Phonics vs. Sight Reading? 3 Reasons to Worry.

by Mary Follin

You may be aware that some educators are at odds over which approach is more effective—phonics vs. sight reading (memorizing whole words at a time). Schools seem to focus more on one or the other, and many parents are left to wonder if their child isn't missing out on the ‘better half.’

If you're teaching your child to read using phonics, you don't need to worry about this. But what if you're not confident your child is learning phonics at school? Your child might become one of the thousands of children who struggle to learn to read.

Phonics vs. Sight Reading: The Decoder's Delight

So what's the big deal about phonics? Imagine you're building a puzzle. Each piece has a unique shape that fits snugly into the overall picture. Phonics works somewhat similarly—each letter or group of letters is like a puzzle piece that has its own sound. So, when you learn phonics, you're essentially mastering the art of piecing together these sounds to form words.

Think of it this way: when you encounter the word "cat," you don't just see three random letters; you see a "c," an "a," and a "t" that, when sounded out, come together to create a word that tells you we're talking about cats. Phonics equips your child with the tools to sound out unfamiliar words and understand their meanings, all by following the code of letter-sound relationships.

For many early readers, phonics is the compass that guides them through the unfamiliar sea of text. It's like being armed with a trusty map while navigating through an enchanted forest; you might stumble at first, but as you understand the landmarks, the journey becomes smoother. Without this navigation system, your child runs the risk of getting lost at sea.

3 Reasons to Worry About Phonics vs. Sight Reading

1) Without a systematic approach to teaching phonics, children rely too much on memorization and 'guessing.'
Many schools have integrated a 'balanced literary approach,' which relies on a variety of 'cues' to figure out how to read words. Some of these cues might be the sounds of a letter, but others might be reading by sight, looking at surrounding words, or using pictures as clues..

Some kids are good guessers, but others aren't. Faced with a broad spectrum of clues, many children become confused and don't know what's being asked of them. For these kids, if reading is presented as an unstructured ‘guessing game,’ they're not going to get it. Later, when they realize being good at this 'game' informs everything else they do, anxiety sets in.

2) The 'cues' go away as reading materials become more complex.
When the words become harder and the pictures in books go away, many children don’t have the tools to ‘guess’ anymore. They're challenged to read words they’ve never seen before. Even a strong reader (a smart guesser!) can start to display signs of trouble by fourth grade. And by then, it’s much more difficult to do something about it.

3) All readers become phonetic readers—eventually.
If you're reading this page, you're reading phonetically, even if you learned to read using a sight-reading method. Many people's brains ultimately begin to see the phonetic patterns in words and use those patterns to decipher words they don't know. Why not give children the code early on? Even more tragic, what about those children who aren't able to organically recognize the patterns? (Many don't.)

Phonics is foundational; it’s the building block of the English language. Your child must be familiar with those building blocks to effectively tackle new words, recognize meaning, and learn to spell.. So what about phonics vs. sight reading? If you're teaching your child to read at home using phonics and your child is learning to memorize whole words at school, your child will use his or her phonics skills, regardless of how the words are presented.

If you have been wondering how to teach your child to read with phonics, than you're in the right place. Learn about our easy to use online phonics program now!

Interested in teaching your child to read using phonics? Try a 7 Day Free Trial of Teach Your Child to Read™.

Phonics vs. Sight Reading: The Best Way to Teach Reading is with Phonics.

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Founder and creator Mary Follin started her career as a systems engineer with IBM. In that capacity, she wrote software manuals to help make complex systems easy to understand and use. Over the course of her career, she has worked in product development, product innovation, market research, and marketing consulting.

Beyond creating Teach Your Child to Read™, she is also the author of Ethyr, winner of the Moonbeam Children's Book Award and the Gertrude Warner Book Award, and a regular contributor to DailyMom.com on the subject of children's literacy. Mary also writes, along with Erika Guerrero, a feature column in Fredericksburg Parent & Family. Titled ASK MOM, the column offers parenting advice and was recognized by the Parenting Media Association with a 2021 award.