Beyond Phonics: There is More to Learning to Read then Just Phonics
Often when we think of supporting or helping children to learn to read, our minds automatically go to thinking about phonics. In particular, synthetic phonics, this is where words are broken up into the smallest units e.g., the individual sounds that comprise our words (phonemes) and we focus on the oral blending and segmenting of words. This is the putting sounds together to read a word but also the breaking down of words for spelling.
The emphasis on synthetic phonics was first introduced by the government over 20 years ago in 1998, alongside the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) (Chew 2018). Aiming to support literacy skills and development in the UK. And we saw the introduction of Letters and Sounds a synthetic phonics program that has been widely used in 2007, as another government documentation. With the focus of sharing an approach that would support teachers and practitioners in the UK to support children with their reading and literacy skills (DfE 2007). The structural program of teaching synthetic phonics between the ages of 5 and 7 years old is stated to be the most effective way of teaching children to read (Dfe 2013).
However, alongside a synthetic approach to phonics, we need to create a culture that understands that although research shows there is value to this approach it needs to be embedded in a much wider understanding of how children learn to read. There is more to learning to read then the simplistic skill of being able to sound out and break down words; but rather we develop communication and language skills, comprehension and a love for learning reading and books. This was emphasised by ‘The Simple View of Reading’ that demonstrates that “both word recognition processes and language comprehension need to be developed as children become readers” (Neaum 2021, p.14).
Above is a diagram of ‘The Simple View of Reading’, and ideally, we want our children to be in the top right quadrant to be the best readers that have both compression skills and word recognition processes. This means that alongside our systematic synthetic phonics approaches that we use in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Key Stage 1 (KS1), we also need to develop a language rich environment and curriculum.
It is also important to remember that children’s literacy development and learning goes beyond the classroom or even before they start school. Through the development of their spoken language, developing a phonological awareness, an understanding of print around them within their environment and also as they interact with technology, for example, recognising the Morrisons logo, or knowing that says Peppa Pig. As well as additional physical and sensory skills that are developed from an early age before children are ready to read. For example, a child is playing with a balloon, and they are batting it backwards and forwards with you. They are physically tracking that balloon and its movement; this tracking skill is needed for when they begin to track the words across a page when they start to read. This all begins before children start school and is beyond simply learning the sounds that our a, b, c’s make, successful readers come from developing an understanding of a balanced approached to learning to read and write.
Do you want to find out more about the topic beyond phonics and learning to read in the early years foundation stage? We have an upcoming webinar on this topic that you can click here to book your space now.