Whether or not phonics plays a crucial role in teaching young minds or not has remained a matter much debated for several years. However, recent studies and research have revealed that the cognitive powers of the brain of children remain directly related to the sounds they listen to. Hence, before interpreting the words, the kids start understanding the sounds generated while the words are uttered. From these distinct sounds with a varying range of sound waves, the kids begin mapping the different letters and the words thus constructed. Hence, long before a child reads “apple”, or “cat”, he/she goes through a thorough understanding of the sound projections of the words.

Scientifically, this variety of sounds associated with every letter of the alphabet is known as the phonic. Every letter of the alphabet has a different phonic, and learning these sounds at a primary stage might be of much help for the kids as far as reading and comprehension skills are concerned. Especially, for those children, who stumble on the way of picking up the pace of reading and feel less gifted than the others, phonics is the magic solution that brings every child on the same platform. Though research has been conducted by several universities earlier as well, it was not until recently that the explicit importance of the phonic teaching methods got unveiled.

Here are some of the reasons why every progressive learning institute today depends on phonic teaching to develop the young one’s reading and comprehension skills.

Offers clarity

We, at JP International School, recognized among the best CBSE schools in Delhi, understand the sheer importance of phonics in aiding the comprehension and reading skills of children, and have thus adopted phonics as an important part of our teaching pedagogy for our young buds. If phonics are taught at an early stage of education, the construction of words by focusing on the sounds becomes clearer and easier for children. This, in turn, also helps them to pronounce clearly and read with confidence. Mumbling, fumbling, and hesitating no longer remain the issues when phonic lessons are taught alongside.

Helps kids with reading problems

Some children face difficulty in understanding the construction of words, the syllables of the long words, and consequently, fail to read fluently. But when phonics is taught to children, they learn to understand the syllables of a word and the exact sound that every letter in a word makes.  Once they learn the different sounds, they start reading more confidently, and the words that once appeared to be the hardest to pronounce become as easy as water.

Offers holistic solutions

The cognitive response of the child remains directly related to the sensory organs inputs. When it comes to reading, speaking, and comprehension, children align their cognitive responses with the sounds generated by each word of a sentence. Phonic training makes sure that the children learn to read properly to understand completely. If a sentence is not read accurately, the meaning it would convey will also be faulty. Hence, from reading to comprehension skills, phonics serves as a holistic solution.

Helps Improve Speech

Apart from improving the reading skills, phonics training also helps in improving the communication skills of children by making the pronunciations clearer. With a precise understanding of the sounds generated by each of the alphabets, kids can utter words perfectly to add dimension to their speech. The right emphasis, the proper diction, and the correct pronunciation are a must for delivering a flawless speech, and this is exactly what phonics helps the kids with.

Phonics is indeed helpful when it comes to strengthening the reading and comprehension skills of children. And since children are spending their entire time at home these days owing to the nation-wide lockdown, it is a good time for the parents to take help of phonics and teach reading and writing to their little angels through various fun ways.  We, at JPIS, request the parents to take care of the phonics training of their wards during this time as much as possible to make sure that they keep learning productively and progressively even during these rough times.

- JP International School