A new study suggests children taught to read using phonics techniques can achieve a reading age up to two years above their expected level.
Results from the study conducted by educational psychologist Marlynne Grant display high levels of progress and achievement from methods of systematic synthetic/blended phonics.
Introduced into UK schools in 2010, the method teaches children to read by recognizing and pronouncing sounds (phonemes) rather than individual letters.
The publication of Grant’s research coincides with this week’s government phonics screening check, to measure the progress of over 500,000 second grade (year one) students across the United Kingdom.