PHONICS

W

worry_mum

Member
Dear All,

I wish to start this thread for the discussion, comments, and suggestion,etc for the PHONICS.

Please kindly contribute your views..for all related to PHONICS..

Eg:
1) When to Start? What Age?
2) Any Phonics School can recommend?
3) Comments on Letterland Phonics?
4) Which type of teaching materials?
5) Any idea which type of Phonics materials use for PAP-PCF?

Zillion Thanks.
 


Hi WorryMum

I got the Letterland catalogue and suggested home package to get. You should get a copy too, PM me for the contact. The co. offers a presentation at their office. The worksheets and songs CDs appeal to me, they have a teacher's guide too which i think may not be necessary. It's really up to the parents to set the pace and conduct the activities based on the child's interest.

About 200 preschools use Letterland. If mummies have the time, i think we can start off from home and accelerate the learning.

I started phonics with my dd when she was about 2.5 yo after she's familiar with the letters. Nothing very special, i asked her to repeat the sounds of the consonants after me and she sort of memorised them already. So now looking for resources to use at home.

How old is your kid?
 
Hi WorryMum,

Just sharing some experience:

1. There's no age restrictions for kids to learn phonics.

i. For very young kids, the parents might want to introduce them letter sounds.

ii.As for older children, there's no need to teach them all the letters before teaching them to blend and read. For instance, you can teach them s,a,t,n,p,i. With these few letter sounds, the parent can proceed to teach them to blend and sound words such as pat, sat, pin, pants etc...

2. For parents planning to use phonics, I would recommend Jolly Phonics cos it associates the letter sounds with actions.

3. Letterland is fun but I read that in UK, some kids experienced problems in recognising the letters at the end of the day, i.e some kids cannot recognise the letter sound "C" without the clever cat. Also, they might not be able to link the letter to its sound. Rather, some kids only understand Annie Apple says "a" sound but cannot assoicate the letter A with making the "a" sound. But letterland is still popular in UK.

4. I'm not sure what teaching materials you refer to but there are some phonics readers that are helpful for beginners. some examples are Bob books and Step into Reading. You might also want to try the "The Reading Lesson".

There are basically two methods to teach phonics - synthetic and explicit (I think). Currently, the US and UK are promoting synthetic phonics. Another thing to note is UK and US have some slight differences in the letter sounds.

Hope it helps.
 
Hi Serenade,

Can i ask a few qns?

1) Do u get yr jolly books in Singapore or directly from UK?

2) U mentioned Bob books? Is it Bob the Builder or u are refering to something else?

Sorry for my ignorance. I m trying to find out more cos like to introduce to my boys.

Thanks in advance for yr help!
 
hi mummies,
hmm.. anyone know what is the difference between zoo-phonics and letterland?
thks!
 
Serenade, I think there's some truth that kids may have problems recognising the letter sounds with the letterland characters. The characters are always used to illustrate the sounds.

I suggest mummies whose kids are starting sch to find out what phonics programme the sch is using so as to complement the learning better.
 
Hi Steffie, you'r welcome. Just sharing what I know. I bought my books through UK cos it's cheaper for me. Note that the UK & US versions have different prints. Bob books are different from Bob the Builder. If I'm not wrong, you shld be able to find them in Kinokuniya. Otherwise, you can find them through online bookstores. I believed Kinokuniya carries certain range of Jolly phonics and Letterland in their stores. You can try checking them out.

Hi hoho03, what I understand abt zoophonics is it's similar to Letterland. The letters are associated with animals as well as actions. Correct me if I'm wrong, I think it's from US whereas Letterland and Jolly phonics are from UK.

Just to highlight something, phonics is rather complicated as it gets more advanced. It goes beyond just teaching the 44 sounds. So, if you are intending to teach your kids phonics, it's good that mommies try to do some work. But ultimately, I think it helps one's pronounciation and spelling too. Just my two cents' worth.
happy.gif
 
Hi Serenade.. Thanks for the info..

aa, me too .. not trained in Phonics, wonder whether can I teach?

Steffie, had PM you the contact recd from Lena..
 
Worry Mum, that's why I thot its better to send him to classes, where the teachers are trained in this field. but now, think maybe I can try teaching myself?
 
Actually I knew nothing abt Phonics when I first started. But it is not really as difficult as what some of you think.

I have yet to come across any books on training parents phonics. I'm interested to find out too. However, there are a few books which guide parents on teaching phonics. Eg. The Reading Lesson, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Lessons.

I know of a book distributor who conducts phonics workshops (including Jolly Phonics) quite often. If you are interested, I can pm you the details. Unfortunately I can't offer any comments on the workshops as I have never attended any.

Perhaps, you can try the Leapfrog Phonics Series to get a feel of phonics. There are 3 DVDs in the series.
 
