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    The Phonics First Program teaches students skills in phonological awareness, matching sounds to letters, and then proceeds to systematically and explicitly teach students more advanced patterns of spelling-sound relationships contributing to increased sight word knowledge, a foundation for proficient reading. This comprehensive program also includes fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension components so that students are able to use the decoding skills they learn to comprehend what they are reading.  The goal of reading for ALL students is to comprehend.  The Phonics First Program is divided into layers that progress systematically toward the goal of achieving reading fluency and comprehension.

    Principles of Phonics First:
    1. Phonics based: stress sound/symbol relationship
    2. Structured and systematic:  predictable/repeatable strategies and routines
    3. Direct Instruction: teaches skills explicitly
    4. Multi-Sensory: If you see, hear, touch you will remember.  Using a multi sensory approach to reading strengthens the learning pathways in the brain, and links visual, auditory, tactile learning. By engaging different learning pathways, learning is moved from short-term to long-term memory.