When I was growing up we were simply told to sound out the words and begin to read. I remember them adding a bit of sight words and with that as well. In the last 15 years I've noticed a huge increased interest in learning phonics. So when it came time to homeschool my children I naturally moved in that direction. For my first daughter, phonics was a bit of a challenge so I combined it with sight words. Over the course of two years she mastered it and now is a voracious reader.   My second child taught herself phonics by listening to me teaching the first.

For my third daughter it was a little more difficult. She had severe hearing loss and had difficulty picking up the nuances of sound. I was lucky enough to find a CD-Rom game that taught phonics in a different way. Each sound had its own color and style. I don't remember them all now but let's say, for example, the "ch" sound like in the word chair would be bold and dark green. While the "sh" sound in the word fish is italicized and red.

This combined with the phonics in speech therapy helped my daughter with severe hearing loss learn to read with phonics. Again we combine this with sight words to begin to help her to read.

Not all children will learn by using phonics, so if they don't seem to understand it, take some time to adapt it. If that still doesn't work, consider combining sight words. Sometimes once they began to associate the groupings of letters in a word with the meaning, going back to the phonics will help them identify new words. I'm not a reading expert, just a mom, but this has worked for us.

Additional Resources we found for you.
Phonics  by Spelling's books and music CD's teach the phonetic sounds through music, pictures depicting the sounds, and the spellings for each sound. These will add excitement and clarity to any reading or phonics instruction.
Action Factor lets you sing while learning Phonics.  They also supply Program CDs, Mini-Charts, and Read-and-Sing books help kids build reading foundations by capitalizing on their natural playfulness, energy, and creativity. Your child will learn phonics through rhythm and song or through workbook exercises.  These are supported by an extensive research base and tested with real children in real classrooms.
Brainy Bears Learning Games will motivate children who have experienced frustration or failure in reading and math by providing an engaging, attractive way to learn phonics, sight words and math.
Dorbooks Phonics Pathways is now being used by parents and professionals worldwide, and recently has been honored by winning its fifth national first-place award as "Best Phonics Program in the Country." Starbucks and Hewlett-Packard have made a video clip of students using Phonics Pathways at the highly-successful YES Reading Center in Palo Alto.
Rocket Phonics  is a research-based, scientifically proven method of teaching reading. Hands down the best phonics program available today, it’s fast, fun, easy-to-use, over three times as effective, and half the cost of competing programs. Rocket Phonics is so effective your child will be reading by the end of the very first lesson!
The Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading  is a complete K-4 curriculum offering the parent a comprehensive video teacher training text with an emphasis on accurate speaking, spelling, writing, reading, grammar, composition, and preparation for The LATIN Road to English Grammar.
Talking Letters Program is designed as an interactive way to teach young children to associate a letter's sound with its shape. Each letter has a colorful character associated with it, and an adventure story that explains its shape and the appropriate sound. Once the sounds are learned, these children can begin to recognize the letters, and sound out words on their own. You can see that it is a perfect program for both auditory and visual learners.

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