How to teach your child to read

Most school's now use the synthetic phonics  method to teach children to read. This method will teach your child to read quickly and skillfully.

Children are taught to:-

-recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes

-identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make such as 'sh' or 'oo' and then how to blend these sounds together to make a word.

Children can then use this knowledge to read (or de-code) any word that they see.

As a parent, it is important to encourage and develop your child's reading at home and support what they learn in the classroom. There is a wealth of research supporting how reading at home with your child is so important for their development and it can be difficult to know how to help. Hopefully, you will find some answers and resources in this post.

There is a wealth of information relating to phonics on the internet. You can read the essentials on this Government information sheet for parents and on Usborne's very first reading mini site.

The phonics method of teaching children to read had received lots of praise. This guardian article cites a 7 year old who has a reading age of 13 years due to using phonics.

Your child will be required to take part in a national phonics screening test during the summer term of year one to check their knowledge and progress. This test will be repeated in year 2 if necessary. 

Usborne provide a wide range of fantastic tools and resources to help you assist your child's learning of phonics at home. A good starting point is this award winning teach your monster to read game which is both free and fun!

Usborne provide a fantastic start to read pack (available to purchase here) which contains everything you need to help your child on their reading journey. This pack is only £19.99 (RRP £32) and contains:-

*8 individual phonics books

*write in workbook

*alphabet poster

*reward stickers 

*parents notes to check progress

Reading and writing phonics go hand in hand. This Usborne phonics activity carry pack (available to purchase here at only £7.99) is designed to help little ones write letters and simple words using the phonics system. The carry case contains 4 individual workbooks that your child can work through at their own pace.

Phonics doesn't have to be baffling, you can read about and buy further resources  including these fantastic phonics flash cards (£5.99) via my website.

You will be amazed how quickly your child learns to read using the phonics system. My son has been a free reader (which means they can tackle anything) from the beginning of year 2 using this system which is an amazing achievement and as a parent it is really lovely watching him picking up History books, encyclopaedias and even Harry potter and being able to read and understand then straight away. All thanks to phonics!

For all your Usborne phonics resources and books visit Www.onceuponastory.org.uk