How can children best ensure proper phonics maintenance?

Overlearning sound-letter relationships is a key strategy for children to ensure proper phonics maintenance. When students engage in overlearning, they continue practicing phonics skills beyond just initial mastery. This repetition helps solidify their understanding and recall of sound-letter associations, making these connections more automatic and reliable. Overlearning can enhance retention, allowing children to apply phonics skills more fluently during reading and writing activities.

This approach is particularly effective because phonics skills support decoding, which is essential for reading fluency and comprehension. When children have a strong foundation in phonics, they are better equipped to tackle more advanced texts and can become more confident readers.

Other strategies that might involve limiting practice or focusing less on review sessions would not provide the same level of reinforcement necessary for long-term retention and skill application. Emphasizing memory techniques can be beneficial, but without the reinforcement gained from overlearning, these methods might not suffice to maintain proficiency in phonics.