Debbie Hepplewhite discusses progress, practice and problems of Synthetic Phonics teaching in schools in SEN Magazine. https://www.senmagazine.co.uk/articles/articles/senarticles/where-next-for-phonics
Read MoreApproaches to Teaching Reading
Conclusions of report on Systematic Synthetic Phonics by Dr Marlynne Grant – for busy teachers
Conclusions These studies with Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children demonstrate that teaching with a government approved systematic synthetic phonics programme can be an excellent opportunity to drive up literacy standards. There is no evidence to indicate that such phonics teaching is a “straightjacket” or that it will “switch off” children from a […]
Read MoreThe Effects of Systematic Synthetic Phonics – the facts
Read here a the recently published report by Dr Marlynne Grant: Longitudinal Study from Reception to Year 2 (2010-2013) and Summary of an earlier Longitudinal Study from Reception to Year 6 (1997-2004) The Effects of a Systematic Synthetic Phonics Programme on Reading, Writing and Spelling – with whole classes of children who started with the […]
Read MoreNFER report on Y1 Phonics Check
Read here a short analysis by Debbie Hepplewhite of the recent NFER report on the Y1 Phonics Check: http://www.phonicsinternational.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=636
Read MoreOur phonic sounds video clip has passed 300,000 views!
This video clip is now recommended by the British Dyslexia Association. Is has been viewed more than 300,00o times! If you would like hear the sounds of the English Phonic Code (also known as the Alphabetic Code) click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwJx1NSineE
Read MoreBest methods to teach children to read
Here is the conclusion of an article by Daniel Willingham ‘How did we learn to read? Studies reveal best teaching methods for kids’: “The data indicated that 1st graders read by sound. With each successive year, kids showed more and more evidence of using the spelling of words in their reading. But there was no […]
Read MoreThe importance of skills practice when learning to read
Learning to read, initially, has two components: knowledge: learning the graphemes and the sounds they represent skills: learning to blend sounds into words and segment sounds for spelling. Many teachers offer lots of fun ways to learn graphemes. They do this in step-by-step progression, starting from the simple graphemes and progressing to the more-complex ones. […]
Read MoreWhat to say to phonics sceptics
In the UK, we often hear people making anti-phonics claims in the media. Usually, these demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of Synthetic Phonics. Mike Lloyd-Jones, in his book Phonics and the Resistance to Reading, lists these incorrect assertions and challenges them. Based on his book, here is how we can answer their claims: “The […]
Read MoreReview of Mike Lloyd-Jone’s book ‘Phonics and the Resistance to Reading’
Here is a review on the Literacy blog by John Walker. This book is a must read book for anyone who believes in literacy for all. http://literacyblog.blogspot.co.uk/
Read MoreWhat is wrong with ‘look and say’?
Here is an excerpt from Mike Lloyd’s book ‘Phonics and the Resistance to Reading’ (page 42): “Recognising whole words by memorising the appearance of the word (sometimes known as the ‘look-and-say’ approach) is highly problematic. The capacity to remember words as whole-patterns is highly limited and in any case highly inefficient. As Professor Martin Kozloff […]
Read More