Is the Pars Omni® reading program for children a whole language approach or a phonics approach?
In the field of teaching reading a controversy has raged between the analytic and the synthetic approaches. The Pars Omni® reading approach, using the method developed by Dr. Georgi Lozanov, has effectively transcended this problem by employing analysis and synthesis in a simultaneous process. So it is neither a ‘whole language approach’ nor a ‘phonics approach.’ What we see in the conventional methods are elements analyzed and studied in isolation from the sense-bearing whole. Elements become automated through tiring drills before they can be connected systematically to form meaning. Phonics are studied this way in most phonetic languages. Or, at the other end of the spectrum, the whole word, sentence or larger unit is studied with little or no attention to its components. On a physiological level, analytical-synthetic activity normally is accomplished simultaneously. In a Pars Omni® class, phonetic details are taught simultaneously with the meaning of words and sentences.
