by Jessi Michaels

Created on: September 01, 2009   Last Updated: December 17, 2009

I chose to write for whole language as a wonderful way to teach reading. I have to say from the start that this debate, which has been going on for quite some time now, really is unnecessary. Whole language is a philosophy about approaching and reinforcing literacy. It is wonderful because it involves the use of high-interest literature and real life to promote the desire to read and write in children. Phonics is a skill. It is necessary to provide a decoding method for young readers based on letters having sounds. The two subjects are not mutually exclusive. Both whole language and phonics as well as and phonemic awareness, together, create the ultimate literacy program.

A few years ago, I was asked to talk about this subject in front of some members of my state's Department of Education. When they addressed the issue about which is better and which are school uses, I talked about the aforementioned concepts and the need to include both in teaching. They were very interested and agreed that when you view the two for what they really are, they are not in competition. This may not have been so years ago, when I was growing up, but it has changed for the better.

Another way to look at this ongoing issue is to view whole language philosophy as a complete bicycle, children need to see what a bike looks like before they can put one together. Phonics can be viewed as the parts that make up the finished product. Both are necessary, as we cannot have a bike without parts, and without parts, we cannot make a bike.

It is important that young learners are read to from the wonderful literature available. It creates their vocabulary and imagination and captures their interest. Phonics is simply one of the tools used to decipher the code of our language. It is necessary and provides the child with a bridge connecting them to the skills of reading and writing independently and with purpose.

Allowing children to use developmental spelling, a part of whole language, frees them from the trap of only being able to use only words they already know how to spell in order to write. There is no better way to stifle a child's imagination. I remember the panic I felt when my first child, now 27 and a successful writer, was in first grade. Not only was I a new school mom, but I had never heard of this thing called "whole language". When I heard my child would be allowed to write using the sounds and their corresponding letters instead of traditional spelling, I remember thinking, he is going to be illiterate. Well, I was so wrong. Children's lives incorporated into their writing, and reading develops the interest and excitement needed to make this process much more desirable.

Whole language is a creative, intelligent philosophy for learning. It should be what all school systems aim to provide. Phonics, another name for knowing letters and the sounds connected to them, are essential tools for building that bike. The sooner we realize the incorporation of both concepts need to be used in our learning programs, the sooner children will climb aboard that two wheeler and take off!

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