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How to master English as a child? With Phonics Sessions!



Learning phonics is one of the most important stepping stones in early reading. Research shows that phonics, when taught correctly, is one of the most effective ways of teaching children to read because it provides the opportunity to learn skills that can be used to read almost any word. This important skill also eases children into the next phase of reading: comprehension - a crucial skill for their entire life.





But Phonics is much more than just learning to read and write.


Learning phonics is important because it will help your child:

  • Develop a near-native pronunciation

Learning the correct pronunciation and phonics lead to effective communication by making sure that your child pronounces every sound clearly and correctly. This way it will never happen - even in their adulthood - that they would be misunderstood or not understood at all when speaking English.


  • Improve listening skills

For an effective communication, both speaking and listening skills are equally important. From the beginning, phonics teaching builds on your child's ability to understand spoken instructions while completing playful exercises and engage with stories read by the teacher. These activities build your child's general language knowledge, but among many skills, it enables children to hear the English sounds clearly. They will never struggle with the inability to follow spoken English - one of the biggest obstacles adult learners face.


  • Improve speaking skills & vocabulary

Phonics Sessions encourage children to communicate in English with fun and joyful activities. Our teachers always create the need for genuine communication and talks for your child to feel safe and encouraged to speak English-only on the lessons.


Without vocabulary (knowing enough words) we cannot speak. Phonics is all about words and communication! By the end of the Phonics Programme children build a vast vocabulary they can use actively (in spoken and written language).





When English children start pre-school, phonics becomes a big part of their everyday life, transforming them from non-readers to children who are able to read fluently and spell correctly by the end of Year 2. Learning phonics as a non-native English speaker is very beneficial for children because it enables them to learn the language as a native English-speaking child does.


Learning phonics begins as early as ages 2-4 when children begin learning the alphabet song and engage in activities that teach them to listen to sounds around them. The kindergarten age is traditionally when students begin learning the letter-sound connections. Phonics instruction usually continues throughout early elementary education.



Expert Individual Sessions with the best teachers in the country


Most phonics programmes are taught in a series of phases, and your child will follow 6 Phases with KnowledgePond Education to ensure the maximum improvement in their language knowledge. Our expert teachers present the phonics curriculum in a style that is both engaging and effective. Taking part in our Phonics Sessions is a fun and exciting way to ensure that your child develops a good knowledge of the English letter and sound system and becomes a fluent and confident user of English. Our programme is highly interactive and uses videos, interactive games and captivating reading through books.





Phase 1

Early phonics teaching focuses on developing your child’s listening skills and trains him/her in the awareness of the English sounds.


During Phase 1 phonics, your child learns about:

  • Different sounds around us

  • The rhythm and rhyme of the language

  • Voice sounds

  • Oral blending and segmenting (hearing the sounds within words)

These sessions build your child’s vocabulary and pronunciation, while encouraging them to communicate in English with fun and joyful activities. Our teachers provide a lot of encouragement for your child to speak English.


Typical activities on your sessions:

  • Singing songs

  • Listening to stories read by the teacher

  • Learning rhymes

  • Playing games

This phase is intended to develop children’s listening, vocabulary and speaking skills.




Phase 2

In this phase, your child begins to learn the sounds that letters make. It is especially important, because there are 26 letters in the English alphabet but when we speak, we use 44 sounds.


By the end of Phase 2, your child should be able to read some short words and spell them out.

Learning through this phase usually takes 6 weeks (depending on your child’s abilities and the number of sessions, it may vary.)




Phase 3:

During this phase, your child learns more difficult sound and letter correspondence. We need these sounds to be able to read and form many words in the English language. Alongside this, your child is taught to recognize more tricky words. They learn the names of the letters and all the sounds they make.


Activities:

  • Memory aids for tricky words

  • Practicing writing letters

  • Word cards

  • Singing songs, learning rhymes

  • Reading and re-telling stories together with the teacher

Be the end of this phase, your child will be able to:

  • Say the sound made by most letter combinations

  • Blend and read short and tricky word

  • Write letters correctly with a given example

This phase usually takes 12 weeks to complete.





Phase 4

From this phase on, the teaching is about refining your child’s knowledge and increasing their vocabulary.


Activities:

  • Practice reading and writing sentences

  • Increasing vocabulary

  • Build grammar awareness.

  • Create communication opportunities

This phase takes about 4-6 weeks to complete.




Phase 5

This phase takes the whole Year 1 schoolyear. In this phase, children master spelling, reading, writing as their fluency develops.


By the end of this phase, your child will be able to:

  • Use their phonics knowledge to read and spell unfamiliar words of up to three syllables

  • Read and spell all of the 100 high frequency words

  • Form letters correctly

  • Speak English fluently



Phase 6

Phase 6 phonics takes place throughout Year 2, with the aim of children becoming fluent readers and accurate spellers.


By the end of Phase 6, children should be able to read hundreds of words using one of the three strategies:

  • Reading them automatically

  • Decoding them quickly and silently

  • Decoding them aloud

Children should now be spelling most words accurately. They will also learn, among other things:

  • Prefixes and suffixes, e.g. ‘in-’ and ‘-ed’

  • The past tenses

  • Memory strategies for high frequency or topic words

  • Proof-reading

  • How to use a dictionary

  • Where to put the apostrophe in words like ‘I’m’

  • Spelling rules



Although formal phonics teaching is usually complete by the end of Year 2, children continue to use their knowledge as they move ahead with their education. Everything leads to independent reading and writing and being a fluent user of the English language.



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