That’s why American teachers use a combination approach in their classes. “Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?” Grenon reads from the children’s classic, ‘Brown Bear’, by Bill Martin, Jr. She looks at her pre-schoolers and asks, “Can you find the colour brown in the picture?” Several fingers shoot up and point to the bear. “Can you find the word brown in the text?” Again, fingers point. Grenon and the kids have read this tale many times together; and after seeing the word ‘brown’ over and over again, the kids now recognise it by sight – especially when prompted by a picture of Brown Bear.

“Matching pictures with words is a whole language exercise,” explains Grenon. “On other occasions, we use phonics techniques. For instance, if the word is ‘butterfly’ and there’s no picture to clue us in, we might try taking the word apart by searching for word chunks that we recognise – such as ‘but’ and ‘fly’ – or by sounding out individual letters.”

Last year, Harvard University researchers found that both six- and nine-year-olds show 15 to 30 per cent gains in reading, comprehension and word analysis skills after a year of instruction using techniques from both whole language and phonics. But it’s taken a long time to get to this point, and the road hasn’t been smooth.

In the beginning, there was phonics. In America, if a child is more than 10 years old today, phonics was the technique by which she learned to read.

And then came whole language. First adopted in California in 1987, this new approach kicked dry textbooks out of school and put real literature into the hands of kids. Whole language is based on the belief that a child learns to read by reading what he likes (or having it read to him), be it fairy tales or comic books.

If he sees a word often enough (because a parent or teacher has read it to him again and again), he learns to recognise it on sight without ever having to sound out letters one by one. If a word has him stumped, he uses clues – from the picture and the context – to figure it out, or skips it and goes back to it later. Studies at the University of Cincinnati show that when it comes to comprehension by reading, students in whole language programmes score higher than their phonics-taught peers.

However, in 1994, the US National Assessment of Education Progress showed that a whopping 44 per cent of the nation’s nine-year olds were reading below basic level. And California – the whole language leader – had the lowest scores in the country! Parents, teachers and legislators demanded to know how this could have happened, and angry fingers were pointed at the whole language approach. In 1996, the International Reading Association reported that 98 per cent of primary grade teachers viewed phonics as a very important part of learning to read. And research backed them up.

Responding to parental outcry and research findings, California legislators –who had previously mandated whole language in the classroom – made a stunning reversal and passed laws requiring phonics-based teaching methods in schools. But while lawmakers and educators hammer out the details, what do parents need to know right now to help their child learn to read?

Likewise, whole language proponents see no reason to study the letter before introducing kids to words that use it. Instead, they encourage parents and teachers to read the word ‘banana’ repeatedly (in the context of a good story) until the child recognises the word on sight.

Drawbacks: Some experts question the very premise upon which whole language is built – that learning to read is as natural as learning to speak. “The brain has no inherent knowledge of the alphabet,” says Dr Vellutino. “It must be taught.”

In addition, many teachers haven’t been adequately trained to implement a good whole language programme, notes Dr Steven Stahl, professor of reading education at the University of Georgia in Athens.

“Kids are suffering not from what they’re getting,” he adds, “but from what they’re missing.” And what they’re missing is:

How phonics works: “Phonics is based on the principle that each of the 26 letters in our alphabet has a name and a predictable sound, and when you break words in to letters and syllables and sound them out, you get words you can recognise,” says Dr Barbara Foorman, director of the Centre for Academic and Reading Skills at the University of Texas. Take the word ‘imagination’. A phonics approach would be to break the word into syllables (ih-mah-gi-nay-shun), then experiment with vowel sounds (eee-mag-ination, eye-magina-tion) and accented syllables (IH-magination, ih-MA-gination).

Drawbacks: Unfortunately, “only half the words in the English language sound the way they look,” says Dr Foorman. “English is a quirky language – 13 per cent of its words don’t follow the rules. This means that phonics can take you only so far.”

Critics of phonics – and even some of its advocates – also argue that learning to sound out and decode words is simply not enough. “It’s a bit like tennis,” says Dr Stahl. “You can practise your backhand, forehand and serve, but you don’t really know how to play the game until you use these skills in a match.” What’s more, observes Dr Vellutino, “If the child is taught to slog through text letter by letter and sound by sound, he will get no meaning from what he’s reading –and zero enjoyment.”

Phonics couldn’t have been better designed to meet the needs of auditory and analytic learners. Auditory learners hear and remember sounds easily. Sounding out letters to make words is a process that comes naturally to them. Analytic learners enjoy taking words apart, following rules, and finding out precisely how words are spelt and how to pronounce them. The logic of phonics makes sense to these kids, and they find it more satisfying than the guessing techniques that are often used in whole language lessons. To maximise every child’s chances of learning to read – so she can later read to learn – teachers must begin tailoring reading lessons to meet the individual needs of each child. It’s like the food pyramid. You give each child servings from each group, depending on how hungry she is and what she needs to flourish.

Play the name game. A child’s name is a great place to start teaching her the alphabet – the foundation of phonics. First see, say, and write each letter together. Then explore new letters by naming things around the house and the neighbourhood.

Show that reading is useful. Read labels at the market, signs on the highway, and a menu when you’re ordering a meal together. Whole language advocates believe that a child is more motivated to read when she sees the reading has a purpose.

Have fun with words. Call out, “I spy with my little eye something that starts with M.” Or draw letters with a finger on each other’s backs. The more playful and involved you are in these phonics games, the more your child will I learn.

Publish your young author. Invite your little reader to talk about, and then write about, a drawing she’s made. Don’t look for correct spelling or grammar. Both whole language supporters and phonics advocates believe the most important goal is for a youngster to get her ideas down and enjoy writing and reading.