For children in traditional and special education, the benefits of phonics programs are enormous. Many years of evidence-based research indicates that a structured phonics program is crucial in building reading comprehension skills and preparing students for a lifelong love of reading. Mastery of phonetic reading is the core foundation of reading comprehension.
Phonics in the Special Education Classroom
Even if impairments and delays are present, phonetic reading can significantly help students master and achieve milestones in reading and language development at a young age by presenting linguistic concepts in a structured manner.
While a phonics program alone is not necessarily sufficient to teach reading comprehension, particularly in a classroom for students with learning disabilities, it is certainly helpful when combined with a supplementary aid such as an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
Phonics for a Broad Range of Learning Differences
Throughout American history, there has understandably been a great deal of debate given to the instructional value of certain styles of teaching over others. Today, most educators understand the value of some phonics-based instruction in teaching children to read.
Though some children develop mastery over reading comprehension with more ease than others, one of the most compelling arguments in favor of phonics-based learning is that it is effective at teaching the fundamentals of reading comprehension to students with a wide range of learning disabilities, from attention disorders to neurological deficits such as dyslexia that make the very act of viewing words on the page a challenge.
It is important to keep in mind that diagnoses like dyslexia and ADD may manifest in similar ways but have distinctly different root causes. Fortunately, structured phonics-based learning programs have proven to be beneficial for many different learning styles.
If you believe your children may benefit from special education, learn more about the best special education schools in Grand Rapids, and how Lake Michigan Academy could potentially help your son or daughter on the road to academic success.
