This led many educators to subscribe to the blended approach, which research most supports. A blended approach to reading allows students to start with a phonics-based program and then transition to the whole-language approach as they develop their reading skills. This allows students to learn phonemic awareness and phonics through a phonetically based program when they are younger and develop reading fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension when they are older. Research has shown that students who are taught to read using a blended technique grow up to be stronger readers and writers.