Phonics

Phonics

Phonics is one method we use to teach children how to read and write. It's all about sounds which are called ‘phonemes’. There are 44 phonemes in the English language, which we put together to form words.

Some are represented by one letter, like 'h', and some by two or more, like 'sh' in ship and 'ear' in clear. The written representations are called ‘graphemes’ and some phonemes have more than one grapheme. For example, the underlined sound in treat and cheese is the same but it is spelt differently. What is even trickier is that some graphemes have more than one sound like in shook and soon.  Children are taught the sounds first, then how to match them to letters, and finally how to use the letter sounds for reading and spelling.

From September 2019, we are now following the DfE-listed, Monster Phonics scheme for children in Reception and Key Stage 1 and as an intervention in Key Stages 1 and 2. The resources are mapped against the Letters and Sounds phases 1-6 and the KS1 Spelling Curriculum.    

The colour-coded grapheme system is unique to Monster Phonics; each coloured grapheme is paired with a monster character that makes the same sound to give audio-visual prompts that help children ‘see’ each sound within a word and pronounce it correctly. Our monsters are really sound cues to help children remember how to read and pronounce graphemes.

Meet the monsters and characters from Monster Phonics.

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Apps

Monster Phonics Apps aim to teach the first 100 and the next 200 high-frequency words. Once learned these words stay with children forever. The first 300 high-frequency words make up 65% of all reading texts so learning these words quickly is incredibly important for all children. The apps are an ideal way for parents to support learning at home.

The revolutionary use of colour coding and characterisation has been proven to dramatically accelerate progress in reading. The number of “tricky” words is reduced considerably with the colour coding system. The apps also teach handwriting and the correct letter formation for the most common words.

Monster Phonics Apps are available from the iTunes store.

Monster Phonics products are listed as highly effective multi-sensory phonics resources by the Department for Education, UK. The app supports the reading and spelling of high-frequency words and is part of a wider phonics scheme that supports the New Curriculum for Spelling (KS1) and phonics in Reception. Monster Phonics Apps have been developed specifically to make phonics more accessible for all learners.

Useful phonics websites for parents

http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/ParentsMenu.htm

A selection of interactive games for all phonics phases.

www.ictgames.com/literacy.html

A great selection of games that link well with games in Letters and Sounds.

http:/www.letters-and-sounds.com/

Printable resources for each of the Letters and Sounds phonics phases, also links to games aligned with each phase.