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Phonics
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Why phonics is the simplest method of teaching our children to read and write
Phonics is simply the system of relationships between
letters and sounds in a language. When your Reception
class child learns that the letter B has the sound of /b/
and your Year 2 child learns that “tion” sounds like /
shun/, they are learning phonics. Most schools now run
a daily phonics session in England and pre-schools also
prepare children for phonics in playful and active ways.
Phonics offers teachers a simple and effective way to
teach reading and spelling. It is easy to teach and follows
a logical system, beginning with learning letter sounds in
a particular order, then orally sounding out words with a
vowel in the middle e.g. c + a + t = cat ,
l + e + g = leg. This is called blending for reading
Children will also learn how to spell words by saying
words orally first then break each word down into its
three sounds e.g. bag = b + a + g. This is called segmenting
for spelling.
No time is lost by teachers who will demonstrate how
to read and spell on a whiteboard. Children soon get the
idea and will begin to read word lists displayed around
the room and spell simple words in their writing without
any hesitation.
In contrast, reading used to be taught by children reading
books by saying aloud a repetitive sentence e.g. ‘It is a
boy’ supported by a picture of a boy, and ‘It is a dog’ supported by a picture of a dog. Children became dependent
on the pictures and learned lots of books off by heart
so that they appeared to be reading – in fact they were
‘reading’ the pictures and often found great difficulty at
reading words that had no pictures.
Spelling consisted of children guessing how to spell words
and then being corrected which put many children off
writing anything at all!
20 | R&A Guildford & Villages
Children are now given phonics reading books after they
have learned to read simple words, which are far more
effective then previous methods. And their writing really
takes off as they spell simple words with great confidence
and attempt harder words too.
Most schools in England now follow this method of
teaching phonics, and many follow the guidance in ‘Letters and Sounds’ published by the recent Labour government. It is divided into six stages which children follow
from Pre-school until the end of Year 1 (5-6 year olds)
and on into Year 2 (6-7 year olds).
Specific and very practical guidance is easily available
from publications like Letters and Sounds and Harper
Collins Big Cat Phonics DVD, which offers 300 ready
planned lessons and games for busy teachers.
Harper Collins publishes an excellent series of
phonic books, which are aimed at children reading
words at speed, as well as understanding what they
read through a comprehension picture activity at the end
of each book. The series is divided into fiction and nonfiction books. This is because research shows
that boys much prefer reading non-fiction or
information books.
www.collins.co.uk/page/Collins+Big+Cat/
Phonic+Readers
For more information on phonics training contact Kay
Hiatt kayhiatt@ntlworld.com
(Freelance literacy consultant, phonics expert and author
of Harper Collins Big Cat Phonics DVD and series editor
for all their phonics reading books).
September 2014