child, or anyone else for that matter, to read.
Experience has taught me time and time again that phonics strategies are necessary when decoding print.
But teaching a child to read involves so much more.
My belief is most children who struggle with reading do not have phonics strategies in place.
Reading is about language, comprehension (meaning) and thinking. It is complex and develops over a person’s lifetime. It involves response from the reader. But first the text needs to be decoded.
One of the best outlines on the role of phonics in early reading development can be found in
“The Reading Bug… and how you can help your child to catch it by best selling Australian author Paul Jennings.
He speaks from experience as a teacher, speech pathologist, lecturer, writer and parent.
His book is an outstanding overview of the reading process.
I would have benefitted greatly by reading it in the years my children were learning to read.
I recommend all parent’s read as it is both fun and informative.
He says, ” I am not against the use of phonics. I am against the abuse of it. Phonics is dynamite and must be handled with extreme care. If I had to point to one thing that has done more to put children off reading than anything else it would be the misuse of phonics.”
My sentiments exactly!
