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Tom Nicholson: Zero to hero - why spelling still matters in the digital age

Recently I gave a talk to parents about phonics. It was called Zero to Hero, and I explained that phonics could help children who struggle with reading and writing by showing them how to crack the code.

Modern phonics is about explaining the history of English and how our spelling became the way it is, that there is a system - even though sometimes it seems like madness. We can read and write more successfully if we understand how the spelling system works and that it is based on phonics.

Many parents I spoke to were worried about their children and when I asked what they meant they were quick to show me examples of their children's writing. With their smartphones, they had taken photos of their children's writing and brought them along to the workshop to show me.