Scary Mommy – Kristen Mae 
I remember learning phonics as a kindergartner in the mid ‘80s. I remember learning consonant combinations, vowel combinations, and a litany of rules as well as a litany of exceptions to those rules. Later, as a new mom reading everything I could get my hands on so I could be The World’s Best Mom, I kept stumbling across the idea that teaching phonics was unnecessary—that a more intuitive and less stressful way to learn to read was an approach called “whole language” instruction. The thinking behind whole language instruction is that, with enough exposure to literature, children pick up reading instinctively. (more)