Teacher Mama: A Phonics Primer

A Phonics Primer

I have had a few people ask me for some good activities for working on phonics skills with their child. This, as you may know, is a HUGE topic with tons and tons of information available both on-line and in print. I will try to share some best practices here as well as some games and activities to reinforce learning. This is not an exhaustive list by any means. I will add more posts as we go along, but this should be a good start.

First, some information:

What is Phonics? Phonics is a method for teaching reading and writing. Phonics develops the learner’s ability to hear, identify and manipulate phonemes to teach the relationship between the sounds and spelling patterns that represent them. The focus of phonics to teach children how to decode or sound out new words.

For more information about phonics, check out these links

PBS Parents: Phonics Basics http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/reading-language/reading-tips/phonics-basics/
K12 Reader: What is Phonics http://www.k12reader.com/what-is-phonics/

What can I do at home to help my child with phonics?

Follow the sequence of learning your child is doing in school. If they are working on consonant sounds, do the same at home. If they are working with short vowels, then do that. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. Your job as parents is to 1) read with your child 2) model decoding 3) guide your child as they attempt to decode 4) provide your child with appropriate reading materials.

If you are interested in looking at some recommended sequences (there are many different ones out there) for teaching phonics, here are a few links.

National Right to Read Foundations- Phonics Primer http://www.nrrf.org/PhonicsPrimer.pdf
The Natural Phonics Primer: How to Teach Ithttp://donpotter.net/PDF/Natural%20Phonics%20Primer.pdf
Reading Together: Parent’s Phonics Primer http://www.readingtogether.org/parentsphonics5.html

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