Welcome to our phonics awareness sessionCommunication is the foundation for just about every aspect of a child’s development. Helping build good speech and language skills

is one of the most important things you can do as a parent.

Speaking and listening skills form the foundation on which reading and writing is built.

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Welcome, Witaj, Bem-vindo, Sushri akal, Fàilte, Bienvenidos, Yin dee, Yo koso, Benvenuto, Swaagat, স্বা�গতম

Everyday experiences can make for great

adventures A trip to the shops or a bus journey can be

fantastic opportunities for looking, listening and talking

Chatting and singing together develops listening and

speaking skills

Sharing books inspireschildren to love books and

want to learn to read

Scribbling and drawingdevelops early writing skills and helps children express

themselves

Noticing signs and words out in the street helps

children understand the world around them

Sharing your enjoyment of reading and talking about stories is the most important way you can support your child in their learning to read.

• Spend time snuggling up with your child and sharing books and stories. Make sure a selection of books is always available for your child to look at independently if they choose.

How can I help my child learn to read?

Changes in voice and exaggerated facial expressions help to support listening and attention by building interest and anticipation. For some children, these clues are also vital to supporting their understanding of the story.

Explain the meaning of new words. Most importantly though, show the fun that can be gained by listening to stories.

Top tips for reading stories aloud http://www.wordsforlife.org.uk/top-tips-reading-stories-aloud

Rhyming games

I know a word .....that rhymes with cat, you need to put one on your head

and the word is...hat. that rhymes with toes you use it to smell and the word

is ...nose.

Keep the rhymes slow so you can emphasise the rhyming words. As children become familiar with rhyme, they will supply the missing word themselves.

Alliteration

• Children need practice to identify initial sounds in words. We need to tune their ears to HEAR the sounds. Alliteration refers to words that all begin with the same sounds.

• Encourage your child to listen to and recite tongue twisters (e.g. She sells sea shells by the sea shore)

• Make up silly words that begin with the same sound as your name. (mischievous Mandy made a muddy mess)

Developing phonological awarenessPlaying with sounds and tuning your child’s ears into sounds will develop phonological awareness that is the ability to discriminate different sounds.

Games to develop listening and discriminating skillshttp://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/SoundStimuli.html http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/AnimalBingo.html

Letters and Sounds

Letters and Sounds is a phonics teaching programme. It aims to build children's speaking and

listening skills as well as to prepare children for learning to read by developing their phonic

knowledge and skills.https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/Letters%20and%20Sounds-1.pdf

Letters and Sounds - Phase 1Through fun activities and games your children will be

learning to:

– Have fun with sounds– Listen carefully– Develop their vocabulary– Speak confidently to you, other adults and children– Tune into sounds– Listen and remember sounds– Talk about sounds– Understand that spoken words are made up of different sounds

When children have experienced a wealth of listening activities and they are able to distinguish

between the sounds in words, they will be ready to learn to identify letters and their sounds. Sounds (phonemes) are represented by letters (graphemes)

Link for information on phonicshttp://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/home/reading-owl/expert-help/phonics-made-easy

Articulation of letter soundsIt is very important that children are taught to pronounce letter sounds (phonemes) correctly from the start, since it is very difficult for them to unlearn something once they go to school.

Saying sounds correctly This is really important when you are helping your child to learn the sounds. Just remember not to add an uh to the end of the consonant sounds – so say mmm (as in Mummy) not muh, lll (as in lollipop) not luh, etc. Link for letter sounds http://www.focusonphonics.co.uk/sound.htm

Games for children http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/letter-b/play.htm?f

Linking sounds to letters Encourage your child to make a link between the sound and the written letter shape. Start with the sounds in your child’s name and then look out for them in signs. The sound m in McDonalds is always a good starting point too!

Sound talk• The separate sounds (phonemes) are spoken aloud,

in order, all through the word, and are then merged together into the whole word.

• The merging is called blending, and is a vital skill for reading. Eg: c-a-t = cat

• Click for sound chart and making sounds into words http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/home/reading-site/expert-help/phonics-made-easy

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Ways you can support your children at home: sound talk

Try breaking down simple words when you are giving instructions or asking questions, such as ‘Can you find your h-a-t hat?’ ‘Where is the c-a-t cat?’ ‘Sit on the s-ea-t seat’ ‘Eat your f-oo-d food’.

