Phonics and Early Reading

We would like to thank the parents that participated in the recent workshop to learn about the journey to becoming a successful reader. Through participating in the games and challenges, we hope you have a better understanding of how best to support your child at home.

Learning to read is not as simple as knowing the sounds that letters make. Despite there being only 26 letters in the English language, they make a total of 44 sounds and with the variety of ways in which these sounds can be spelt, it is no wonder that children of a young age find it a challenge. It is essential that children are supported at the right time and at the right level if we want to promote a love of reading and literacy.

In Early Years, children begin this journey by learning how to listen. Being able to hear sounds around them and tune in to what is making the sound can be tricky at first, especially if it is a soft or quiet sound.

The children play lots of games to develop good listening skills that include using songs, instruments and body actions. Many stories are shared repeatedly to help children understand aspects of the story and new vocabulary. Teachers use different voices to represent characters like the three bears or create sounds to match events like the breaking of the chair. The children love joining in with familiar rhymes from their favourite stories or calling out the missing words that rhyme at the end of a sentence. This is all part of early reading as children gain knowledge of playing with words.

These vital listening skills are put into practice as children begin to learn about the sounds that letters make. Children need to hear and say the sounds, but they also need to recognise the different sounds that go together to make a word. It is not just about identifying an initial letter. Children need to practise blending sounds together to read words. For example c-a-t is cat, t-r-ai-n is train, b-oy is boy. They also need to segment sounds in words. For example sheep is sh-ee-p, pie is p-ie.

To ensure children have a good knowledge of phonemes, digraphs and trigraphs, they practise reading both real and nonsense words. This supports children in recognising sounds in words and ensures they can blend correctly. For children to be successful, they need to have consolidated knowledge of each phase before they move on to learn new ways of making the same sound.

Please use the following link to access the sound mats for each of the different phases the children will learn.

https://britishschoolcolombo-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/rachel_cooke_britishschool_lk/EjTBkH8rHlhIvixhg1uc9t0BKkzXSf9B-izKPAitlDr_Nw?e=sXvDLi

As children rely heavily on blending in the early stages, it is often the case that they will read every word in this way. Children need time to practise words they are familiar with so they can spot them on sight when reading.

When children come across an unfamiliar word, it is important that they try different strategies to work it out. They can break long words into parts, snowball (add a sound at a time to support blending), predict using the pictures and sounds in the word, leave it out and go back to it. Children may need support and encouragement to use different strategies, but they need to practise these skills.

We want children to become happy, confident readers. Practising daily with age appropriate activities will benefit children immensely. Whether it is a word game, phonics activity or reading to or with their parents.

Here is also a link to the Presentation which can be accessed here