It is that time of year and, although in this COVID year everything seems subdued, we have Christmas messages, wishes and advertising everywhere. Children will be busy writing lists for Santa and decorating Christmas cards. You just can’t escape the words ‘Merry Christmas’! This is a good opportunity for some ‘incidental phonics’ teaching. So, what […]
Read MoreApproaches to Teaching Reading
Why do older, struggling readers need age-appropriate books?
Older, struggling readers often have gaps in the their phonics knowledge and skills. They find alternative spellings particularly confusing. Many suffer from low self esteem so offering them decodable materials that are age-appropriate is vital. Vital because if the reading materiasl can engage the disaffected reader, his/her motivation to try and read will grow. Without […]
Read MoreParent shines a light on the science of reading
It is so sad to hear when a young child says he wants to kill himself because he can’t read as described in the interview at the end of this piece. It is uplifting to hear how a parent turned this child’s life around by getting him assessed and starting him on a structured literacy […]
Read MorePhonics vs morphology: why we need both!
Some time ago, I attended a course on morphology as part of my professional development. It was presented by a dyslexia organisation. At the time, I was using an excellent phonics programme (Sounds-Write) and felt I needed to develop my understanding of morphology and its role in teaching kids to read. The presenter was very […]
Read MoreDo decodable books need to be boring and silly?
‘Cat sat on mat….’ Critics of decodable books claim that they are boring and often don’t make sense. They quote examples like ‘Cat sat on mat. Pam sat on cat’… etc. They have a point! Many decodable books published in the past are repetitive and don’t exactly make sense. If the purpose of reading is […]
Read MoreWhy ‘structured’ reading instruction is not enough
Why we need to teach ‘structured and cumulative’ reading instruction… In the bad old days before I learnt how to teach kids to read, I taught kids to read in a structured way. That is, what I thought was structure: Week 1: letters a, b, c, d Week 2: letters e, f, g, h Week […]
Read MoreFREE decodable book and resources for all to use!
In times like these, it’s important that we all pull together for the greater good. With that in mind, Phonic Books are delighted to be offering free resources for parents, carers and teachers alike, who want to support children with learning at home during this worrying time and beyond. The latest tool in our […]
Read MoreShould we teach spelling in the digital age?
Many children struggle with spelling. Is it important to teach them how to spell in the digital age when ‘Spell Check’ is there to help? The answer is ‘yes’. Why? Firstly, because at present Spell Check makes errors, as do voice recognition tools. Spell check may offer homophone or spelling options – but can students […]
Read MoreHow to practice reading ‘tap’ and ‘tape’
Many students struggle with split vowel spellings a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e, u-e. These spellings are also known as ‘split digraphs’, ‘magic e’ and ‘vowel + e’. These students need extra explicit instruction and practice reading words with these split spellings. It is important to take the time to embed this learning as split spellings are […]
Read MoreThumbs up for READ, SOUND, WRITE, CHECK!
So, we are resuming our campaign to change the way teachers send home spelling lists every week using the LOOK, WRITE, COVER, CHECK approach. Why doesn’t it work with so many children? Many children have a poor visual memory and as hard as they try, they cannot remember the shape of the word. This is […]
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