We Teach Phonics

I recently asked my daughter's school district what the district policy is on the teaching of phonics and here's what I received in response:

As recommended by the district, state and current evidenced-based research on best practices, the first grade teachers at *** use a balanced literacy approach that includes components of alphabetics, vocabulary, and sight words. Students are immersed in alphabetics daily which includes both phonemic awareness and phonics (sound isolation, identity, categorization, blending, segmentation, phonemic deletion, and onset-rime). Systematic strategies are taught to teach students how to isolate and manipulate phonemes in words (beginning, middle, and end). Vocabulary instruction is taught through three components: oral, listening and speaking, within context at students’ independent and instructional level. Research informs us that vocabulary is best learned when taught explicitly, when students are engaged in class discussion and conversation, when read aloud to, and when they read on their own. Sight word recognition is taught through systematic instruction based upon evidence that quick and effortless recognition of words is necessary for readers to read fluently. In addition, in acknowledgment of research that indicates alphabet and phonemic awareness are the two best indicators of how well children will learn to read, the **** First Grade teachers work hard to provide individualized instruction through scheduled word work, Intervention Block, Guided Reading, Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop.


I see a lot of phonemic awareness, but where is the phonics? What is described as phonics parenthetically is virtually only a list of phonemic awareness topics.