Experts in favor of the Phonics methods cite studies funded by the National Institute of Health that stated changing the teaching of reading from Whole Language to Phonics reduces the occurrence of reading disabilities. Deciding who is right will require the wisdom of Solomon. In the meantime, New York school superintendents have been advised to use an integrated approach to teaching reading that utilizes both whole language and phonics. Teachers in several districts are now combining exposing children to literature with sound association and word decoding skills. In my opinion, parents cannot assume that their child is learning all of the needed reading and writing skills in class no matter what method is being used.
Parents ask each child in the care to name the vowels heard in a certain word.
For every correct answer, the child gets a point. The first to reach twenty wins. Road signs can often prove challenging to children. They will have to use both Whole Language concepts such as context, visual cues etc. and decoding word skills from Phonics. The Rhyming game requires a children to match sounds of a certain word such as boat, while spelling the rhyming word.