Phase 1 is for life, not just for preschool! It could be argued that the skills being developed in Phase 1 of ‘Letters and Sounds’ actually begin pre-birth. How powerful is that? Midwives and health professionals strongly advocate ‘talking’ to ‘bumps’ and send a powerful message to parents, family, and friends about the benefits of …
There is probably no trickier part of early phonics than teaching children how to rhyme! Some children just get it straight away, and others take literally years, and can often read fluently before they are able to rhyme successfully. It is the one area I am asked about the most in early phonics, and so …
Rhyming is a very hard concept, and a lot of children take a long time to understand it. In ten years of teaching young children, I have seen many children learn to read fluently, and still not be able to complete a rhyming string. However, there are some steps you can put in place, to …
Of all the skills to learn in life, one of the most important is learning to listen. This underpins all areas of the curriculum. However, it is easier said than done. We have all seen children that roll around on the floor whenever it is time to listen to an adult. So how do we …
You might have heard about rhythm sticks, and possibly rhythm sticks activities, but you’re not really sure what they are. Is so, then you’ve come to the right place. Rhythm sticks are one of the ultimate resources for children from the ages of 2 upwards, and can teach many skills. But what are they? Rhythm …
There are quite a few unusual terms bandied around in phonics, and these often muddy the waters and make it harder for parents and often teachers to understand how to teach it. The word ‘blending’ is definitely something you will hear a lot, but what exactly is it? Blending in phonics is combining broken up …
Blending and segmenting are very closely linked skills, and yet they are also kind of opposites. Both are really important to early phonics, and are needed for children to start reading and writing simple words. But what’s the difference between blending and segmenting? Blending is a skill needed for reading. Segmenting is used for writing. …
In ten years of working with children aged 3-5, I have found that one of the most important skills in early phonics is definitely segmenting. It is a crucial skill in early writing, and it is involved in reading too. But what exactly is it? Segmenting in phonics is the ability to separate a word …
For any of you that have taught early phonics to young children, the question may well have come up – ‘Do you teach blending or segmenting first?’ This is a common question, but one there seems no official answer to if you consult the usual authoritative channels. I have based my own personal answer to …