Learning to Read through Phonics is important because it helps children to map out sounds into spellings and decode words of English. Phonics is the understanding of how letters combine to make sounds and words, which is a crucial step toward learning to read. If simply put below are the elements towards Learning to Read through Phonics:
- Understanding the Sound of letters(Phonemic Awareness)
- Develop Phonic Skills (Blending sounds)
- Recognizing Sight words
- Building Vocabulary
- Reading Comprehensions
1- Understanding the Sound of letters(Phonemic Awareness)
Phonics teaches young learners how to read letters or groups of letters by saying their corresponding sounds. For example, when they see the word “rat” the letter “r” sounds like rrrr and in snake letter s sounds like /sss/. Phonemic Awareness cab be created by various resources, like ABC rhymes videos, Alphabet Charts or Basic Alphabet Worksheets.
So, Check out our below worksheets to begin your kid’s phonics journey.
Also, Check out our below activities which encourage (Phonemic Awareness) in kids:
Also check out our super-cute Animal Alphabet Drawings.
2- Develop Phonic Skills (Blending sounds)
Once students grasp the alphabet, and know the sound each letter represents they continue on to blend these letter-sound pairings together to read a word. These same sounding words are called CVC(consonant-Vowel-Consonant). For example, when faced with the word cat a student might run their finger under the first letter and make the initial /k/ sound, then /a/, and, finally, /t/. This stage has three elements of recognizing sounds in a word :
- The Beginning sound
- The Middle Vowel Sounds
- The Ending Sounds
So, Check out our resources to progress through this stage of your kids Phonics journey:
Also check out some fun activities to learn Beginning sounds of CVC words and Vowels below:
3- Recognizing Sight Words
Sight words are words that should be memorized to help a child learn to read and write. Learning sight words allows a child to recognize these words at a glance. Knowing common, or high frequency, words by sight makes reading easier and faster.
So, Check out our resources to progress through this stage of your kids Phonics journey:
Research shows that children who develop phonemic awareness and letter-sound knowledge early on are more likely to be strong, successful readers. Children build this first skill of reading aloud, practicing nursery rhymes, and playing letter and word games.
4- Building Vocabulary
Vocabulary refers to the collection of words that a kid knows and uses. Vocabulary development is the process of acquiring new words over a period of time. Developing good vocabulary helps a young readers gain confidence while reading.
So, Check out our resources to progress through this stage of your kids Phonics journey:
5- Reading Short Comprehensions
Once a child has mastered Letter sounds, Blending sounds to form words and high frequency sight words. He should then be able to read short comprehensions, with CVC words and sight words.
So, Check out our resources to progress through this stage of your kids Phonics journey:
Pre-Reading Activities for Students
Pre-Reading skills can be built in various way by parents to a help their kids begin to read through phonics:
- Reading aloud to the kid as often as possible
- Visual display of the letters of the alphabet
- Spelling their name on paper and sounding it out for them
- Encourage your preschooler to pay attention to the sounds in words
- Singing songs and nursery rhymes together while pointing towards the matching words.
- Giving books to your child and let him explore, irrespective of he can read or not.Telling your child stories and letting them tell stories to you, as well
So as a result of phonics, a child can learn to read in a smooth and a transitioned manner. Hence, it’s great experience for fun for kids.
Having said so much about phonics and reading. One should always bear in mind that every kid transitions differently so for every single kid the readiness for reading may come at different ages.
For teaching more basic concepts to toddlers check out our Free printable Toddler busy book!
Information for Parents about Why Phonics is Important?
What is phonics?
Phonics is a way of teaching children to read quickly and skillfully. learning to read through phonics implying the following things:
• Recognizing the sounds that every individual letter makes;
• Identifying different combinations of letter sounds – such as ‘sh’ or ‘cl’ or ‘dr’
• Blending the letter sounds together to make a word.
Through phonics kids can learn how to ‘de-code’ new words that they hear or see. This is the very first steps in learning to read.
Why phonics for reading?
As per suggested by many researches, if phonics is taught in a structured ad a planned way ie starting with easiest sounding words and then progressing to complex ones, it paves way for effective learning and faster reading in young children.
Reading through phonics can be started as early as 2 years however it is very helpful for kids aged 5-7 years, who are ready to adsorb new concepts easily.
Once the kid learns to read through phonics not only he enjoys to read new words but also can decode complex and difficult words with ease. Hence, phonics is not only important to learn how to read but also gives them confidence to handle bigger words skillfully.
Kids who learn to read through phonics also tend to read more accurately and fluently than their counterparts who have been taught reading through sight.
Helping Kids with Phonics
Teaching how to learn through Phonics works best when the kid is given loads of encouragement and positive motivation to read books. School and Parents play a very vital role in helping the kids enjoy reading books.
Some really simple, practical and useful tips to make your child learn through phonics are given below:
● Always be aware about the schools approach towards phonics. This helps in reiteration and reinforcement of the same at home. For example, the class teacher shall help you with the letters or sounds which they do every week in class.
● You can then highlight these sounds when you read to your kid at home. Most often they start with letter sounds and then move to same sounding three lettered words like ‘cat’, ‘sat’, ‘rat’ .
● Most often young kids read through pictures. There is nothing wrong with it. However motivate your kids to sound out the unfamiliar words along with the pictures. Once your child reads the unfamiliar word, talk about what it means and help him or her to follow it through the story.
● It’s very important to know the right set of phonics books which would be appropriate for the level at which the kid is. You can approach your child’s teacher for the same.
● Everyday reading is a great habit. Dedicate a specific time for reading books with your child. Grandparents or older sibling can read with the kids too. Encourage the child to blend the sounds all the way through a word.
● Apart from books there are many activities which can help the child to blend letter sounds to make a word. Check the below activities which can actually help in learning to blend letter sounds into a word.
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