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One reason [[homeschoolers]] perform better than [[public school]] students on tests<ref>http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000010/200410250.asp</ref> is because homeschoolers learn how to read with '''phonics''' in higher percentages than [[public school]] students do.<ref>Most homeschool curricula are phonics-based. See, e.g., [http://www.pmschoolhouse.com/homeschool-curriculum/Saxon_Math.htm Saxon]</ref>
One reason [[homeschoolers]] perform better than [[public school]] students on tests<ref>http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000010/200410250.asp</ref> is because homeschoolers learn how to read with '''phonics''' in higher percentages than [[public school]] students do.<ref>Most homeschool curricula are phonics-based. See, e.g., [http://www.pmschoolhouse.com/homeschool-curriculum/Saxon_Math.htm Saxon]</ref>
[[category:education]]
A study<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/271817.stm ''C-a-t spells success in early literacy'']. 25 February 1999. BBC News. 10 May 2008</ref> conducted by the [[University of St Andrews]]' School of Psychology, involving 300 children divided into three groups receiving different methods of literacy education demonstrated:
*the synthetic phonics group were reading and spelling 7 months ahead of chronological age
*the synthetic phonics group were 7 months ahead in reading compared with the other two groups
*the synthetic phonics groups were 8 months and 9 months respectively ahead in spelling compared with the other two groups
*the synthetic phonics group had the best levels of rhyme and phoneme awareness
==Five basic skills==
The basic skills taught through phonics are:
The basic skills taught through phonics are:
# Blending
# Blending
# Identifying sounds in words
# Identifying sounds in words
# Spelling the "tricky" words
===Learning the letter sounds===
Synthetic phonics teaches the 42 main sounds used in the English language, and children are taught each letter by its sound rather than its name, eg ''a'' is called ''a'' as in ''a''nt not ''ai''m and ''n'' is called ''nn'' as in ''n''et. This is a deliberate process to assist the child in blending the sounds, and the names of the letters are taught later.
The sounds are usually broken down into 7 groups:
# s a t i p n
# c k e h r m d
# g o u l f b
# ai j oa ie ee or
# z w ng v ''oo'' '''oo'''
# y x ch sh ''th'' '''th'''
# qu ou oi ue er ar
The letters are not taught in an alphabetical order, and are grouped to reflect their use through the teaching process - the first group s a t i p n, for example, can be used to make more simple three-letter words than any other six letters. The two-letter sounds (''digraphs'') such as th and oo which can make two different sounds are presented in slightly different forms. The letters b and d are also taught at separate stages, as these are a common source of confusion for children. Sounds that can be written in more than one way are taught in their simplest form first, with alternative spellings being introduced later.
[[Image:Phonics exercises.jpg.|right|thumb|300px|An example of a stage 1 phonics workbook]]
===Learning letter formation===
Emphasis is placed on the correct formation of letters, beginning with the correct grip of the pencil, and progressing through shape-formation and exercises to the actual writing of the letters.
===Blending===
Synthetic phonics uses blending - saying the individual sounds in a word and then running them together to say the word - rather than the "look-say" word recognition used by whole language teaching.
===Identifying sounds in words===
Children begin learning how to spell a word by listening for the sounds in that word.
===Spelling "tricky" words===
Some words in the English language use an irregular spelling which defies the blending process, such as ''said'' and ''one''. Chgildren are taught to recognise and remember these so-called "tricky" words.
==References==
==References==
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[[category:education]]