Phonics and Reading Information

What is phonics? Phonics is all about using: skills for reading and spelling knowledge of the alphabet Learning phonics will help your child to become a good reader and writer

The spoken language From a very early age, children develop an awareness of the different sounds in our spoken language(s). They learn how to use their voices: – to make contact with you – to let you know what they need – to show how they are feeling As parents and carers, you best understand your child’s communications; you are key in helping them to develop their speaking and listening skills.

Daily Phonics Every day the children have minute sessions of phonics with Mrs Jones Lessons encompass a range of games, songs and rhymes We use the Letters and Sounds planning document to support the teaching of phonics There are 6 phonics phases which the children work through at their own pace

Phase 1 Phase 1 is made up of 7 different areas: – Environmental sounds – Instrumental sounds – Body percussion – Rhythm and rhyme – Alliteration (words that begin with the same sound) – Voice sounds – Oral blending and segmenting

Phase 1 Your child will be learning to: – Have fun with sounds – Listen carefully – Develop their vocabulary – Speak confidently to you, other adults and children – Tune into sounds – Listen and remember sounds – Talk about sounds – Understand that spoken words are made up of different sounds

Phase 2 Children begin to formally learn the sounds in the English language Phonics sessions are fun sessions involving lots of speaking, listening and games

Children will learn their first 19 phonemes: Set 1: s a t p Set 2: i n m d Set 3: g o c k Set 4: ck (as in duck) e u r Set 5: h b l f ff (as in puff) ll (as in hill) ss (as in hiss) They will use these phonemes to read and spell simple “consonant-vowel-consonant” (CVC) words: sat, tap, dig, duck, rug, puff, hill, hiss

Books Sharing Books Please take a book on a daily weekly/basis from the Nursery box to share with your children. Please share a book with your child as often as possible. Library Books On a weekly basis your child will be bringing home a library book of their choice. They may not be able to read the words but it is a great discussion point and a opportunity to share a different book. Reading Scheme Once the children have learnt a range of Phase 2 sounds and are able to blend and segment they will be put onto the reading scheme. They will be heard read once a week in Nursery and this will be recorded in their diary. Please read with your child as often as possible. Please provide your child with a book bag to transport their books in.

How can you help? Provide your child with lots of different opportunities to speak and listen with others: – Preparing meals – Tidying up – Putting shopping away – Getting ready to go out Read stories Use puppets and toys Please refer to the handout

Websites Useful web sites y.htm click on KS1 activities racy.shtml s/ literacy based games click on parents