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'Synthetic Phonics' is a Very Successful Way to Learning to Read !
F
or several years the UK, USA, and Australia,
have all decided to use 'Synthetic Phonics' in their schools to teach children how to read because it works.
It's use is growing at the time in other countries with different languages and
it is also now being used to teach second languages.
Success depends largely on the amount of support you give your child at home.
Many parents did not learn to read using this method, so to be able to best support their children, parents need to understand the method.
The 'Synthetic Phonics' Method is not Difficult!
You don't need to be a teacher to be able to use it to help your child to read using 'Synthetic Phonics'.
Many parents are put off by the term 'Synthetic Phonics'... it does not sound like it is easy at all !
At EasyStreet Learning we use the term 'Letter Sounds' as an alternative to 'Synthetic Phonics'. Letter Sounds tells you immediately what they are !
With Letter Sounds, your child will learn the 'sounds the letters make' when they are used in words instead of the names letters of the alphabet.
[Video showing contrasts of Letter Sounds v Letter Names here.]
There are actually 44 different Letter Sounds used to help your child learn to read. Most of the Letter Sounds are made of a single letter, and some are made up of two letters. Put video of Letter Sounds with 1 and 2 letters here. These Letter Sounds are divided into smaller groups or five or six.
As soon as your child knows their first group of Letter Sounds they will be ready to read some short words ! Knowing how each of the Letter Sounds 'sounds', enables your child to 'sound out' words bit by bit. They will sound out each Letter Sound of a word and will then join or 'blend' the Letter Sounds together. Then they will recognise the word they have read hopefully as a word they know the meaning of. Put video example here. Make a point of using the term Letter Sound when talking to your child as this will help them understand better. Use the term 'Letter Name' when referring to the actual letter itself. Put example here. Some words don't sound out nicely using Letter Sounds, the word 'saw' is one example. Your child will learn those 'tricky words' separtely after becoming confident with Letter Sounds. Without your support your child wont get enough practice to be fluent and enjoy reading. However, with your support your child can be a fluent reader !
Add an example.
KEYPOINT: If children are taught to read differently at home than at school using older methods it will confuse your child ! Make sure that anyone helping your child to read at home understands Letter Sounds ('Synthetic Phonics')
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