Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and write. It helps children hear, identify and use different sounds that distinguish one word from another in the English language. ... Phonics involves matching the sounds of spoken English with individual letters or groups of letters.

What is the best definition of phonics?

1 : the science of sound : acoustics. 2 : a method of teaching beginners to read and pronounce words by learning the phonetic value of letters, letter groups, and especially syllables.

What is phonics and why is it important?

Phonics instruction teaches children how to decode letters into their respective sounds, a skill that is essential for them to read unfamiliar words by themselves. Keep in mind that most words are in fact unfamiliar to early readers in print, even if they have spoken knowledge of the word.