What is Phonics?
Phonics is a method used to teach children how to understand the relationship between sounds (phonemes) and written letters (graphemes) in the English language.
Phonics teaches children that each letter or letter combination represents a specific sound in spoken language. For example, the letter "b" represents the /b/ sound, "c" represents the /k/ sound, and the combination "sh" represents the /sh/ sound.
Phonemic awareness is our ability to split words into their smallest sound units (individual phonemes) and pronounce them in isolation. For example, segmenting a word such as cat into its three letters c-a-t.
Children are then taught to blend the sounds together sequentially, moving left to right, in order to pronounce the complete word ‘cat’.
Why is it important?
Phonics is at the heart of how children learn to read. Understanding the relationship between letters and sounds teaches them how to decode words they haven’t seen before. A tool used into adulthood to be able to read unfamiliar words.
For example, read the words below:
Wingardium Leviosa
When you first read these words, you probably used your letter-sound knowledge. Once exposed to the word, you will recognise it quicker the next time around.This transition from slowly sounding out the words, to rapidly recognising them, this is what is called “learning to read by sight”. Every reader must make this transition to read fluently.
The complexity of English makes systematic and explicit phonics instruction more important.
English is a more complex language than other alphabetic languages such as Finnish or Italian. While some other alphabetic languages have close to 1:1 letter sound correspondence (each letter has one sound associated with it), written English has 44 sounds associated with the 26 letters of its alphabet. Some sounds are represented by combinations of letters (eg. /sh/), and some letters are represented in spoken language by more than one sound (eg. the letter c can be /s/ or /k/)
Credit: Read Write Inc
The complexity of English makes it difficult for children to learn the rules (and the exceptions) without careful systematic and explicit teaching.
What is Systematic Phonics?
Sequential Learning: Systematic phonics instruction follows a logical progression, gradually introducing more complex phonemes and patterns after the basics are mastered.
Phonics instruction typically starts with specific letters and letter combinations rather than teaching the alphabet in alphabetical order. This approach, often referred to as "systematic phonics," is designed to introduce children to phonetic patterns and sounds that are more conducive to forming simple words and building early reading skills. The choice of letters like m, a, s, d, i, and t, serves several important purposes:
Common Consonants and Vowels: These letters represent some of the most common consonant and vowel sounds in English. Teaching these sounds first allows children to start forming and reading simple words more quickly.
Formation of Early Words: These letters can be combined to create simple, short words (e.g., "sat," "mat," "sit"), giving children early success in reading and building their confidence.
Word Blending: These initial letters provide opportunities for children to blend consonant and vowel sounds together, an essential skill for reading and decoding words.
Rhyming Words: Teaching these letters allows for the introduction of rhyming words, which helps children notice patterns and similarities in word families.
Beginning, Middle, and Ending Sounds: These letters cover a range of positions within words, allowing children to practice recognizing beginning, middle, and ending sounds in different words.
Building a Solid Foundation: By focusing on specific phonemes that can be easily combined to create simple words.CVC Words: The letters m, a, s, d, i, and t form the basis for many consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, which are some of the first words children encounter in early reading materials.
