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Children also learn phonics from the instruction provided by teachers. Such instruction might be systematic and direct or it might be incidental and random but it does involve providing children with information about how letters match to phonemes. Undoubtedly most children learn phonics through a combination of induction and instruction but since phonics is necessary to become a skilled reader it only makes good sense to address it early and in depth.

Given the importance of phonics, the issue of how to teach phonics is critical. Since no particular program has been shown to be more effective than others/ the answer does not lie in promoting any particular approach. Instead there are general principals that must be heeded.

1. Phonics instruction should be early, systematic, and explicit (NRP 2000, Stahl, Duffy-Hester & Stahl, 1998)). This does not mean that it must be skill and drill with endless worksheets to complete, but it does mean that teachers should have a good understanding of the phonics features appropriate for the level and needs of students. Instruction should be fast paced and carefully planned, not simply left to chance or addressed only in the immediate context of something children may be reading.

2. Phonics is only one part of a total reading program and must not supplant the opportunity for children to do lots of reading in engaging text (NRP 2000, Stahl, 1992). Lots of reading offers students the opportunity to apply phonic understandings they have been taught and, as noted above, offers students the opportunity to induce phonic relationships. At the same time students will reap the other benefits associated with engaged reading such as vocabulary growth and the development of comprehension skills.

3. Phonics should help students develop automatic word recognition so that the focus of reading instruction is upon comprehension (Stahl 1992). The ability to recite rules or sound out words is not the goal of phonics instruction. Instead, readers need to be able to recognize words effortlessly and automatically (Adams, 1990). Not all effective phonics programs will require students to sound out words as a measure of successful learning. Analytic approaches to phonics begin with words students can already read. These words are then analyzed and compared to other words in an effort to discover phonic generalizations and spelling patterns (i.e., Bear et al, 2004).

4. A good phonics program should include opportunities for students to write, spelling as best they can (Stahl, 1992). Ironically proponents of phonics are sometimes opposed to allowing students to invent spellings. However, there can hardly be a more meaningful exercise of phonics knowledge than in the act of writing. This is particularly true in kindergarten and first grade where children are learning the most basic letter-sound relationships and patterns. In a study of first graders Clarke (1989) found that children who were encouraged to invent spellings rather than to wait to be given correct spellings during writing time, did better on reading and spelling measures at the end of the year.

Phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge underpin any phonics instruction. They need not precede instruction in letter-sound relationships but should be regarded as key pieces in the literacy puzzle. Phonics understandings may develop as children learn to read but should not be left to chance. An effective early literacy program must attend to all three of these aspects to assure that all children are successful at learning to read.

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