Psychology Today – Staff Writer
“The two main theories of reading instruction are phonics and whole language. Phonics instruction focuses on building reading skills from the ground up by teaching children the sounds letters make and how to piece those letters together to make words. Whole language instruction emphasizes the meaning of what children are reading instead of the sounds that make up individual words; it encourages them to combine speaking, listening, reading, and writing to figure out the words on the page.” (more)