Is your child struggling to read fluently or are you trying to teach a young child to blend and having trouble? Maybe your child has been taught the letter sounds and maybe even many letter combinations (e.g. ai, igh, ee etc...) and you cannot understand why your child cannot read well.
Why is my child doing these things? In short, your child, even if s/he has been taught phonics, is not blending, but guessing. This means that whoever taught your child phonics did not ensure that the child was hearing and feeling sounds in words to the point where s/he could easily sound out words to spell them: c-a-t, AND put them back together again to read them: c-a-t- = CAT. Other typical signs that this is the case include:
What is blending? Blending is the word we use to describe the putting of sounds together to make words. For example, a child may sound out a word: d-i-g. The child then needs to be able to hear that when we hear d-i-g it is the word DIG. Some children, for various reasons, do not do this automatically, as others might. This leads the child to learn words by heart and then, if s/he sees a word with similar letter patterns, s/he will presume that it is the same word, and rather than check the sounds in the word, will guess. It also has to be borne in mind that this is a two -way process and a child may be able to do it one way (most often to spell), but not the other (most often to read). If the parent sees a child sounding out accurately for spelling words such as BUS and CUT, then s/he can be forgiven for thinking that the child must also be able to sound out such words to read them. However, this again is not automatically the case. In my work with pupils who are struggling to read I often find that one is easier than the other, at least initially. Do not be too hard on yourself, if you taught your child to read - it is a mistake that even many teachers make. See below for the remedy. I thought guessing was a reading strategy Sadly, some teachers have mislead parents to believe that looking at pictures and guessing what the text says under the picture, is a way to learn to read. Sadly, the opposite is true: guessing is an enemy to learning to read. Although phonics is taught in UK schools, sometimes a child is given reading books that do not contain words that a child can decode. This can lead a child to guess and some teachers may not notice what is happening until the habit has been formed. How can I help my child? If your child is just learning to read for the first time - understand the pitfalls of teaching a child to read; understand that once a child knows all of the letter sounds and can hear the beginning sound of words, then the child must now learn to hear sounds in words and take them apart to spell (we call this segmenting words) and put them back together again to read (what we call blending). This stage may take much time and much patience be needed. It is helpful if teachers/parents a child's ear to hear sounds in words, before introducing the child to written words as otherwise a child may memorise the words before learning the skill. If you have an older child who has already memorised small words, like CAT and BUG then again, start with pictures, and then use nonsense words first orally and later to decode. This pack of 3 FREE to download Oral Blending Activities may help you. They are based on hearing sounds, but not seeing words. Here are three simple activities that you can do with either a younger or an older child. They are both listening activities, so the child will not be expected to spell or read the words. With just a little time spent each day, doing these activities, your child will hopefully soon be hearing sounds in words - separating them out as if to spell and putting them back together ready to sound out text.. The secret is to keep practising and to have a lot of patience. One day it will happen. Once the child can blend, see Reading Made Simple, my 100% FREE systematic Phonic Programme to teach reading, spelling and writing. For a small price you can check your child's progress at this level with my Phonic Diagnostic Assessment tool kit. This will help you to detect where your child is having difficulties. It may be individual letter sounds that are weak, or blending words such as MAT and TUB, or those with consonant blends such as FROG and MILK. Once the weakness has been identified you can begin work to remedy the situation. When our children first begin to learn to read we may take care to use phonics. Maybe your child's school uses phonics. Phonics is the proven, best method to teach all children to read and spell well. So your child starts to learn by phonics and you expect all to be well. For some, that is the end of the story. The child does well, learns to read fluently and the parent thinks no more about it. For others, the tale is some what different. Their child fails to make progress. They are told "Maybe s/he is late starter". "Don't worry, it will come!" Precious time passes and still the child cannot read. "What is wrong with my child?" Thinks the parent, and starts to have big concerns. For those children at school, the misery increases. The teacher does not seem to know how to help. The curriculum says the teacher must move on and the child has to go too - and while others can read the questions and the books, for those that cannot, there is little help. They fall behind in all subjects and their time at school is pretty much wasted. By the time the child reaches secondary school, s/he is often disillusioned and may have given up wanting to read, long before. What can a parent in these circumstances do, or do to prevent the case getting worse than it already is? Help is at hand. Reading Made Simple has been written just for such children and the good news is that it is 100% free. You can become your child's teacher and with a road map in front of you, and some guidance, and some determination to succeed, you can help your child, without