Phonics: A brief overview

Written by Karen Crichton

Phonics is the study of the sounds that letters make both individually and together.

It has been shown, through practical application, that children will learn to read and spell more quickly if taught how to use their phonic knowledge.

This blog is intended to give parents an idea of the phonics that is covered in school with children aged 3-5 years.

(See Phonics 2 for information for KS1, 5-7 years.This is coming in the Spring)

So, make yourself a cuppa as this will take about 15 minutes to read through. 🙂

In preschool and the Foundation year, we begin our phonics journey by learning the sounds that each letter of the alphabet makes. 

Historically, parents teach their children the alphabet by singing an ABC song and showing them the upper-case letter shapes. 

This does not help when learning phonics. When we begin phonics, we never use the letter names – only their sounds – and we always introduce them in their lower-case form.

Phonics are introduced in groups. Children are encouraged to learn the sound names and shapes of each group before moving onto the next group. Children learn to manipulate each group of letters: linking letter sounds with different images or auditory prompts, pairing or rearranging the sounds to see how they work together, and differentiating each one according to its individual code. 

The code for each letter within the group will be taught via three key learning styles:

• Visually – showing how the letter looks and how it is formed.
• Audibly – saying the sound, singing songs and using alliteration, for example dippy dinosaur for d.
• Kinaesthetically – tracing the sound in various media like sand, washing up liquid or the air. Playing with dough and magnetic letters etc. We also learn hand prompts that are linked to each letter, for example an ant crawling up the arm for a.

An aside here, remember the purpose of this blog is to inform you of what we teach – not how we teach  it. As you work through the units you will see a variety of methods being used to encourage your children to learn and apply new skills. However, if you need any suggestions for further activities then do contact me do contact me. Having been KS1 lead, school SENDCO, and a class teacher, for nearly forty years, my mind is full of ideas that will inspire even the trickiest of learners. 😂

Once children are familiar with the sounds they are encouraged to both decode = read  and build = spell simple three letter words.

Group 1: s, a, t, n, i, p – at, an, it, in, sat, sit, sin, sap, sip, pin, pat, pit, pan, nip, nit, tin, tap, tip, tan.

Group 2: c / k, e, h, r, m, d – red, hen, hem, mad, mac, map, man, mat, kip, kit, kid, kin, cat, can, cap, dad, dip, din, dim, did, den.

Group 3: g, o, u, l, f, b – if, got, god, gap, lip, lit, lid, lap, lad, lag, let, led, leg, log, lob, lot, lop, lug, fan, fat, fad, fed, fog, fob, fun, bag, bat, ban, bad, bed, beg, bog, bop, bug, but, bun, bud.

Group 4: z, v, w, x, y, j, qu – zip, zap, zig, zag, vet, vat, van, wet, web, wag, wig, win, yet, yes, yam, yak, yum, yip, jab, jam, jig, jot, jog, job, jet, jug, quit, quid, fix, rex, fox, tax. 

NOTE: All of the above words (except quit and quid) are CVC words – consonant, vowel, consonant. The list does not include irregular words like wad, the, or was, nor does it include words where other letters are working together to create new sounds, for example for, car, her, new, toy, way, etc. We are encouraging the children to only use the pure sounds of the letters.

Initially the focus will be on the first sound – b for bat. Then the end sound – b – a – t , and finally the medial sound – b – a – t. Children are encouraged to read / write whichever letters they know. Consequently, you may see bat written as b, bt, bta or bat as children attempt to apply their growing awareness of the sounds and structure of words.

When reading=decoding unfamiliar CVC words we get the children to say the individual letters and then try to blend them together to make a word that sounds correct. 

When spelling=building words we encourage them to count the sounds they can hear. This readies them for KS1 where the children are encouraged to count the phonemes, for example tree has 3 phonemes – t/r/ee – as does sharp – sh/ar/p. Counting the phonemes, whilst looking at flash cards, helps build the child’s understanding that individual sounds can be made by more than one letter. Following the count, the children know how many phonemes they need to record. This helps them to focus and build a word to match the count, reducing the possibility of missing letter sounds. 

As we revise each of the sounds, we begin to present the upper case letters. We encourage the children to use the letter names when the letter is isolated: I, A, P, but to use the sound when it is linked to other letters: Put, Tom, Can.

By the midterm of Foundation, children will usually be able to recognise the majority of the sounds and names for each letter of the alphabet. 

Once this skill is understood, and children are beginning to apply their learning independently, we then begin to work on CCVC AND CVCC words.

Initially, we look at the ‘double letter ONE sound group:

Ss – fuss, puss, mess, boss, kiss, pass

Zz – jazz, fizz, buzz, fuzz

Ll – bill, doll, bull, fell (note there are no ‘all’ words – fall, ball, call – this is because the ‘al’ is making an ‘or’ sound).

Ff – off, cuff, biff, puff, huff

Ck – sack, tick, peck, lock, duck

This is to help the children realise that though they can see two letters they only need to say the sound once when reading it.

An aside here – Parents often ask how to help their child know when to use the c, k, or ck when spelling a word.

At the foundation stage, when a child writes cit for kit we don’t say it is incorrect as the two letters sound the same – what we do say, if they make an error is, “You’re right, it is the ck sound, but it is curly c rather than kicking k,” or visa versa. 

Try and help your child distinguish the vowels from the consonants. Put up a picture somewhere, or arrange magnetic letters on the fridge. I also do this by singing ‘Old MacDonald’. Instead of using the chorus E I E I O,  I use A E I O U instead,  this song helps them remember the vowel’s names. 

Once they can recognise the vowels – a e i o u – you can teach the rule that words beginning with the ck sound tend to begin with c if the vowel is a, o or u. If the vowel is i or e then the word will likely start with a k. As for words that end in the ck sound, we tell them that words ending in c are rare except for ic words – magic, sonic – and that more often or not both are used together – pick, lock, sack, muck, deck. As for words ending in k, these are also rare. The k tends to follow another blend – bark, speak, spook – or are part of a blend themselves – milk, bulk, mask, flask, bank, sink. As you will appreciate, these rules are quite tricky for a beginner to understand, so I tend to talk lightly on the subject, until I think they are ready, making them aware of the rules but not overly worried if they don’t apply it.

Getting back to phonics – CCVC / CVCC words. The first set of blends to introduce are:

• Bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl: blob, clap, flip, plug, slip
• Br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr: brag, crab, drop, frog, grip, prop, trip

Followed by a group that some children find difficult to say:

• Sh, ch, st, th: shop, shin, shut, wish, posh, cash, push, chat, chin, chop, chug, stag, stop, step, stuck, stick, mist, cost, last, rust, thin, thug, then, that, moth, bath

Finally, a group of blends that words finish in:

• Nk, lk, sk, ng, mp, nd, nt, lp, lt, ft, and plural s: pink, sank, honk, milk, hulk, mask, busk, sing, rang, tong, lamp, temp, shrimp, rump, sand, bond, fund, mend, tent, hunt, ant, help, gulp, kilt, pelt, bolt, lift, soft, left, raft.

Most schools will have finished delivering these sounds by midterm 3 of the Foundation year. They will continue to revise the sounds with children who need a little more practice and begin to introduce the KS1 phonemes to those who are ready: oo, oo, ay, ai, oy, etc, but that is for another day… keep a look out for our KS1 phonic blog later this term.

Prepare yourself though! If you thought this was a lot for our little ones to learn then wait until you see what is in store for them in KS1 – mind blowing…