| I once believed that teaching someone to learn to | | | | in English: Phonics is the simple relationship |
| read must be a difficult and mysterious task | | | | between sounds and the letter or group of letters |
| otherwise why would America have such a poor | | | | they represent. For example, in English we have |
| literacy rate? Why can't Johnny learn to read? I | | | | no letter or letter combination to represent the |
| still can't fully answer those two questions, though | | | | flapped r that Spanish has. They write the sound |
| I do have some definite ideas which I'll save for | | | | of a flapped r as an r with a tiny v over the top. |
| another article. But, I can tell you that there is | | | | However, in English, we do use the same flapped |
| nothing mysterious about it. | | | | r sound when we talk, it's just that we don't have |
| Does the thought of teaching someone to read | | | | a unique letter(s) to represent it. For example, the |
| scare you? | | | | word auto in English actually has the flapped r |
| It did me when I first started home-schooling. | | | | sound in it. It is the sound between the au and |
| Teaching reading was a far cry from biology, | | | | the o. We use a t to represent the sound. There |
| which was my major in college. Since I had taught | | | | are approximately forty different sounds in |
| high school biology for several years, I knew I | | | | English, but only twenty-six letters to represent |
| could handle any of the math and science | | | | them. A single letter, double, or triple letter |
| courses, but reading? The thought terrified me. | | | | combination that represents one of those sounds |
| Somehow I had come to believe that the whole | | | | is a phoneme. |
| "learning to read" process must be some mystical | | | | The following are a few of the basic sounds and |
| endeavor beyond the grasp of everyone except | | | | the most common letters that represent them.a, |
| the chosen few (aka certified reading teachers). | | | | "a" as in at or to the phonetician /a/e, "e" as in |
| Since, according to my husband, I do things | | | | egg /e/i, "i" as in it /i/o, "o" as in lot /o/u, "u" as in |
| "cookbook style", I began to passionately | | | | up /u/t, "t" as in tent /t/m, "m" as in mom /m/s, |
| research the various reading methods to | | | | "s" as in see /s/p, "p" as in pup /p/n, "n" as in net |
| formulate a plan for a task I previously believed | | | | /n/j, "j" as in jam /dz/ |
| to be a murky and obscure process. Yes, I'm one | | | | The way the "j" is pronounced is actually two |
| of those people who reads the instructions first | | | | sounds that are said almost as one. A "d" and a |
| before putting something together. | | | | "z" are said together quickly. English speakers only |
| To condense all my research into a nutshell I | | | | think of it as one sound. |
| decided that using a phonics based approach | | | | Other weird sounds: |
| would be best for our family. Through trial and | | | | The x is really only a ks blended quickly together. |
| error I hit upon a system that was highly | | | | The q is really a kw blended quickly together. |
| effective (and cheap! - we couldn't afford some | | | | When learning to read by phonics, the sounds |
| of the great programs with all the bells and | | | | represented by letters are learned individually and |
| whistles). By introducing a few letters and their | | | | then students practice blending them together. So, |
| sounds each week along with blending together | | | | the sound of "c" followed by the sound of "a' |
| real words with just those few sounds as well as | | | | which is then followed by the sound of "t" |
| learning some sight words, I was able to put | | | | becomes c-a-t or cat. Some words, especially |
| together a highly effective beginning phonics | | | | ones that we use frequently that do not follow |
| program for my kids. | | | | basic phonic rules are usually taught as sight |
| According to Merriam-Webster, phonics is "the | | | | words. These words are memorized by the way |
| study of sound." Its second meaning, the one we | | | | they look or their shape. This is not a phonics |
| are interested in is "a method of teaching | | | | strategy but it is a strategy that works well when |
| beginners to read and pronounce words by | | | | using phonics to help students learn to read more |
| learning the phonetic value of letters, letter | | | | effectively. |
| groups, and especially syllables." Now, my definition | | | | |