Effective Phonics Programs

Effective phonics programs offer instructions that:

• helps systematically instruct kids in how to relate letters and sounds, how to break spoken words into sounds, and how to blend sounds to form words;
• helps kids understand why they are learning the relationships between letters and sounds;
• helps kids apply their knowledge of phonics as they read words, sentences, and text;
• helps kids apply what they learn about sounds and letters to their own writing;
• can be adapted to the needs of individuals, based on assessment;
• includes alphabetic knowledge, phonemic awareness, vocabulary development, and the reading of text, as well as systematic phonics instruction.

Non-systematic phonics instruction often neglects vowels, even though knowing vowel letter-sound relationships is a crucial part of knowing the alphabetic system. Non-systematic programs of phonics instruction do not provide practice materials that offer children the opportunity to apply what they are learning about letter-sound relationships. The reading materials these programs do provide for children are selected according to other criteria, such as their interest to children or their literary value.