It always amazes me that the debate between phonetics and the whole language is, well, a debate. Educational systems oscillate between the two, to the chagrin of many educators and to the detriment of children. First, I’ll give you an (admittedly simplified) overview of each approach.

Phonics

The “phonetic approach” to learning to read can be compared to climbing a ladder. Children develop their skills and knowledge step by step. Under this approach, children begin by recognizing and learning sound-letter relationships; that is, recognizing letters and their corresponding sounds. The next steps on the ‘phonetic ladder’ involve understanding that these sounds can be combined to form words and represent meaning, and learning more complex letter patterns.

full language

In the whole language approach, the path to learning does not involve children learning to blend sounds to read words. Rather it involves immersing the learner in literacy as a whole; that is to say: to read, to be read and to write. The approach is strongly focused on making sense of texts and using language in authentic contexts. Spelling and grammar will come in due time and of their own accord.

When educators subscribe exclusively to a single approach, kids miss out. To become a competent and well-rounded reader, a child needs exposure and opportunities to practice the skills that both philosophies offer.

Anyone or?

A strong reading curriculum involves aspects of both approaches.

To begin, children need to understand that the letters on the page carry sounds with them and that sounds can change based on the placement and patterns of the letters. They need to know that these sounds combine to represent words. This is a very important foundation for reading, but it is only part of a proficient reader’s skill set.

Children need to learn high-frequency words as whole units, not broken down into their individual sounds. Yes, most of these sight words follow phonetic patterns and can be decoded (solved) by applying learned rules, but that’s not the point. A whole language approach to sight words teaches children immediate sight word recognition, which increases reading fluency.

Here it is important that we look again at the phonics approach, because not all words need to be learned by sight. It would be crazy to force beginning readers to try to learn all the sight words. When beginning readers encounter words they don’t know by sight, they need to be able to tap into their knowledge of phonetics to decode the word. To do this, they need a good understanding of phonetics.

Throughout the process of learning to read, children must be immersed in literacy. Children must read, read, read and write, write, write. They need exposure to fiction, nonfiction, brochures, magazines, posters, menus; they need to write stories, lists, journals, and book reviews. They must understand texts, realize the purpose of different texts, and most importantly, enjoy reading; all things that the whole language approach strongly advocates.

Children who are lucky enough to learn within a system that recognizes the values ​​of each approach will be more likely to end up with a finely tuned skill set and a love of books. These are children who will become readers for life.