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Phonics
Phonics involves teaching children the relationship between letters and sounds and how to use this relationship to read and spell words. This includes learning letter-sound correspondence, decoding (sounding out words), encoding (spelling), and word recognition.
Importance for Literacy Development:
Phonics instruction is essential for developing reading and spelling skills. It helps children understand the alphabetic principle and improves their ability to decode new words, which is fundamental for reading fluency and comprehension.
Children with difficulties in phonics may struggle with sounding out words. Since these children are focusing so much on decoding, their reading fluency and comprehension of the text can be impacted. Early intervention is crucial for these children to prevent future reading difficulties.
Importance of Symbol Imagery in Reading
The English language, at time can be very complex and often when reading, is not always phonetic, which is why many children have difficulties recognizing sight words and words that are not spelled according to their letter sounds. That is where symbol imagery comes in.
Symbol imagery involves both phonological and orthographic processing or the visual patterns of words. It refers to an individual’s ability to visualize letters and identify word patterns with their mind’s eye, allowing them to instantly recognize sight words because they have developed an extensive knowledge of them. This is crucial as reading fluency relies primarily on mastery of sight words and contextual information.
Orton-Gillingham Approach
The Orton-Gillingham approach uses systematic, explicit phonics instruction, incorporating multisensory activities to reinforce the connections between letters and sounds and to help your child master the underlying principles of phonological awareness and symbol imagery that they need to become skilled readers. Studies by Ehri et al. (2001) have shown the effectiveness of systematic phonics instruction in improving reading skills. The National Reading Panel’s meta-analysis revealed that systematic phonics instruction significantly improves reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension, especially for young children and struggling readers.
Research Reference
Ehri, L.C., Nunes, S.R., Stahl, S.A., & Willows, D.M. (2001). “Systematic phonics instruction helps students learn to read: Evidence from the National Reading Panel’s meta-analysis.” Review of Educational Research, 71(3), 393-447.
