Fact check: How should children learn to read and write?

A heated debate is raging in elementary school to learn the right method of reading and writing. In some states, the "writing by ear" approach was even banned. In a fact check, the Mercator Institute for Language Promotion and German as a Second Language at the University of Cologne is now providing scientifically sound answers to the question of how children should best learn to read and write in primary school.

According to the IQB education trend, the skills of students in the field of spelling have deteriorated in many federal states over the past few years. There are divided opinions about the reasons for this development. Parents and teachers often blame the “writing by ear” method. Several federal states have focused on spelling and decided not to use the controversial method. Most recently, a study by the University of Bonn heated the mind. The researchers compared various methods used in German classrooms and came to the conclusion that primary school children learn best using the classic so-called primer method of reading and writing.