Why is It Important to Teach Kids Phonics? 5 Scary Reasons You Shouldn't Skip It

Why IS it important to teach kids phonics? Here's the easy answer: you want your children to grow into strong readers.

So what's the big deal about phonics? Why is there so much confusion about it? Let's start with a little background. 

Phonics goes all the way back to the early Greek alphabet, adapted by the Greeks from the Phoenician alphabet. The Phoenicians were known to have used symbols to help native speakers recognize sounds of words they knew. In the beginning, the ability to read these symbols (consonants only—no vowels) was related to the culture, and a person needed contact with native speakers to understand them.

The Greeks changed all that. They added vowels and a system that made their alphabet more portable to other communities. The sounds were no longer attached to meanings, rather, they were assigned to sounds in a word. A writer could actually mix them up to create new words, based only on the sounds. Then the Romans ran with it and created the alphabet we still use today. So you see, the genius of a portable, phonetic alphabet stems from the innovative nature of this early civilization. 

Check out the 5 reasons below that phonics has withstood the test of time.

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Why is it Important to Teach Kids Phonics? 5 Scary Reasons Not to Skip It!

1) Science tells us phonics is the best way to teach a child to read.

Simply put, phonics instruction involves learning the sounds of letters and how they connect on the printed page (or screen). Hundreds of studies confirm that children who are given explicit, systematic instruction in the 'reading code' (phonics!) learn to read more quickly. They also develop into better, more skilled readers.

2) Phonics is foundational.

Without phonics instruction, children often end up 'guessing' to figure out words they don't know. They use pictures, other words in the sentence, and the story as cues. For some children, this turns into an emotional nightmare, and they never learn to read particularly well. For children who learn easily, this method appears to work—for a while, anyway. But by the time they reach 4th grade, the pictures go away and the surrounding words become more difficult. What happens to these kids? They, too, become reluctant readers. 

3) Everybody reads phonetically.

Whether or not you learned to read using phonics, if you're reading this, you read phonetically. Eventually, most people's brains figure out the code, regardless of how they learned to read. So why worry about how reading is taught? Why is it important to teach kids phonics? First of all, some kids DON'T learn to read if they're not taught phonics. Reading this paragraph would be a struggle for them, even as adults. But for those who figure it out, they may have already developed a resistance to reading, stemming way back when they had to work so hard to decipher words. Why not start out by giving them the code?

​Teach your child to read using phonics. Start today!

4) Your child's school may not be using a systematic phonics program.

Almost every method of teaching reading includes learning the sounds. Doesn't that mean our kids are learning to read using phonics? Yes and no. Certainly phonetic principles are included in most curriculums. But there's a lot of other stuff thrown in there, too, which can be confusing for child. Unless a child is taught to sound out words first, he or she may opt to use other methods, like memorization or guessing. These 'hacks' run out when the words get too hard and the pictures go away. 

5) Phonics is the easiest, most systematic way of teaching reading.

Whether you're teaching a class of 30 or your own child at home, working your way through a phonics program is linear, quick, and easy. Why not go the easy route? And because it's easier for the teacher, it's a lot less likely to confuse the pupil, which translates into a much more positive experience of learning to read.

Going back to those early Phoenicians, think of yourself as a mentor or a guide, passing on a wisdom tradition that as the ‘elder,’ you are being called upon to do. You are the elder. With your child on your lap, you are passing down knowledge to him or her that is endemic to a life well-lived. We text, email, post, blog—that’s our tradition. But sadly, many people aren’t very good at it. And just as in 1,000 BC, lacking that skill can separate people. Keep them shut out. Limit their choices.

You’ve been chosen. YOU are the right person to teach your children to read, thereby opening up a world of choices for the next generation of elders. THE PROGRAM

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