Reading and Phonics How to help at home

Reading with your child is vital Reading with your child is vital. Research shows that it‛s the ‘single most important thing you can do to help your child‛s education.’ You are the child‛s first and most important teacher. You open the door to a world of books and learning. Model reading as the norm in your home – let your child see their parents / siblings etc. reading for enjoyment as well as purpose. . It is very important that you model good reading habits – even having books, newspapers, magazines and comics out around the home.

Think of ways to make reading fun – you want your child to learn how pleasurable books can be. If you‛re both enjoying talking about the content of a particular page, linger over it for as long as you like. Books are not just about reading the words on the page, they can also present new ideas and topics for you and your child to discuss. Find books / texts that get your child excited and enthusiastic about reading

Most important thing – From a very early age… Talking and Listening. Reading with and to your child Playing listening games Singing songs and rhymes Simple action rhymes and movement games I spy, I hear with my little ear … All these things will help to build up connections in the brain, an enjoyment of language and confidence to try things out.

My Child is a Reluctant Reader Parents and carers play a vital role, as their attitude is often the strongest influence on a child. Enthusiasm is catching so never imply that reading is a chore. Read aloud to child as often as you can. This is important as it will introduce your child to a much wider and more literary vocabulary than the limited number of words used in every day speech. • Put on voices to demonstrate the storytelling quality of reading. • Visit bookshops and libraries with your child. Find the sorts of books that are of particular interest. • Read in new places, in the bath, in a den… • When you child starts reading independently, you‛re still needed. Most reluctant readers like a companion when reading. So why not sit beside them and read your own book?

Why Phonics http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/resources/parent-information-understanding-phonics/

Phase 1 - The 7 Aspects Aspect 1 - General sound discrimination - environmental The aim of this aspect is to raise children's awareness of the sounds around them and to develop their listening skills. Activities suggested in the guidance include going on a listening walk, drumming on different items outside and comparing the sounds, playing a sounds lotto game and making shakers. Aspect 2 - General sound discrimination - instrumental sounds This aspect aims to develop children's awareness of sounds made by various instruments and noise makers. Activities include comparing and matching sound makers, playing instruments alongside a story and making loud and quiet sounds. Aspect 3 - General sound discrimination - body percussion The aim of this aspect is to develop children's awareness of sounds and rhythms. Activities include singing songs and action rhymes, listening to music and developing a sounds vocabulary. Aspect 4 - Rhythm and rhyme This aspect aims to develop children's appreciation and experiences of rhythm and rhyme in speech. Activities include rhyming stories, rhyming bingo, clapping out the syllables in words and odd one out.

Aspect 5 - Alliteration The focus is on initial sounds of words, with activities including I-Spy type games and matching objects which begin with the same sound. Aspect 6 - Voice sounds The aim is to distinguish between different vocal sounds and to begin oral blending and segmenting. Activities include Metal Mike, where children feed pictures of objects into a toy robot's mouth and the teacher sounds out the name of the object in a robot voice - /c/-/u/-/p/ cup, with the children joining in. Aspect 7 - Oral blending and segmenting In this aspect, the main aim is to develop oral blending and segmenting skills. To practise oral blending, the teacher could say some sounds, such as /c/-/u/-/p/ and see whether the children can pick out a cup from a group of objects. For segmenting practise, the teacher could hold up an object such as a sock and ask the children which sounds they can hear in the word sock. The activities introduced in Phase 1 are intended to continue throughout the following phases, as lots of practice is needed before children will become confident in their phonic knowledge and skills.

Phase 1 – Learning how to Sound Talk ‘Fred Talk’ The teacher shows children how to do this – c-a-t = cat. The separate sounds (phonemes) are spoken aloud, in order, all through the word, and are then merged together into the whole word. The merging together is called blending – it is a vital skill for reading. Children will also learn to do this the other way around – cat = c-a-t. The whole word is spoken aloud, and then broken up into its sounds (phonemes) in order, all through the word. This is called segmenting – it is a vital skill for spelling. This is all oral (spoken). Your child will not be expected to match the letter to the sound at this stage. The emphasis is on helping children to hear the separate sounds in words and to create spoken sounds.  

Phase 2 - Letters and Sounds Correct pronunciation Correct vocabulary We all need to use the same language at home and at school. Little and often is the key. Does not have to be formal. Link it to your child’s interests.

At Stannington First school we use the Read Write Inc synthetic phonics programme. A Guide to understanding Read Write Inc Phonics http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/resources/parent-tutorial-1-understanding-read-write-inc-phonics/

Segmenting Activity Use your ‘robot arms’ to say how many phonemes in each word. shelf dress sprint string

Did you get it right? shelf = sh – e – l – f = 4 phonemes dress = d - r - e – ss = 4 phonemes sprint = s – p – r – i – n – t = 6 phonemes string = s – t – r – i – ng = 5 phonemes

There are 44 Phonemes and we have to make sure that we are pronouncing them the same way at home and at school. http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/resources/sound-pronunciation-guide/

The 44 Phonemes

School Reading Books Phonics flashcards Topic books to read to your children Captions, sentence strips, ditties Books with simple words and sentences Reading Record Book – Please write a comment or tick to indicate that your child has read the book at home Have a collection of books on show for the parents to look at.

National Curriculum Guidelines

Introducing your child to the Read Write Inc picture and sound cards. http://www.ruthmiskin.com/en/resources/teaching-read-write-inc-phonics-in-nursery/

TRICKY WORDS Words that are not phonetically decode able ‘Tricky words’ or ‘Red words’ e.g. I, to, no, go, into … Some are ‘tricky’ to start with but will become decodable once we have learned the harder phonemes e.g. out

Now you have the knowledge…. Play lots of sound and listening games with your child. Read as much as possible to and with your child. Encourage and praise – get them to have a ‘good guess’. Ask your child’s teacher if you want to know more.

Useful websites www.ruthmiskintraining.com/parents Helpful tutorials and video clips www.phonicsplay.co.uk Fun interactive games for you and your child to play