In the so-called “ 4 stages of learning to read', children can recognize almost all letters by the end of kindergarten and navigate various syllables by the end of first grade they can then recognize common letter patterns by the end of second grade, and become masters of decoding words using phonics by the end of third grade.

Yet phonics instruction is just one part of becoming a good reader: quality phonics instruction enables word recognition, another pillar of reading competency.

Funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), the trial will assess the results of two systematic, synthetic phonics-based literacy programs used in 25% of UK schools.īoth anecdotal and research-driven support for phonics are instrumental in the development of reading curricula that ultimately foster competent readers. Anecdotal support for phonics - and its role in nurturing lifelong, successful readers - will likely be strengthened by a long-awaited £1m UK-based study of the effectiveness of popular phonics programs. Churchill’s teachers focus heavily on teaching students the 44 sounds, or phonemes, in the English language and the letter combinations that create them: the basis of synthetic phonics. In 2021, after three years of systematic synthetic phonics (which focuses on reading out and blending in reading), there were no students in the bottom two reading bands a remarkable 75% scored in the top three bands, exceeding the state average of 60%. When Churchill Primary switched from balanced literacy to phonics-based reading instruction in 2018, 31% of its Grade 3 students scored in the bottom two bands in Australia’s National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). At Churchill Primary School, a small school in the Latrobe Valley of Australia, educators share the success of their “purist” phonics-based approach. Nevertheless, we know that systematic phonics exposure is one of the keys to early literacy. Inevitably, our understanding of what it takes to be a good reader in 2022 is partially hampered by COVID.

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