With rare exceptions, they do not teach enough phonics information to prepare children to recognize quickly and accurately the words they present in their stories. It has been found that almost any basal reader system is improved by the addition of intensive phonics teaching. To avoid frustrating these young pupils, they should be provided words to read that their phonics training has prepared them to recognize. Also, long and convoluted sentences should be avoided. As children s reading abilities grow, these controls can be relaxed progressively.
Literacy consists of writing as well as reading ability.
It greatly reinforces a child s ability to recognize a word if he or she learns to spell and handwrite it immediately after learning to identify it. Urging children to write this word at this time in original sentences has the same desirable effect. Whole Language advocates insist that reading instruction must not be broken down and taught as a sequence of subskills, ranging from the least to the most difficult for children to learn. They assert that all reading skills of every kind must be learned coinstantaneously. It is important to note that there is no experimental research evidence to support this view of phonics instruction.