We incorporate some of the aspects of Read Write Inc in Nursery alongside letters and sounds. •Use your magnetic eyes•My turn, your turn•Fred talk

Top tips for reading stories aloud http://www.wordsforlife.org.uk/top-tips-reading-stories-aloud

Free activity booklet for familiesThis downloadable "I spy a picture book!" booklet is packed full of useful ideas that you can use at home every day. It contains fun, simple activities to help your child develop speaking, listening, reading and writing skills ready for schoolhttp://www.wordsforlife.org.uk/sites/default/files/images/I-spy-a-picture-book.pdf

Free online e-books http://www.wordsforlife.org.uk/families-getting-ready-for-school

Milestones - These milestones give you an idea of how your child’s communication skills might develop from birth to age 11. http://www.wordsforlife.org.uk/

Phase 1 activities http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/Phase1Menu.htm

Hickory Dickory DockPhonics learning opportunitiesTo know and join in with familiar songs and rhymes.To experience and appreciate rhythm and rhyme.

Sound StartersPhonics learning opportunitiesTo develop listening skills.To describe sounds and talk about the differences between them.To know a range of words that can be used to describe sounds.

Who is at the zoo? (Animal Bingo)Phonics learning opportunitiesTo develop listening skills.To develop the ability to imitate sounds with the voice.

Phonics learning opportunities - To practise blending for reading.NB. Using fake words ensures that children have to learn to blend and not just recognise words by sight. As children get older and need to be able to read more and more words they will find it increasingly tricky to learn them all by sight.

Buried Treasure http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/BuriedTreasure2.html

Dragons Den http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/DragonsDen.html

Picnic on Pluto - http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/PicnicOnPluto.html

Sound Buttons Blending - Click on the letters and drop them into the phoneme frame. As you click each letter you will hear its sound. http://www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/kentict/content/games/phaseTwoAs1_v2.html

Match picture - Phase 2. Sound out the word then click the matching picture http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/PictureMatch.html

Getting Ready for School

• Pencil grip – “frog on the log”

• Writing name in lower case letters with a capital letter to start

• Letter sounds and names

• Putting on coats and shoes

• Using the toilet independently and washing hands

http://www.theschoolrun.com/helping-your-child-learn-write

The most important first step in learning to write is for the child to learn to follow the right ‘movement pathway’ of each letter. This is because our writing system goes from left to right and correct formation follows this principle. It also ensures that the letters begin and end in the right place for moving on to the next letter and, later, for joining. If young children are allowed to form letters ‘their own way’ these habits become established and may be very difficult to correct later.When little fingers get the habit of forming each letter the right way, handwriting becomes much easier

Letter formation

anticlockwise circle starting at 2 o’clockEncourage this as soon as your child shows interest in drawing circles / faces

Rhythm and Rhyme

Children need to be able to ‘tune-in’ to the rhythm of our language and the magic of rhyming words.

• Share rhyming books with your child. Make it fun and use plenty of expression. • Singing lots of songs, in the car, in the bath, walking etc.• Make up silly words to rhyme with names and other words (e.g. Mandy-pandy-

dandy-landy).• Collect objects/pictures of things that rhyme. Play matching pairs.• Learn nursery rhymes and then change the words that rhyme. (E.g. Humpty

Dumpty sat on a box, Humpty Dumpty saw a big fox.)• Sing action rhymes and songs with a beat that they can move to . Wheels on

the bus with actions http://more2.starfall.com/m/level-k/nursery-rhymes-content/load.htm?f&d=demo&n=wheels&y=1

Rhyming books

Regularly include rhyming books and read with plenty of intonation and expression so that the children tune into the rhythm of the language and the rhyming words.

Encourage the children to join in with repetitive phrases such as Run, run, as fast as you can, You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man.

http://www.starfall.com/n/holiday/gingerbread/load.htm?f&n=main

Songs you can singhttp://more2.starfall.com/m/math-k/song7/load.htm?f&d=demo 5 little speckled