Firstly, thank you very much to the parents who attended the phonics workshop at the start of the year and if you couldn’t make it hopefully the following information will give you more of an insight into what 'Jolly Phonics' are and how we teach your child to read.…
When they first start school, we learn a new sound each day.
This is based on the ‘Jolly Phonics’ programme.
In Jolly Phonics the 42 main sounds of English are taught, not just the alphabet sounds. For each sound there is an action which helps the children remember the sound the letter makes.
As the letters are taught, they are put into a tin which is brought home. If possible, go through the tin with your child every evening and then send back to school with your child in the morning.
The letters are not introduced in alphabetical order. The first group ‘satipn’ has been chosen because they make more simple three letters words than any other six letters.
Blending is a process of saying the sounds in a word and then running them together to make the word e.g. c-a-t is cat. It is a technique your child will need to learn, and it improves with practice. Some children take longer to do this than others. To start with you should sound out the word and see if your child can hear it. The sounds must be said quickly to hear the word. It is easier if the first sound is said slightly louder e.g. b-u-s.
The phonics approach to reading is very useful, but in order for your child to become a fluent reader, it is really important that they know some words by heart. These are the words we send home in their tin or envelope. They are known as the ‘High Frequency words’ because they appear so often in children’s books. A lot of these words are ‘tricky’ words that cannot be easily sounded out
e.g. they, here, wanted etc.
Please be relaxed with your child about their reading, it really is early days. The main aim is for them to enjoy books. If they do not want to learn their flash cards one night, read them a favourite book instead.
Don’t worry if they are not finding it easy at first with their words, they will get there in their own time.
Full list of ‘Jolly Phonics’ and the order they are taught.
For more information about ‘Jolly Phonics’ click on link buttons.
