Sadly, that is perhaps the most foolish thing I've ever seen written here, and that is dating back to when we were on reddit. Your opinion does not survive even casual scrutiny and a near endless list of academic studies reinforce the view that phonics is superior for the vast majority of students.

Phonics instruction is the foundation of language instruction and always has been in nearly every language on this earth (save for the pictographic Asian languages). It is common sense that teaching children that symbols correspond to sounds will help them decode written language. Up and until the "modern" education system with "professional educators" (no longer do they call themselves teachers) learning to read was a straightforward process.

Now, in the past 20 years (corresponding to the there has been a sudden explosion of learning disabilities and the emergence of supplemental language instruction specialists who give remedial instruction because of the current fashion of Whole Language nonsense. The children didn't change - the techniques have shifted.

please reconsider this position of yours, as it bears no basis in facts.