Phonics readers
About Phonics
A short note on what phonics is and how our readers approach it.
The word phonics means the study or science of sound. As it relates to reading, it is the sum total of the sounds of the alphabet or language being studied, and the rules relating to it.
Teaching one to read using phonics consists of teaching the student the names and visual forms of the letters, the sound or sounds each letter makes, and the rules governing the use of these letters and sounds as they are used in the language being learned.
The first thing a student has to learn in order to be able to read is to recognise and be able to name each letter of the alphabet in the language he or she is studying.
The second step is to teach the student the primary sound belonging to each letter of the alphabet.
The third step is practicing the student in the sounds they have learned.
The key to teaching anyone to read is to teach one sound at a time.
Our phonics readers practice the student in one vowel sound at a time. When a student masters one sound at a time, they can learn to read without overwhelm or confusion.
That is the purpose of these phonics readers — concentrating on the vowel sounds, as they are the make and break of a student's ultimate ability to sound out the words they read, and the ones most often glossed over in other reading systems. Master the sounds of the letters, including the vowel sounds, and the student will have learned to read.