Beyond Traditional Phonics

In recent years, our understanding of how children learn to read has undergone monumental change. Looking beyond the visible (print) system involved in learning to read, researchers have made exciting discoveries about the critical role of invisible (linguistic and cognitive) systems. Although the instructional implications of these discoveries are extraordinary, these research findings have not yet become part of our general cultural knowledge. And, as inevitably happens when deeply-rooted, traditional belief systems are challenged, the backlash has begun.

In Beyond Traditional Phonics, Margaret Moustafa fills you in on these exciting new research discoveries of how children learn to read and relates them to reading instruction. This book gives a comprehensive yet accessible picture of how children learn to read, describing:

• the origins of our traditional assumptions about beginning reading and problems research has uncovered about these assumptions
• discoveries about the linguistic processes children use to figure out unfamiliar print words
• discoveries about how children learn letter-sound correspondences
• discoveries about how children begin their journey into literacy
• a new method of teaching phonics based on children's natural learning strategies
• suggestions on creating a research-based infrastructure to support reading instruction.

Moustafa maintains that learning to read doesn't have to be hard or frustrating. It can and should be a joyous adventure. The key is to make that journey a happy and successful one.