Reading and Phonics
Phonics and Reading at home
This is a helpful guide for things that you can do to help further support your child’s reading at home.
Jargon buster:
Segmenting = breaking a word into its individual sounds c- a -t
Blending = blending the sounds back together in order to read the word
Top tips:
- When you read together ask your child to find letters that they know
- Connect what your child reads with what happens in life. If reading a book about animals, relate it to your last trip to the zoo.
- Use your child’s name- Point out the link between letters and sounds. Say, "John, the word jump begins with the same sound as your name. John, jump. And they both begin with the same letter, J."
- Go ahead and read your child's favourite book for the 100th time! As you read, pause and ask your child about what is going on in the book.
- Have your child use a finger to trace a letter while saying the letter's sound. Do this on paper, in sand, or on a plate of sugar.
Games you can play to support phonics:
- I spy –This is great for helping children to distinguish initial sounds in words
- Play the robot game-break down simple words into each individual sound example: sh-i-p or c-a-t ask children to blend the words back together.
- You can reverse the robot game
- Whilst shopping give your child the first sound of an item on your shopping list and get them to guess what you’re buying
- Pick a letter and challenge yourselves to see how many different places you can find that letter- food packaging, tv guide, sign posts, shops, books etc.
Psssst….We learn the letter sounds before the letter names for example the letter M would be taught as ‘mmm’ rather than ‘em’ .
Websites that support phonics:
The Alphablocks guide to phonics – Cbeebies.co.uk
