Learn English Phonics
Kathleen Denson
Historically, insisting on phonics training as the primary means to learning to read is only a sometime-phenomena, and definitely a recent phenomena. Some generations (mine included) in the US and other English-speaking countries never came close enough to phonics to smell it. We learned to read just fine, of course.
Probably. If an educator has the luxury of 45 minutes a day in which a child can be taught 1-on-1 in a pull-out situation (which fabulously enhances focus and concentration), then yes. The best plan for that type of schedule is to follow the RLI (Reading and Language Intervention) system of Downs Ed International, which is designed for 45 minutes daily.
Phonics is knowing that sounds and letters have a relationship. In other words, it is the link between what we say and what we can read and write. Phonics offers beginning readers the tools they need to sound out words. For example, kids learn that the letter D has the sound of /d/ as in doll. Down the road, they'll learn how to combine letter sounds to make words like dog.
In preschool and the beginning of kindergarten, the beginner reading curriculum is usually focused on phonological awareness and learning to recognize letters (upper and lowercase) and learning the sound of each letter. This focus on sound and letter awareness sets children up for success in learning phonics skills. Usually, around halfway through kindergarten, children move on to blending simple words and begin to work toward building automaticity.
Research suggests that the most effective phonics instruction is systematic, sequential, and explicit. Teachers give preschoolers plenty of practice before moving on. Your child will read short, easy books containing the particular letter sounds or words they're working on. You can help them practice by providing similar books at home, such as those in the Peppa Pig Phonics Book Set.
Find more expert-approved books, tips, and resources to help strengthen your preschooler's skills in our guide to getting ready for kindergarten. Plus, check out these 100 books under $5 that will inspire a love of reading in kids of all ages.
Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize distinct sounds in spoken language. This comes with good listening skills and translates into reading by helping students match sounds to letters and combinations of sounds to words.
Integrating questions and activities like this throughout the school day can help students naturally pick up and distinguish more sounds. Once students have started learning their letters, you can take these activities a step further:
Vowel combinations can be more complicated and irregular than consonant combinations, so seeing them in real words is even more important. Exercises that have students identify words with similar vowel sounds can be helpful for ingraining this knowledge (ex: bear, hair, learn, pear).
Get structured practice and support for phonics instruction with SparkReading's phonics practice and assessments. Brought to you by Pear Assessment (formerly Edulastic), SparkReading's phonics helps new readers learn sounds, spelling, and build their fundamental mastery of English language basics.
Contents:
What is phonics?
What is a phoneme?
Phonics step 1: decoding
Phonics step 2: blending
Phonics step 3: decoding CVC words
Phonics step 4: decoding consonants clusters
Phonics step 5: vowel digraphs
Phonics step 6: consonant digraphs
Encoding
Phonics in KS1
Free phonics worksheets
Best phonics tools
Phonics FAQs
As part of phonics learning, children are taught letter sounds in Reception. This involves thinking about what sound a word starts with, saying the sound out loud and then recognising how that sound is represented by a letter.
The aim is for children to be able to see a letter and then say the sound it represents out loud. In phonics, this is called decoding.
The next step in phonics requires children to go from saying the individual sounds of each letter, to being able to blend the sounds and say the whole word. This can be a big step for many children in their phonics learning and takes time.
In step 3 of phonics learning, children will focus on decoding (reading) three-letter words arranged consonant, vowel, consonant (CVC words) for some time.
They will learn other letter sounds, such as the consonants g, b, d, h and the remaining vowels e, o, u. Often, they will be given phonics letter cards to put together to make CVC words which they will be asked to say out loud.
Next in the phonics learning journey, children will learn about consonant clusters: two consonants located together in a word, such tr, cr, st, lk, pl. Children will learn to read a range of CCVC words (consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant) such as trap, stop, plan.
They will also read a range of CVCC words (consonant, vowel, consonant, consonant) such as milk, fast, cart.
In step 5 of phonics learning, children are introduced to vowel digraphs. A digraph is two vowels that together make one sound such as: /oa/, /oo/, /ee/, /ai/. They will move onto sounding out words such as deer, hair, boat, etc. and will be taught about split digraphs (or 'magic e').
They will also start to read words combining vowel digraphs with consonant clusters, such as: train, groan and stool.
Another step in phonics is learning the consonant digraphs (two consonants that together make one sound) ch and sh and start blending these with other sounds to make words, such as: chat, shop, chain and shout.
Alongside this process of learning to decode (read) words, children will need to continue to practise forming letters which then needs to move onto encoding. Encoding is the process of writing down a spoken word, otherwise known as spelling.
They should start to be able to produce their own short pieces of writing, spelling the simple words correctly.
It goes without saying that reading a range of age-appropriate texts as often as possible will really support children in their grasp of all the reading and spelling of all the phonemes.
By the end of Reception, children will have progressed with their phonics learning and should be able to write one grapheme for each of the 44 phonemes.
In Year 1, they will start to explore vowel digraphs and trigraphs (a group of three letters that makes a single sound, like 'igh' as in 'sigh') further.
They will begin to understand, for example, that the letters ea can make different sounds in different words (dream and bread). They will also learn that one sound might be represented by different groups of letters: for example, light and pie (igh and ie make the same sound).
Children in Year 2 will be learning spelling rules, such as adding suffixes to words (such as -ed, -ing, -er, -est, -ful, -ly, -y, -s, -es, -ment and -ness). They will be taught rules on how to change root words when adding these suffixes (for example, removing the 'e' from 'have' before adding 'ing') and then move onto harder concepts, such as silent letters (knock, write, etc) and particular endings (le in bottle and il in fossil).
For more information about the phonics system look through our phonics articles, including ways to boost phonics confidence, details of the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check, parents' phonics questions answered and more.
Phonics Blah-Blah-Blah word game
- Educational card game ideal for young children beginning to read. Enhance word decoding skills through phonics with three progressively challenging decks.
Alphablocks phonics fun toy
- Versatile educational tool that offers various modes that help your child explore letter recognition and sounds, build early vocabulary, spell three-letter words, and practice sequencing.
Phonics-to-go carry kit
- Phonics compact carry case, allowing you to take it anywhere. Whether you're at home, on a trip, or visiting family, your child can continue learning without interruption.
A: Phonics is a method of teaching reading and writing that emphasises the relationship between letters (graphemes) and their corresponding sounds (phonemes) in spoken language. It helps children decode words by sounding out the individual phonemes and blending them together.
A: Phonics lays the foundation for reading by enabling children to decode words independently. It helps them understand the alphabetic principle, which is the idea that letters represent sounds. Mastering phonics skills enhances reading fluency, comprehension, and spelling abilities.
A: Phonics instruction typically begins with teaching the alphabet and letter-sound correspondences. Children then learn to blend sounds together to form words and to segment words into individual sounds. Phonics instruction often involves a combination of explicit teaching, practice with decodable texts, and activities such as word games.
A: Phonics instruction can begin as early as Nursery, typically when children start to learn letter names and sounds. However, the specific age at which phonics instruction begins may vary depending on the educational approach and individual readiness. Early exposure to phonics can help lay a strong foundation for reading development.
A: Parents can support phonics learning at home by engaging in activities that reinforce letter-sound relationships, such as reading aloud with their children, playing word games, and practising phonemic awareness skills through activities like rhyming and segmenting sounds in words.
Please note that some of the products included in this article feature affiliate links; this means that if you click through and purchase one of the featured products, we might earn a small commission.
Having taught in primary schools for 40 years I still found your support a useful tool and a source of new and helpful information. You made my tutoring sessions a fun and successful way to learn. Many many thanks for being there for me.
93ddb68554