phonics



Millions of tiny fragments work together when
the peacock fans his beautiful plumes.
The fragments of phonics work in the same way for your child.

Your child learned to speak words by imitating the sounds you say. 

Phonics is Greek word meaning sound. Your phone is a tool for you to hear the sounds of someone speaking, and now text enables you to read what someone would say to you. 

Written language is the total collection of agreed upon letters and letter teams which stand for the sounds in spoken words. This collection is called the phonics code.

Some bits of the phonics code are easy; some are tricky. The letter for the sound of m is always the same: mouse, camel, arm. But, the written f sound can be: frog, photo, laugh. 

Letter c can say k (cat), but if e, i, y came next after c, the teams ce, ci, cy always say s: cent, decide, bicycle. BTW soccer is slang invented by British boys to refer to soccer instead of rugby. Sometimes slang abides by the phonics code, sometimes not.

Your child starts learning the code with the simple ABCs. By 1st grade, he is being shown some of the code's teams, such as th, wh, also the parts of the code called short vowels and long vowels. Eventually ous, ious, tion, tious, etc. New lessons never stop coming. 

Children cannot figure out the inventory of phonics bits without help. The code is not based on what makes sense. The code is a collection devised by our ancient forefathers. Letter shapes were invented and assigned to stand for sounds for the purpose of sending accurate messages to military captains, etc. And for record-keep: how many silver plates a king possessed, how many sheep a duke owned, etc. 

Your child needs to see each part of the code and practice it within words. Repetition is the key.  Lessons have to be learned well enough to be deeply embedded in the long-term memory storage part of the brain.  Our eyes look ahead and alert the long-term memory to pop into place the next needed phonics bit. Thus, children well-prepared with the code do vastly better. (This alert system is a fabulous byproduct of the eyes' saccades function.)

Anyone can teach a child the phonics code; you need a pencil, paper, and clear instruction.

My blog has 160 free reading lessons. Use my search box - top left corner - put in backward b or working memory or short vowel long vowel or ce, ci, cy or compound words or silent h, or gh, etc. 

You may want to look at my books for your child. I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all of my books will pop up for you. 

The tricky phonics are in bold print in the stories in my books. Seeing the tricky phonics within words as your child is reading makes it easier to learn the tricky phonics. Sight words and a special comprehension method are always included at every level. My books are challenging, not dumbed-down; your child will soar with them. Includes my contact info so you can email or call.   Thank you, Mary Maisner