New guidance from the Government is creating alarm among early yearsspecialists and practitioners as it maps out a time-limited, headlongrush into the implementation of synthetic phonics as an exclusive methodof improving child literacy.
They fear that Letters and Sounds, which replaces the previous guidancePlaying with Sounds, is over-prescriptive, is likely to put youngchildren off reading and is undermining a key emphasis in the EarlyYears Foundation Stage on the need to treat each child individually anddevelop personalised learning.
Most practitioners are not opposed to an element of phonics in literacyteaching, but many insist that it is inappropriate to impose it onchildren under five. As early years specialist Wendy Scott points out,'Other countries wait until children are older, when they can hear andpronounce words accurately and have a good grasp of vocabulary andmeaning. By six or seven, most children can crack the phonetic codequickly and easily.'
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