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 MoreLearning to Read
The 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 MoreShould handwriting be taught in the 21st century?
Read John Walker’s blog on the importance of handwriting in the development of literacy. http://literacyblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/why-pen-is-mightier-than-keyboard.html
Read MoreDo we really need more phonic games?
Phonic Books have designed Dandelion Board Games which focus on one phoneme at a time. Read here why this is helpful to children learning to read.
Read MoreSpeed reading exercises – free downloads
Here are some free speed reading exercises on the Sounds-Write website: http://www.sounds-write.co.uk/pdf-downloads.aspx
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 MoreIlliteracy in Ireland and what to do about it
Patrick McEvoy tells a sad, familiar tale of illiteracy in Ireland. Thanks to Susan Godsland of www.dyslexics.org.uk for flagging up this post. http://www.phonicsireland.com/index.php?q=articles
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 More