Ladies

M getting some Letterland products to start off.
Let me know if u are buying also. Free del above $200
 
Hi Lena,

So u will be buying from tumbletots directly? I m still researching which to use, so will not join u this time.

Appreciate for asking us.
 
Lena, ya.. me too.. just like Steffie, am still doing research on this.. dont know which one to start with...

Thanks.
 
Hi mommies,

Great thread... been learning a lot from all of you.
happy.gif
I'm wondering if any of you are doing both phonics and GD word cards with your children? Is it confusing? (Think GD mentioned in his book something about no need for phonics cos more interesting to learn words..?)

Should I just stick to one method? Appreciate any views/advice. Thanks!
 
dancestrella,

some children take to phonics and some dun. so it really depends on the child. but if the child is responding to phonics. it will b best to do both phonics and learning of high frequency words. there are 220 sight words that you can teach a child. 1st you may want to teach the 1st 50 high frequency then move on to middle frequency.

as for phonics, when the child is reading, he / she can use the phonetic techniques and pronounce the word. How much can a child rem? There will be more n more new words he will come across, if he reads a vast variety of books. so the gd word cards gives only limited voca to the child.

as for me, i am teaching my dd phonics and using readers to teach her to read. her school is also doing the same. the good thing is that we are using different readers so it is not so boring. apart from this, reading TO your child is v impt.

hth
 
totally agree with Alison. Sight words are important. You can print them out from this site.

http://www.kidzone.ws/dolch/preschool.htm

My dd actually does sight words better, think she memorise them, she can road signboards, even papers headlines ;)

I do not know if this VCD i played when she was 10 mths old played a part (your baby can read)but she enjoys watching it and i help to revise by making flashcards of the words that appear in the VCD.

I want to start Letterland because her preschool will be using it and i thought it would be good if i introduce some letterland characters to her for easier learning.
 
I did not teach ds phonics, but he seems to pick them up from the mini-laptop which I bought for him.

When he see words, he's able to read out each letter sound, but not seem able to link them up as a word. How can I teach him that?
Anyone can advise?
 
Hi Alison, Lena, Linda,

Thanks for replies. Very useful!

Been doing some research on sight words tonight... think they're quite difficult to teach cos very abstract. My almost-2-yr-old can't even talk yet (babbles alot though), loves to read books with me but I think it's more for the colorful pics...so I think I gotta keep on inputting.

The downloads from progressivephonics look excellent. Will get them printed out in color soon to try them out with my son. It looks like a good package for those who want to intro phonics together with sight words.
 
Tried to download the Book 10 (full version) but always encounter error, anyone successfully downloaded that? Or izit my computer?
 
Worry Mum, i dun have problems downloading all the volumes. In fact is quite easy and fast, is yr adope as what aa mentioned not updated?
 
Was supposed to buy Letterland but still dilly dallying with the order, tempted to know about Jolly, anyone going for the workshop?
 
Hi Worry Mum,

I tried to compare the Jolly books prices from UK amazon to Kino Sin. Is about 20 % difference. (excluding shipping). Not sure about wonderbox

Lena,

Have not gone for the talk yet
 
Worry mum

Wonderbox has some very interesting stuff and they guarantee lowest prices. The thing is some books are available from bookstores like popular, for eg the Ladybird readers(peter n jane series) which i used is cheaper when i buy them at pop with my member discount card.

But but but I spotted a few books i like for teaching Math. Free del above $75, pay cash or cheque upon delivery. Anyone keen to share? My items cost about $40

Steffie

Wonderbox does not have jolly.
 
Just recd the Letterland catalogues yesterday..

Lena, how's ur thread on the "used" readers? Me thinking to get 2nd hand too.. As for the wonderbox... still thinking maybe getting 2nd stuff will be much cheaper.. BTW, where do u stay? My friend interested to get the books .. but also below $75.

Aa, will consider sending my son to Zoo phonics once the timetable is suitable..

Dancestrella, Am doing the GD flashcards with my son all the while.. yes, i think they memorise the words.. He is able to read some simple books on his own..
 
Worry mum

I am at AMK, how about your friend?

Hey what makes u decide on zoo? what are their key features?

Will stick to letterland cos her school will be using it. so far, no one responded to offer used letterland
 
i got the catalogue from jolly. I'm keen in the jolly DVD but is 19.95 pounds!

anyone have watched the DVD before?
 
Lena, sorry.. my friend stays in CCK, AMK a bit too far for her.. as she is preggie now..Thanks anyway.

I decide to go Zoo phonics cos is convenient for me and nearer to my house and the fees are more reasonable. NO other reason..
embarrassed.gif


Already check with the PCF centre that my son will be attending next year, they dont use LETTERLAND nor JOLLY, they uses their own IT program from EDNOLAND, and they dont sell it now as we are still not entering the school yet.

So will continue to search for cheaper materials.. for the time being..
 

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