Phonics

Steam Mills' chosen Phonics program is Monster Phonics.
 
 
This provides a systematic and consistent approach to the teaching of reading and writing. Phonics is the study of sounds and is a way of teaching children to read and write. It is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate sounds and understand the link between the sound (phoneme) and the way it is written (grapheme). 
 
Please click here for more information:
 
 

Helping with phonics at home: 

In addition to the advice in the presentation above, a very useful free game can be found on the internet, called Teach Your Monster to Read.

Teach Your Monster: Free Phonics, Reading and Mathematics Games

Hints and tips:

  • Say the short sound of the letter, not the letter name. This will help children when they come to blend words together. For example, the letter names dee-oh-gee don’t blend together to make ‘dog’.
  • Read regularly with your child – Encourage children to recognise sounds and as they grow more confident, encourage them to blend the sounds together and to read sentences independently.
  • When you are reading to your child, emphasise the rhyming words and ask what is special about them.
  • Initial letter sound hunt – Say a sound to your child and see if they can find something in their house that starts with that letter. This also works well with ‘I spy’ but remember to use the letter sound and not its name.
  • Songs – Sing nursery rhymes and traditional songs with your child and talk to them about the patterns that they notice in the words.

Please do not hesitate to ask if you would like any more information.