needing to spend lots of money. Should I get a dyslexia assessment? These are very expensive to do privately and will only get a label without necessarily the help to go with it. A school may provide your child with a dyslexia friendly keyboard, headset and audio equipment, but if s/he cannot read, this may be of little help. If you suspect that your child may have symptoms of dyslexia, you can ask the school to pay for an assessment, though such an assessment is hard to get now. The Government's latest advice is that as the schools teach phonics, all children's needs should now be catered for - even those with potential dyslexia and that the school will provide what is necessary. The other problem is that there are many children needing help and there is probably going to be a long wait for help which may mean more time is wasted. You can help your child NOW. As a teacher of children who need help with reading and the author of Reading Made Simple, I work with such children. As part of my work , I have devised a series of simple tests that you can use to find out where to start your child on Reading Made Simple. This will make it easier for you to pin-point precisely where your child is having difficulties. Having identified the difficulties you can take action to help your child to learn the necessary skills, through the information contained, for FREE, on the website. The test assesses a child's ability to recognise the letter sounds and then to put them together and pull them apart to read and spell words such as cat, do, and frog. This may seem very simplistic, but experience shows me, time and time, again that a child struggling to make progress in reading or spelling has got left behind somewhere at this stage and is then relying on guess work. Many programmes tell the teacher which days to teach which lesson. Sadly not all children fall into this structure. Some needed more time on a skill and didn't get it. The programme moved on and the child was left with a handicap which then holds them back from their true potential. I have produced this simple test to find that place where your child got left behind
This kit is like having me there to assess your child. Your child need not even know it is a test. The instructions are easy to follow and the results easy to interpret and all the information you need is included in the Diagnostic Phonic Assessment Tool Kit. If you do the test and then have trouble interpreting it, despite the guidance, please contact me. Reading Made Simple is easy to use and as many parents say, it is so easy that you could be forgiven for thinking that your child is not learning until you see the progress that has been made. It structures the learning process so carefully so that all can succeed, given support from a parent who has read the programme and has followed it closely. Success* is built into the programme. Your child need not fail any longer! There are many resources, also for FREE, that you can use if they are helpful. *Reading Made Simple has helped many children of varying degrees of difficulty, from profound to no known difficulties, to learn to read successfully, however I cannot guarantee success as there are too many factors outside of my control. The programme is simple, but because it is so simple, every component of the programme is essential - none can be missed out. Please do read the teaching notes carefully. There are many resources, also for FREE, that you can use if they are helpful. Reading Made Simple. What are initial sounds?
Look at these words. The first letter is the initial sound. When you say each word, your mouth, teeth and tongue move into position to make the initial sound.
cat man danger house zebra light
We don't stop to think about it as it happens instinctively. Learning to read through phonics means becoming aware of the sounds that make words.
In order to learn to read and spell with phonics, a child first needs to learn the sounds for which the letters of the alphabet stand for and which can be heard at the beginning of words - the initial sounds. Having learnt to read with phonics, children will eventually be able to read many words that they have never seen before, by themselves. Teaching by phonics is a powerful method! It creates readers. No wonder it has not been liked by many progressives through the years! Take care when teaching initial sounds
It is very important that care is taken to teach this stage well, as it is the foundation for the development of all future reading and spelling.
Three things are necessary when teaching a child the initial sounds:
If any of these three are neglected, or only partially taught, then the child will not make progress. Despite this seeming very simple, many teachers and parents go wrong at this point. Many children fail to learn the sounds that each letter stand for sufficiently well to be able to recall them instantly. Others learn the sounds the letters stand for, but do not hear them at the beginning of words. These children can then appear to be in need of catch up work - when the truth is they were not taught properly to start with. First, make sure that you yourself know the initial sounds.How to teach initial sounds
Progress is quickest when the above three aspects are taught hand in hand together.
As a sound is learnt the child can be taught to apply his/her knowledge to find things that begin with that sound. If the child is also taught to write the letter, this further reinforces his/her knowledge and helps to develop spelling skills as well. It is best is, once you have decided that your child is ready to start learning to read, to keep the momentum going by teaching one new sound a day, five days a week. Follow this simple procedure. You will need:
You can also use our video (below) which provides pictures for each letter of the alphabet and is phonetically correct. Pause the video on a sound. You can use it to say the alphabet rhyme each day too (see below).
