Phonics.

Phonics instruction has been a component in teaching beginning readers for more than 150 years. The long history that phonics has in reading education has made phonics the subject of much research and discussion. Phonics has long been thought of as a teaching strategy; today it is seen more as "content" within an overall teaching strategy. Phonics aims to teach letter-sound relationships as they relate to literacy and as such, is a valuable means for helping beginning readers to identify and build an internal database of known words. Phonics, however, doesn't help beginning readers with overall comprehension and meaning and therefore must only be thought of as a piece of the puzzle that also includes reading, writing and spelling. This essay discusses the history of phonics and its role in reading education programs. The phonics vs. Whole Language debate has raged in the United States and other English-speaking countries for a number of years and has given way to a more "balanced" approach to reading education. The role of phonics as part of an overall phonological awareness strategy is introduced. The impact of phonics education on teachers and teacher education is pervasive and wide-ranging. This article highlights the current impact that phonics has in many of today's classrooms. Lastly, this author investigates new approaches to developing phonics-centric curriculum for teachers in training.