Phonics is a method used for teaching children to read letters (graphemes) or groups of letters by saying the sound (phonemes) they represent.
Children are taught how to:
recognise the sounds that individual letters make,
identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make-such as 'sh' or 'oo',
blend these sounds together from left to right to make a word.
Children can then use this knowledge to 'decode' new words that they hear or see. This is the first important step in learning to read.
The children are taught to read words by blending, which means pushing all the sounds together to make a word. The children are taught to spell words by segmenting, which means sounding out words and writing down the sounds they can hear.
By the end of Reception children are expected to be secure in Phase Three. By the end of Year One children are expected to be secure in Phase Five.
Research shows that when phonics is taught in a structured way-starting with the easiest sounds and progressing to the most complex-it is the most effective way of teaching young children to read. It is particularly helpful for children aged 5 to 7 years old. Almost all children who receive good teaching of phonics will learn the skills that they need to tackle new words. Children can go on to read any kind of text fluently and confidently, and read for enjoyment (Department for Education).
| Vocabulary | Definition |
|---|---|
| Digraph | A type of grapheme where two letters represent one Phoneme i.e. see. |
| Grapheme | A letter, or combination of letters, that corresponds to a single phoneme within a word. |
| Phoneme | A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound. |
| Split digraph | Two letters that are not nest to one another i.e. cake. |
| Trigraph | A type of grapheme where three letter represent one phoneme i.e. high. |