We are FINALLY seeing some sunny days here. After a very long, cold winter, it is so refreshing to see green grass and the flowers blooming. The science of reading is making waves in the education community, and for me, like spring, it’s such a breath of fresh air! I was not taught to read using phonemic awareness and phonics. Most of my reading instruction was in using picture clues and memorizing words. I wasn’t horribly “behind” in reading, but it made reading new text especially difficult.
It wasn’t until college that I was taught about phonemic awareness and phonics. I didn’t even know the terminology until college! Digraphs, vowel teams, blends, etc. were all new words to me. It completely changed my perspective on teaching reading. I felt more confident in my understanding of the English language and in my ability to teach students how to read.
Fast forward to my first year of teaching in a resource room with only one reading intervention program that didn’t use phonics! While the program was fabulous for students who have mastered their phonics skills and needed to work on fluency and comprehension, it did nothing for my students who needed explicit phonics instruction.
I went to my principal and told her I needed something, so she found an Orton Gillingham training! Best 30 hours of training ever! I went through the Institute of Multisensory Education (IMSE) and it gave me the tools I needed to explicitly teach phonemic awareness and phonics to my students. I’ve used what I learned daily ever since. I’ve watched my students blossom and start to enjoy reading. That is the end goal. Students successfully decoding text and enjoying reading books they are interested in is the best feeling ever.
I encourage you, whether you are a first year teacher or a veteran teacher, to explore the science of reading. I don’t think this time around it is just a “phase” or “buzzword” in education. The proof is in the results. Children need a foundation in phonemic awareness and phonics to be able to master the other components of reading.
A few of my favorite resources/books:
Institute of Multi-Sensory Education – they also have freebies on their linktr.ee site!
High Noon Books – fabulous decodable books
Check out my phonics resources on TPT:
Resource Remedies 