http://www.phonicsblog.co.uk
Do read the full post, and I also highly recommend reading Mike's powerful little book, 'Phonics and the Resistance to Reading' which is currently no. 1 in Australia as its kindle version, see here:Clinging to the wreckage
In 1992 the National Foundation for Educational Research reported on the results of its investigation into What Teachers in Training Are Taught about Reading. The report particularly drew attention to the anti-phonics bias it had detected in its survey. For example, as part of their research the team analysed booklists provided to students by their institutions. Analysis of these lists showed that amongst the most commonly recommended texts there were “no books dealing in any detail with the complex relationships between the writing system (the orthography) and the sound system (the phonology) of English”.
Amongst other findings the report revealed that in 15% of the institutions, courses on early reading included no mention of phonics at all. In the remainder phonics was taught only as part of a repertoire of mixed methods including look and say and ‘language experience’. “The general impression,” the report noted, was that “eclecticism rules”.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Phonics-Resist ... to+readingThe level of anti-phonics hysteria has intensified in the last few years. Myths, misunderstandings and downright falsehoods not only persist but proliferate. Phonics and the Resistance to Reading is a robust demolition of the arguments put up against phonics and an exposure of the damage and harm resulting from the longstanding muddle of teaching reading using ‘mixed methods’. The book exposes the dark side of phonics denial, its social costs and human consequences. It's available in paperback or as an e-book from Amazon.