1. Introduce the new sound on a flashcard, or in an alphabet book. Tell your child:
This is the letter '_' and it makes the sound '_'.
2. Then look and see how many things on the 'a' page begin with that sound (or if using flashcards, how many things you can think of between you beginning with that sound).
To begin with you will have to help – if not tell - your child which words begin with the given sound. Emphasise the first sound as you say a word.
Here is an apple. Apple begins with ă' (sound not name). ' a..a.....a...apple. ' 'Here is an arrow, a..a...arrow'. 'What can you see that starts with 'a'?' a...a.............. See if the pupil can fill in the blank with a word beginning with the sound 'a'. If the pupil says another word, not starting with 'a', say: 'Yes, I can see a house too, but listen...hhhhhouse. Does 'hhhouse start with 'aaaaa'? No it doesn't. Listen, aaaaapple, aaanchor. Here's a word. (Point to another picture starting with 'a'). What's this? Child: 'ant' Teacher: 'Yes!' aaant starts with 'a'. Some children will sit for a while happy to look, others will be eager to go! Either way, keep the session short. We don't expect pupils to grasp this in one lesson. What must happen is that the pupil starts to learn that this symbol stands for the sound 'a' and some words begin with that sound. Watch for signs that the child is beginning to hear the intial sound for him/herself. Optional: Jolly Phonics assigns an action to the sound which many children find helpful. You don't need to use the same actions as Jolly Phonics to do this; simply find a word that is meaningful to your student that can be mimed and make the action along with saying the alphabet sounds. My class used to mime eating an apple, or making an ant crawl up their arms. They would pretend to bounce a ball for 'b', drive a car for 'c' and so on. If you wish to use the Jolly Phonics actions you can find them free here.
PLUS - every day say the alphabet rhyme
Practice the sounds already taught by saying the Alphabet Rhyme before you teach the new sound. Go through the flashcards of the initial sounds taught and say the alphabet rhyme, stopping at the letter that was last taught, ready to learn a new one. So: Day 2: Show the 'a' flashcard: Together say: Ay says 'a'. And then learn about the sound 'b'. Day 3: Show the 'a' flashcard and together say: Ay says 'a'. Show the 'b' flashcard and say together: Bee says 'b' - and then learn about the sound 'c'. Day 4: As before: Ay says 'a', Bee says 'b', See says 'c' - and then learn about the sound 'd'. And so on, adding a new card each day until you are saying it all the way to 'z'! This repetition is vital to the success of the programme. Continue to recite the Alphabet Rhyme in this way while the knowledge is cemented and until you are sure the pupil can give you the correct letter for any sound you make, or tell you which sound each letter stands for.
Then:
1. Throughout the day keep emphasising ‘AY says 'a'. Encourage the pupil to finish the sentence: ’AY says…?’ Say it for the pupil if s/he can’t remember. Encourage your child to look for things around the house that start with each day’s sound. It is a good idea if you can be constantly emphasising the first sound of words at suitable moments. Here are some ideas: ‘Where is your bbball? ‘Are you playing with your dddoll?’ 'Time for bbbbed!' 'Where is your ccccup?' 2. When you see words around and about, point to the first letter of the word (if it says the right sound, e.g not 'c' for 'circle') and say (for example) : 'Look, 't' for tomato.' This will help to train the child's ear to hear initial sounds.
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Assessment is the key
a) the child is beginning to learn which letter stands for which sound
b) the child is hearing sounds at the beginning of words
Then do whatever is necessary to help the child grasp the bits s/he is having trouble with. There is a useful video here explaining how to help children who have trouble hearing initial sounds of words.
For example, if it is a particular sound, then focus on that sound. Paint it, draw it in the sand, pin it up around the house/classroom and make frequent reference to it. Use your imagination and think what will help THIS child to get this point.
**Do not try to teach the child to blend cvc words until you are sure s/he is hearing the initial sounds of words.** Otherwise you will risk confusing the child and stalling progress.
