Phonics at East Tilbury Primary School

With phonics, children are taught to read by learning the phonemes (sounds) that represent graphemes (individual or groups of letters). 
With this knowledge, children can begin to read words by learning how to blend the sounds together. Unlocking how this alphabetic code works means they can learn to decode any word. For example, when taught the sounds ‘t’, ‘p’, ‘a’, ‘i’ and ‘s’ early on, children can read words such as ‘it’, ‘is’, ‘tap’, ‘tip’, ‘pat’, ‘sip’, and ‘sat’ by blending the individual sounds together to make the whole word. These words can also be broken down (segmented) into their phonemes for spelling. For example, the word ‘sat’ has three phonemes, ‘s’, ‘a’ and ’t’ which the children learn to write with the three graphemes (letters) ‘s’, ‘a’ and ‘t’ that they have been taught. 
Children will also be taught to read words – such as ‘once’, ‘was’ or ‘have’ – which don’t follow the phonic rules. When teaching children to read an irregular/tricky word, you should ask the child to sound out the parts of the word they know (for example, in the word ‘was’, they can sound out ‘w’ and ‘s’). Next, point out the irregular or tricky bit of the word (for example, the ‘a’ in ‘was’ sounds like /o/) and encourage them to sound out and blend the word (/w/ /o/ /z/). 
Top tips on phonics 
 Say the sounds correctly 
It’s important that the sounds are pronounced correctly, as they would sound in speech. Try not to add ‘uh’ to consonant sounds, such as /t/ and /p/, as this makes it trickier to blend the sounds together into words. Link sounds and letters to make words Children are taught in school to quickly see a link between the phoneme (sound) and a written representation of that sound (grapheme). At home, encourage your child to do the same when playing with fridge magnets in the kitchen, for example, or ‘writing’ when you are writing.  
Don’t be scared – make it fun!  
Phonics can seem daunting for parents who were probably taught to read in a rather different way. However, simple games such as ‘I spy’ are great for helping children learn to read because they have to listen to sounds. Say, “I spy, with my little eye, something that begins with (for example) the sound ‘f-f-f ’” Look at the ‘football’ or the ‘fridge’. Make sure you refer to the first sound (not the first letter). Take it in turns, with your child saying, “I spy…” Make it lots of fun.  
Practise!  
Encourage your child to use their phonic knowledge when they are practising their reading. Make sure that they look at each letter in turn, all through each word. Encourage them to work out the sounds and then blend them together to make the whole word. Praise them for trying to use all the letters rather than guessing from just the first letter or the picture. 
 
What do I do if my child doesn’t enjoy reading? 
 Make sure your child isn’t tired, hungry or desperate to watch their favourite TV programme when you read to them. Sit with them for a short time every day and read a book with them on a subject that interests them, whether that’s cars, animals, or sports. Don’t expect them to read it for themselves. Just show them how interesting it is to be able to read so that they want to do it for themselves.  
For many children, especially boys as they get older, non-fiction books are more interesting than fiction, so it may be as simple as changing the type of books you are reading together. Talk to your child’s teacher or a local children’s librarian to see what books are available that match your child’s interests.  
Give plenty of praise. Let your child know how pleased you are when he or she looks at a book. Show interest in what they have chosen. Children really do develop at their own rates when it comes to reading. 
 
To read the guide ‘Enjoy Reading: A guide to reading at home.’ in full, click the link or scan the QR code.  
Enjoy-Reading-Guide.pdf (pearson.com)  
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