Marie, phonics is the ONLY way - there is no other. Hundreds of years of phonics success emphatically proves it.
I totally agree with you, Ron C.
How do we approach teaching reading in English to second language students.
So many of our urban schools are struggling to teach these children, who have negligent, uninvolved parents. Teachers get so quickly burned out, stuck with every edu fad that comes along, none of which work very well.