At the
risk of being overly simplistic, teaching phonics is teaching
your child the relationship between our written language and the sounds
that the individual letters or combination of letters make when spoken.
And using these basic rules in order to read and write.
No matter the
definition, teaching phonics is the art of getting children to
understand the relationship between written letters, the sounds they
make and the spoken word. Ultimately the goal of phonics instruction is
to have children recognize these various combinations and eventually
transform individual words and bring them together into complete
sentences.
Much of
teaching phonics is a steady systematic approach that allows time for
the
child to get plenty of practice and repetition with the letter sound
relationship using each new letter and sound as they learn them. It is
also a good idea to have the child combine their newly acquired skill
with that of spelling the word and even help them formulate this into
writing complete sentences and further along writing their own little
short stories.
Phonics
instruction is most effective when it begins at the kindergarten or
about the first grade level.
At this early age phonics instruction
should
begin with merely teaching the shapes and the names of each letter thus
laying the foundation for the letter/sound relationship that will soon
follow.
When teaching phonics you should insure that your child learns
this basic skill first. Then, as you progress taking the names of these
letters and the
sounds that they make, your instruction should then proceed to read and
write the words.
In
addition to the phonics instruction, your child should be systematically
building upon and what they have practiced and learned, thus insuring
that they continue to expand their knowledge of the alphabet.
Always
engage your child by reading stories to them, have them read aloud to
you both the words they learn and the sentences they build. As they gain
confidence and their phonetic toolbox grows, begin to have them engage
in writing and developing writing skills, first with words then with
sentences, and eventually even some short stories.
Remember
take a systematic approach to teaching phonics and always
allow plenty of time for practicing the new skill and your child will
have a foundation from which to grow.
