Frequently Asked Questions

Since most of us aren't school teachers or literacy experts, it's no wonder that people (maybe even you) have all kinds of questions regarding the best ways to teach kids to read. Fortunately, here at Rocket Phonics, we have Dr. Phonics on call to answer questions. Below, you'll find some of the more common questions the doctor receives. You can also ask questions of your own by clicking here.

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FAQs

What is Reading?

What is the difference between learning to read with "Whole Language" versus phonics?

My daughter seems to read a lot of words incorrectly -- could she be dyslexic?

More Q & A — Our Readers Ask Dr. Phonics

Reading is recognizing the meaning of written words. It includes these processes: decoding symbols to sounds, blending the sounds into words the reader understands and then combining those words to comprehend what the author is trying to communicate. Some experts believe reading can occur without comprehension, but I will not use that definition of reading when I discuss reading.

What is the difference between learning to read using a whole language approach versus a phonics approach?

The first written words were pictures for the word. Sumerian cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphics and Chinese characters are all examples of this kind of writing. Each picture represented either an entire word or a syllable. The whole language approach was used to teach reading in these languages. Because there are so many words/syllables in a language literacy took a lot of time and was exclusive to the kings and priests of the day. 

About 4000 years ago the Phoenicians invented phonics where one symbol represented one sound. The Phoenician language had about 20 consonants and two vowels. The concept worked so well even children could learn to read and write. This method now called phonics has been applied to every language in the world. The Chinese developed a phonetic alphabet 50 years ago to combat illiteracy.

Phonics worked with the English language until about 350 years ago when the first English dictionary was developed. At the time the common practice was to spell the word the way it sounded, but the king of England was French. He spelled words in French. No one wanted to tell the king to change his spelling so in 1755 Samuel Johnson published the dictionary that used French spelling and English pronunciation. 

This practice is still used today with many other words taken from a foreign language. For example, tortilla is spelled and pronounced the way the Spanish do even though in English y is the symbol for the yah sound not ll. To deal with this dictionaries have two alphabets - one phonetic and the other traditional. Each word is spelled in both alphabets so that you can tell how to pronounce them and how to spell them. 

Consequently, reading the English language can't be taught using a strict phonetic approach unless you create a phonetic alphabet. Most current attempts (not Rocket Phonics) use an eclectic approach with a mixture of both whole language and phonics. 

You can see the whole language part in books that use lots of pictures and repeat the word over and over. Whole language is often called the look-say method. Dr. Seuss books are an entertaining example of this approach. A phonetic approach gives one sound for each letter most "phonics" programs don't do this. An easy test is to look and see if they are giving a sound for the letter c. If the so-called "phonics" program is giving a sound for the letter c it is really an eclectic approach with a phonics bent. (C has no sound of its own. It sounds like K, S, SH, CH or its silent.)

The strength of true phonics is that one letter makes only one sound. This consistency allows children to quickly learn to sound a letter, blend them into words and then read them. The weakness of using true phonics is that the English language has about 51 sounds in it, but only 26 letters - so another alphabet needs to be used. The student then learns to read and must transfer his reading skills to the traditional alphabet. 

Those that fail to transfer their skills fully either can't read or don't spell very well. These problems have been solved in Rocket Phonics. 

My daughter seems to read a lot of words incorrectly -- could she be dyslexic?

The best way to answer this is to look at what words she is reading incorrectly. Is she making visual errors or auditory errors? For example confusing the sound for b with the sound for d is a visual error because the two letters look a-like. While short e and short i sound alike so confusing them would be an auditory mistake. Dyslexia is a term for a group of reading problems that are almost always associated with visual errors not auditory.

More Q & A — Our Readers Ask Dr. Phonics

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Reading Tips 

The best way to learn to read is by concentrating on basics like phonics, and of course, practice, practice, practice. That aside, however, we have come across a number of tips and tricks that will help you teach your child to read. Below you'll find just a few of the most successful. If you have any of your own tips and trick that you'd like to share, send them to DrPhonics@RocketPhonics.com.

Working with look-alikes

b and d

Many beginning readers have trouble recognizing b and d. Here's a great way to help your reader recognize b and d:

1. Show her the word "bed".
   
2. Form the b and d with your two hands like this: Make a circle with your left thumb and index finger (like an "o-k" symbol) and point your other three fingers straight up. Do the same with your right hand.
   
3. Show your child that your left hand makes the b, and your right, the d; and they are in the same order as they appear in the word bed.
   
4. Help her form the letters with her hands.
   
5. Suggest she form these shapes and hold them over the letters b or d whenever she isn't sure which letter she's reading. 

b e d

Working with sound-alikes

Some common sound-alikes are: t and d; j, ch and sh; f and v; b and p.

If your students are making sound mistakes help them sound out the symbols. Notice we initially use only lower case symbols. Upper case symbols (capital letters) come later.