Jolly Phonics JP lessons can be split into 5 parts. Learning the letter sounds Learning how to form the letters, how to write them Blending the sounds for reading, running the sounds quickly together. Segmenting the sounds in words for writing, pulling it apart for spelling. Tricky words- irregular words. 5 basic skills but they are taught together.

Learning the letter sounds All words are made up of sounds. There are 42 different sounds in the English language but only 26 letters to represent those sounds Three new sounds a week will be introduced to the children on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It may seem a lot but the children enjoy it and it allows them to be more competent readers sooner.

Learning letter formation In order for pupils to have neat well formed handwriting they need to have the correct pencil grip and it is important to get this right from the start. The froggy legs grip is the correct one, where the pencil sits between the thumb and first finger. Parental support is invaluable in the development of neat handwriting. They can check that their child has the correct starting position, orientation and sizing of their letters .

Reading- Blending Before pupils can understand what a word means that have to be able to work out what it says. They need to look at the word, say the sounds quickly running them together and this is called blending. In the beginning most children cannot do this and it takes a lot of practice. With practice confidence grows and as the children see that they can work out the words for themselves then they improve. The way the sounds are emphasised is important – emphasis should be on the first sound d-o-g . If children emphasize last sounds they may think the word begins with that sound.

Reading- Segmenting (Spelling) Children are taught to hear the sounds in words the aim is to hear the sound and know if it comes at the beginning of the word, in the middle or at the end. The teacher and pupils will hold up a finger for each sound in a word pet, hat etc

Tricky Words Irregular words that don’t follow a phonic pattern are known as tricky words. Some parts are regular eg come the c and m and it is fun finding the regular parts they know. The pupils have to look very carefully at those tricky words. These will be introduced after the 4th set of letters roughly 2-3 a week for reading.