If a word is unfamiliar it can be skipped, guessed at, or picked up from context. Phonics theory takes exactly the opposite position: the proper analogy for learning to read is learning music ...

Today, children are taught to read using phonics, which is all about the sounds that make up words. Children start by learning the letters and the sounds they make, and how to put them together to ...

On one side are the proponents of the "science of reading" movement, a phonics- and cognitive-based instructional method. The opposing side champions "balanced literacy," emphasizing word ...