Phonics
Phonics is a way of teaching children to read quickly and skillfully. They are taught how to:
- recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes
- recognise the sounds that different combinations of letters make e.g. 'sh' and 'oo'
- blend these sounds together from left to right
Children can then use this knowledge to ‘de-code’ new words that they hear or see.
However, children in nursery have important steps to learn before they are ready for learning the letter sounds. At Featherstone Nursery School we use prephonics to develop a child’s ability to listen to, make, explore and talk about sounds. This is a vital phase that should never end for children, throughout this phase children will develop their speaking and listening skills. Below you can find some activities to support with this at home.
This phase is split into 7 aspects that are explored and developed through games.
Aspect 1 – Environmental sounds – The aim of this aspect is to raise children’s awareness of the sounds around them and to develop their listening skills.
Aspect 2 – Instrumental sounds – This aspect aims to develop children’s awareness of sounds made by various instruments and noise makers.
Aspect 3 – 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 and song.
Aspect 5 – Alliteration – This aspect focuses on initial sounds of words.
Aspect 6 – Voice sounds – The aim is to distinguish between different vocal sounds and to begin oral blending and segmenting.
Aspect 7 – Blending and segmenting – In this aspect, the main aim is to develop oral blending and segmenting skills.
We introduce Jolly Phonics when your child is ready to begin to learn the letter sounds. Here are some resources that will allow you to support your child with phonics at home:
