Interview

The following is an interview with Jacqueline Bohan, a former educator of kindergarten and first grade students at the Marymount School in New York.

What do you see as the key differences between teaching reading using a phonics approach vs. using a whole language approach?

 

Phonics provides a systematic introduction to letters, letter/sound correspondence, blends and sounding out words.  It builds the foundation for learning to read in an organized way.  I view the whole language approach as more "fun, creative" activities.....which are great for motivating kids to learn to read, but should come either after or at least in conjunction with a phonics driven approach.  The English language is complex, with many rules and exceptions to rules....to me there is no better way to make sense of it than to use a systematic and predictable approach. I also think phonics should be taught in a way that utilizes different modalities to reach different types of learning.  For example, tracing letters in sand or forming them with play dough for the tactile learner, making up songs or rhymes for the auditory learner and writing them for the visual learner. The key is building a solid foundation, then there are plenty of opportunites for whole language activities.......acting out stories, putting on puppet shows, reading trade books, etc.

 

Which approach do you believe in more and why?

Oops, I got ahead of myself, but I guess you can tell from my last answer that I favor a phonics driven approach.  I do love whole language activities, but feel they are best used in conjunction with a systematic phonics approach.

 

Any other thoughts on the subject matter?

 

As a parent of a first grader who is learning to read, I feel even more strongly about the above than I did as a Pre-K and K teacher.  Charles is really benfitting from his school's use of a phonics program.  The program they use is by Macmillan.

Also, I think that it is widely recognized today that kids have different learning styles and it can be a challenge for teachers to identify and meet the needs of different types of learners.  All the more reason for a very systematic introduction to phonics, the building blocks of all future learning, to make sure kids have a solid foundation to fall back on.