ABSTRACT
Once upon a time there were three different theories of reading instruction: phonics, whole word and whole language. Scientific consensus indicates that phonics is more efficient, economical and more widely beneficial as an initial instructional method than the other two. Synthetic phonics goes from parts to whole. The parts are the small units of sound in words, represented by combinations of alphabetic letters. In synthetic phonics, beginning readers are shown a series of symbols and are taught the first and most common sound that goes along with them. Good explanations and a logical scope and sequence strengthen phonics programs, but excellent phonics teaching also builds on what has been previously taught. Initially, many synthetic phonics programs use books containing controlled texts, with words containing patterns recently introduced for extra practice. A classic straw man argument of those who oppose phonics is the assertion that there are some people who wish to teach literacy through phonics and phonics alone.
