Do Schools Still Teach Phonics?

Answer 1

It depends on the philosophy of the school and/or districts. Many schools require Phonics to be taught directly on a daily or weekly basis. However, some schools take "whole language/reading" approach. This approach focuses on using context clues from the story/passage to figure out unknown words in the text. While this does strengthen a student's understanding of the text in some cases, it may not lead to students being able to read the same unknown word in other story or book. It is best to have a balanced approach to teaching reading. This means that students are taught patterns to help them read unknown words, but the meaning of the story is also important for determining unknown words.