Phonics refers to a method of teaching people to read by assigning sounds to the letters—or groups of letters—in the alphabet.
Remember back in kindergarten when your teacher said, “A says a for ant”? That’s it! Phonics.
This approach to teaching children to read goes way back…all the way to the 1800s, and is still the method used today.
Your child will be exposed to phonics in school, on TV, in their educational games…everywhere!
This is good! Because as it turns out, you will need to prepare your child to read BEFORE they go to kindergarten.
Did you know that? Sometimes parents don’t realize this. It’s true…your child will already be behind if they aren’t reading on the first day of kindergarten. Yikes!
But there’s lots of help…
I’d like to invite you to check out the videos section of this website. You will find the “Letter Sounds Demonstration Video”, which will teach you how to properly say each letter sound—so that you can start teaching your child.This is so important! As adults, we are used to simply reading words without thinking about what each and every letter says.
For example, what does “x” say all by itself? In the video you will find out, and how to teach it!
If you’re thinking…”Oh I know what the letters say”, you might be surprised like I was when I went to school to be a Montessori teacher.
For example: Most people say that “b” says “buuuh”. Wrong! If it’s taught that way, the child will sound out the word “big” like: “buuuuig, buuig, bug!” Or maybe ask what a “buuuig” is? So confusing!
If you give your child a correct foundation with the letter sounds, then they will have a much easier time on their reading journey!
More help…
In this website, there is a great freebie that will help to make learning letter sounds more fun! The Miss Wendy’s Alphabet Coloring Pages are a creative way to encourage your child to associate the letter with the sound.Your child can color the letter, trace the letter, or even better—trace the letter over and over with lots of colors to make it more colorful and fun! The more times they trace it and say the letter sound out loud, the faster they will learn what that letter sound says.
Each letter has a fun picture associated with what the letter sound says, as well as the word with that letter in it. Put the picture up on the refrigerator or someplace highly visible, and point to it often and ask your child, “What does this sound say?”.
***Fun tip: Have a dinner where all of the foods begin with the letter your child is working on... Put a note with the letter on or next to each food.
You could have a “b” dinner with braised beef, baked beans, broccoli and biscuits. You can make it silly: for dessert…brownies, banana splits and bubble gum!
Family members can help too! When asking for, or talking about the food, put emphasis on the “b” sound. “Please pass the b, b, brownies.” Have fun with it!
Even more help…
Once your child has learned their letter sounds, they are ready to begin blending the letters to make words…reading!Beginning with phonics readers that are phonetically correct is essential for your child’s ultimate success!
Sight words, such as “the” or “was”, are words that are not phonetically correct. Yet so many beginning reading books are filled with them. Sadly, this can make your child’s early reading attempts feel very overwhelming. *check out the last blog for more information on this*
With Miss Wendy’s Favorite Phonetic Books, your child will have a much more successful experience from their first attempts at reading! This is because all of the words are phonetically correct, with the exception of only three sight words: a, the & is.
That’s it! Once your child has learned these simple sight words, they are ready to read all 18 books in the kit!
These books come in three levels. Level One books have short, easier to read words. Levels Two and Three have increasingly longer, but phonetically correct words, to provide your child with more of a challenge.
Your child will discover fun and engaging stories! They will find out what happens when a magical elf casts a spell on an unsuspecting frog, or what’s inside that box in the attic, or how one friend can help another learn to swim.
I hope your child will have a blast with these phonics readers!
Miss Wendy