The purpose of this study was to determine current kindergarten teacher understandings of early phonics instruction and how teachers are meeting readers' early phonics needs during guided reading instruction. Using Vygotsky's (1979) social constructivist theory and Ehri's (1995) connectionist theory and by focusing on age-appropriate instruction, this research study aimed to identify teachers' understandings of early phonics instruction and what practices they are using within their classrooms to support emergent readers. The research questions asked (1) what are teachers' understanding of early phonics instruction? and (2) how are teachers instructing emergent readers in phonics during guided reading instruction? A mixed method, ethnographic design was employed in a rural northeastern community. Through interviews, surveys, and recorded lessons, data was collected and analyzed through descriptive analysis and open coding based on topics included in the literature review and data collected from this research study. Findings included emerged themes from the data collected. Those themes included limited "training in phonics, limited understanding of phonics approaches, accurate and consistent understanding of phonics, inconsistent definition of explicit instruction, use of a variety of instructional practices, differentiated instruction, variety of teacher support, and inconsistency among participants of resources used." This study attempted to determine kindergarten teachers' phonics practices and if it aligns to research. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]