The Reading Wars: Who Is Who?

Have you ever heard of the reading wars? As a parent, maybe you are lost in the theoretical debate on how to teach reading. There are two main theories or strategies on how to teach reading. The two main theories are called whole language and phonics. Within each theory there is a whole host of methodologies. Some of the more famous methodologies are Reading Recovery, Open Court, Orton Gillingham and Lindamood Bell.

Whole language allows students to use pictures, context and sight recognition to read words. Whole language often works with affluent (I’m talking middle-class or upper-class students with a college educated mom) students who already have a wide repertoire of low-frequency vocabulary words in their lexicon. However, if the student does not become an avid reader, they may be at risk for becoming poor spellers. Sometimes students who are taught with the whole language method, fool their teachers into thinking they are reading. But in reality, they are looking at the pictures and using guesswork.

Phonics is a methodology that teaches students phonemes and the most common sight words. Every phonics program also has a sight word list, because not every word in the English language follows phonetic patterns. However, most words do. Simply teaching 44 phonemes to students allows them to make incredible gains in their reading accuracy. The phonemes need to be taught systematically and practiced extensively. Haphazard phonics programs are not effective. However, phonics programs that teach phonemes in an organized methodical fashion are incredibly effective. Later, students taught with a systematic phonics methodology will be good spellers and readers. Eventually, students will transition from decoding to reading words by sight; this is a natural process.