Go at the child's pace, not the pace of a 'curriculum'.
www.readingmadesimple.weebly.com
Our programme can be tailor fitted to any child. You are in control of how fast or slow you go and how you teach. We give guidance, but remember - when teaching phonics you need to fit the programme to the child, not the child to the programme.
Find a way of helping the child to reach the goals.
We help you to do just that - succeeding where others fail.
When I checked, the child had not been taught to apply her knowledge. She knew the sounds, but did not know how to hear the first sound in a word. It seemed that she was doing well - until she was asked to put the sounds together and it was a meaningless task for her.
What sound does this word start with. Listen carefully, I'll say it slowly: ___________.
mouse zip cotton goat lamp nail van
button yellow desk hair mop star wash
leg ant egg ink on tick
horse banana finger job plate up
For some children it might just mean that you need to spend more time making sure that they actually understand that these are sounds we use when we speak and that they are at the beginning of words. You can use ourgames to help you.
Tell your pupil that when we speak we use sounds. Words are sounds put together to make words. Each word is made up of sounds put together. First we need to learn to hear the first sound in a word.
Video to help children struggling to hear initial sounds
It is absolutely essential that reading be taught by phonics and not by the so-called "look-say" methods currently in vogue in the public schools. If the child is not taught to read correctly, then the entire school program which follows will be so difficult that the child will have a very great disadvantage.
Many children coming through the school system think they can read-but all they are doing is memorizing certain words using a look-say method. This leads to very poor reading which will top out at a certain level, yet typically the student will not seek help because he thinks he knows how to read. He just thinks he does not enjoy reading.
After the child can read, then he or she should be encouraged to read several hours each day in books of gradually increasing difficulty in order to build reading skills and confidence." Dr. Arthur Robinson
Not only can we speak, but we are able to write down what we say so that other people can 'hear'
our words in our absence. We call that 'reading' and the acquisition of this skill provides the gateway into every kind of learning and understanding.
It ought to be easy to learn to speak and to read. Babies soon begin to copy the speech sounds they hear around them, especially as parents or siblings help them to discern which sounds are most important. Learning to read can begin at that stage too as very young children imitate those specific speech sounds which are the building blocks of written language.
Altogether, when we speak we utter 44 phonemes: 26 of these are easily learnt as pupils learn to match the letters of the alphabet to objects that begin with that sound, 'a' for 'apple', 'b' for 'ball', etc. saying the sound the letter stands for, not it's name. Eventually pupils learn that the phonemes 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u' as they are used in some words, stand for the name of the letter and not it's sound: gate, here, ride, home, tune, for example. Later they will discover that more new phonemes are made when 2 or 3 letters work together. Five of these new sounds are made with two consonants, 'sh', 'ch', 'th', 'ck', 'ng'. Boat, girl and book are examples of vowel sounds and vowel consonant combinations.
All of these phonemes are dealt with individually and this website will help you to know how to go about blending them into words.
There are only 44 phonemes, but they can be represented by many more combinations of letters. This means simply that sometimes there is more than one way of expressing the same phoneme in writing. The 'ai' sound looks different in 'rain', 'play', 'eight' and 'plate'.
So learning these phonemes is a bit like learning to unlock a code. Rather than having to learn lots of individual words by heart, we teach children the code and then they can unlock many words, even if they have never seen them before. This is why a good phonic system is empowering.
Therefore, although the main teaching session each day is short, the careful teacher will be constantly looking for opportunities to apply the lessons to their students daily activities. This will ensure maximum progress.
An easy to use, FREE phonics reading and spelling programme
Amazing things. Two year olds reading. The whole of Peter and Jane finished by age 5 if not sooner - which in case you don't know would enable the reader to pick up the Authorised Version of the Bible and pretty much be able to read any passage from it. That's the age most children are when they start to learn their alphabet sounds!
Most phonics programmes teach either reading or spelling. We aim to teach both. We take one tiny step at a time and build the next step carefully onto it, building success, often where others have failed. Not all phonics programmes are equal.
Don't be put off if your child has speech problems. A phonic programme fits well with speech therapy. Teach your child to read as s/he learns to talk. My son was able to finish Peter and Jane by six and a half, having only started talking aged 3 and half with a couple of words. He could read better than he spoke, but his reading then brought his speaking on.
FAQ
The phonic language (phonemes, graphemes, digraphs etc...) is so complicated - do the children need to know it?
