Phonics is a necessary part of any good method of
teaching children to read. Teaching Children phonics and helping them
develop phonemic awareness is the key to mastering words, which is the
first key step toward successful reading. Children need to develop a
knowledge of the letters, the sounds represented by the letters, and the
connection between sounds created by combining the letters where words
are formed. This is an essential part of mastering reading, and enabling
children to become independent readers. By learning phonics and
phonemic awareness, children gain the ability to pronounce new words,
develop clear articulation, improve spelling, and develop self
confidence.
When it comes to teaching your children to read, it must include three basic principles:
1) Reading for the child, whether it's a word, sentence, or story, must appeal to your child's interests.
2) Never pressure or force your child into
reading, turning it into a negative "event" in their life. It should be
a fun, enjoyable, and rewarding experience. This will take ample
amounts of patience on the part of the parents, and some creativity.
3) Teaching your child to read must begin with the mastery of the phonemes - the individual sounds which makeup the words.
The basic process of teaching phonics and
phonemic awareness to children includes teaching them the letters and
letter sounds; then you teach the child to combine (or blend) various
letter sounds together to form words; which is then followed by reading
sentences and simple stories. This is a logical progression for children
to learn reading, where they develop accuracy in decoding words and
pronouncing words. This method of teaching also helps the child to spell
correctly. Gradually, the different elements of phonics are combined to
produce new words, and leads to the discovery of new words by the child
using this process which becomes an "automatic reflex".
Teaching phonics to children should take 10 to 15
minutes each day, and these "lessons" should take place in several
small sessions each day - such as 4 or 5 session lasting 3 to 5 minutes
each. For older pre-school children, lessons can be slightly longer;
however, several minutes each session is all that's needed.
One way to start teaching phonics to children
with with ear training - by helping them develop the understanding that
words are made up of smaller units of sounds, or known as phonemes, and
when you combine these sounds, a word is formed. You can start this with
very short sessions, as already mentioned. A few minutes a day is all
that you need. The key, however, is consistency and patience.
During these short sessions, sound out words
slowly and distinctly. You can do this without even making the child
aware that you are trying to teach them. Simply take words from your
everyday speaking to your child and include oral blending sounds into
your sentences. For example, if you wanted to ask your child to drink
his milk, you could say: "Joe, d-r-i-n-k your m-ilk." The words drink
and milk are sounded out slowly and distinctly. The level of sound
separation can be set by you to increase or lower the difficulty. Thus,
if Joe has a tough time figuring out that d-r-i-n-k means drink, you can
lower the difficulty by blending the word as dr-ink instead.
Alternatively, you could simply pick different
words and play blending sounds games with your child. You simply say the
sounds of the word slowly, and ask the child try to guess what you are
saying.
This concept of individual sounds forming words
may take some time for your child to grasp. Some children will pick it
up quickly, while other children may take longer, but one thing that's
certain is that if you keep it up, your child will catch on. Below are
some sample words which you can use to play blending sounds activities
with your child.
J-u-m-p J-ump
R-u-n R-un
S-i-t S-it
S-t-a-n-d St-and
M-i-l-k M-ilk
S-t-o-p St-op
R-u-n R-un
S-i-t S-it
S-t-a-n-d St-and
M-i-l-k M-ilk
S-t-o-p St-op
The first word is more segmented than the second
word, and will be more difficult to sound out. Please note that hyphens
are used to indicate the letter sounds instead of slashes.
ie: J-u-m-p /J/ /u/ /m/ /p/
This is done to make things easier to read;
however, when you read it, you should not read the names of the letters,
but instead say the sounds of the letters. This type of ear training
for phonics and phonemic awareness should continue throughout the
teaching process, even well after your child have grasped this concept.
It can be applied to words with increasing difficulty. Again, please
always keep in mind that not all children can readily blend the sounds
to hear the word, so you must be patient, and drill this for days,
weeks, or even months if needed. Consistency and frequency is the key to
success here, and not sporadic binge sessions.
If you would like to learn about a simple step-by-step program designed to easily teach your children how to read, please click here.
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