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Really, it shouldn't be one or the other. Over the past few decades we've seen exclusively whole language curricula come and go, and we've seen exclusively phonics curricula come and go. Neither one managed to solve the problems our schools face in teaching our children to read, although both had their strengths.

But our priorities have shifted in the Information Age. The quickly changing face of technology requires that we all become lifelong learners in order to keep our current jobs, let alone move up in the world. The boring skill drills of phonics do not exactly promote the love - or at least respect - of reading necessary to become a lifelong learner. On the other hand, whole language, with its emphasis on reading and comprehending actual real-life materials, gives students a sense of accomplishment when they're finished. It's a teaching method much more likely to create a dedicated reader and lifelong learner. If we want our children to have the best chance in whatever world they face 20 years from now, we need to embrace a reading curriculum that is based in whole language.

I do admit, however, to being one of the first to rail against those who confuse to, too, and two. I do believe that incorrect grammar makes a person appear markedly less intelligent, and I'm sure I'm not alone. This is the place of phonics - teaching students the intricacies of the English language after they've already developed a respect and knack for reading. In the modern era, phonics should most definitely be taught, but only as a secondary approach to reading and a bolster for a whole language curriculum.

This is where I get horribly upset about the latest scandal in the Reading First administration. The program administrators shoved phonics-based programs down the throats of school systems around the country, when they were supposed to be neutral regarding curricular approach. Politics being what they are, I fear the counter-reaction will be to swing hard into the exclusively whole language front once again, leaving phonics completely out in the cold.

We need to embrace a blended curriculum that is based in whole language and introduces phonics as a support mechanism in the right places and the right doses. That's what's best for our kids. Unfortunately, we'll just have to wait and see how things work themselves out among the politicians.

Learn more about this author, Janice Ropers.
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