No - and nor do you! It only complicates what should be simple. I deliberately refer to them all simply as 'sounds'. Little children (unless they become graduate linguists) will not need to remember this vocabulary - it serves no purpose in the process of learning to read and spell.
Can all children learn with phonics?
There are a very few children/adults who can not hear the phonic sounds. I repeat - a very few. In most cases of phonics failing, it is due to the teaching method/the teacher's lack of experience, not the fault of phonics per se.
Phonics works with all children regardless, when taught well, as even those very few who do not hear the sounds, benefit from a good phonic programme teaching reading and spelling in a sctructured way, grouping patterns of words together (e.g: rain, pain, Spain, snail etc..) One of the main pitfalls I see that causes many children to supposedly 'fail' with phonics, is not spending enough time ensuring the child can blend (put the sounds together to make a word - c..a..t.. cat), and segment (isolate the sounds in a word cat: c..a..t..). Ensuring the pupil is competent in these two skills will ensue success, Do not rush over these stages.
What's wrong with 'look and say' methods?
Some children seem to start well with whole words methods but come unstuck later when they meet more and more words they have never seen before and have no plan for working out what they say. Or they come unstuck with spelling. Added to which, when your child is young you may not know that they have a difficulty such as dyslexia - which can be overcome as far as reading and spelling is concerned with a synthetic phonic approach. Better to teach phonics from the start and eliminate years of anguish.
Conclusion:
I thoroughly reccommend the two books I have advertised in this post, if you would seriously like to know why phonics is the best method to teach reading and spelling.
A spring phonics game to help children
spring ahead in reading
as they tackle words with more than one syllable.
How to play the Spring Phonics Game
Having printed the Spring Phonics Game and cut out the pictures and the words, the words are put into a feely bag (or small box, face down) and the pictures laid face up on the table . Players have a counter each and take it in turns to move their 'frog' one stone at a time towards the pond - unless they have picked a 'Miss a turn' card. On each move the player takes a word card from the feely bag and reads it. The player should then match the word to a picture card. Correctly read words can be kept, while incorrectly read cards must be returned to the bag. Help can be given to match the words to the correct pictures.
Play continues until someone reaches the pond first. At this point, players count how many pictures they have correctly read and the winner is the one with the most.
Tips for playing the Spring Phonics Game
Only use one or two 'Miss a turn' cards. That 'winning' feeling will help the child to think 'I can do this' and be willing to play again and again, each time improving his/her ability to read the words. Don't worry if the pupil begins to recognise the words without sounding them out - but dont let him/her guess!
For more confident readers, use more 'Miss a turn' cards, and give less help. This will challenge the child to work harder to collect picture cards and not make mistakes.
In both cases, always comiserate with losers, and say 'It's only a game. Shall we play again and you might win?'
Let's look at the Spring Phonics Games words:
f r o g b u d s n e s t e g g s
blo ssom cat kins
Now look at these spring words:
daff o dil cr o cus t u lip
Bluebells chicks frogspawn
fl ow er s butt er fly
A first reader that your child can read for him/her self once this game has been played
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Make sure your pupil has been introduced to the necessary phonics sounds before playing this game
My Spring Phonics Game is suggested for those readers who have completed Stage 7 of Reading Made Simple.
So that you can work out if this Spring Phonics Game is appropriate for your child, I have listed the words contained in the game, with their phonics sounds marked, below:
nest
eggs frog bud blossom catkins |
Tulip
Crocus Daffodil |
chicks
Bluebells Primrose frogspawn tadpole |
flowers
butterfly |
The Spring Phonics Game...
and easy to play - like all of our games!
Click the picture to download!
If you like our games, please tell us and your friends!
If something is wrong, tell us before you tell your friends!
Welcome
Hello, I'm Lilibette, qualified teacher (B.Ed Hons). I have taught phonics in mainstream education, followed by have home-educated my two sons to 18, and am now a private tutor.
Reading Made Simple (a completely free systematic phonic reading programme) and Sound-it-out are the results!
I aim to bring advice and resources aimed at enabling parents and teachers to EASILY teach phonics effectively. That is: to help children become life-long readers, forming a bedrock on which all further education can be built. My mother helps to draw the pictures and between us we have many years experience of teaching KS1, special needs and ESL. We hope you enjoy browsing our site!
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