Phonics

How does phonics contribute to reading success?

Phonics builds on phonological awareness. During phonics lessons at school, children learn to connect the sound or phoneme to the letter of the alphabet or group of letters that is used to represent it.

How can families help with phonics learning at home?

• Teach children to write their name. Use a capital letter at the beginning and lower case for the rest of the letters. Write it for them and let them trace it, copy it, make it from play dough or draw it in sand.
• Point out words and letters when reading together. ‘There’s the letter M, it says mmm for Mummy. Can you see the S that says sss for Sam?’
• Encourage children to find the letters in their name or the names of family members and in other places such as books, signs, product packaging and shop windows.
• Point out different fonts, different ways to write the same letter, when reading and in your local environment.