Educator writes of the value of phonics

I just finished reading an article on teaching reading through the use of phonics. As an educator, I laughed at this and at the same time was concerned that this is the state of education in our schools today.

It seems obvious to me that our current teaching staff in the schools of the state of New York are not aware of the benefits of teaching reading through phonics.

When our twin daughters were born in 1966, we lived within the Penfield Central School District and had decided to make our home there because we heard that they district had excellent schools. When our twin daughters were in school, one of them had a teacher whom taught reading using the phonics method. We are thankful to this day that she got this teacher.

After the school year was over, we noticed the difference between the twins and their reading skills. The twin that had this teacher became an excellent reader with a love of books and is a teacher in Virginia now.

The other twin, with a different teacher, hated reading and was a poor reader until we sent her to the other daughter’s teacher who taught phonics. She turned totally around and became an excellent reader as her sister was. She continues to love to read and is also a teacher in Virginia today.

As parents at that time, we could see that the phonics method was far better than alternatives. From this simple observation and the results, it puzzles me why the school districts of New York took so long to recognize that teaching reading through phonics is much more effective and long lasting than sounding out the letters or other methods that have been pushed on students who today whom hate to read or cannot read well.

Robert Menchel lives in Rochester.