What is Phonics?

Phonics derives from the Roman text 'Thein tool.f. Vowel Consonant followed by e make the
doctrine of Littera which states that a letterlong letter sound. For example a as in bake, i as in
(littera) consists of a sound (potestas), a writtenhike, o as in cone, e as in theme, u as in cute.g. R
symbol (figura) and a name (nomen). This formscontrolled vowels are where the vowel letter
the backbone of traditional phonics. Phonics is afollowed by an R has a different sound to its
way of teaching students to read and write aregular pattern. Examples are, car, horn, her, bird,
language. It involves teaching how to connect theand burn.h. The 'le' syllable at the end of words is
sounds of spoken English with letters of groups ofsilent such as in the word 'little'.
letters and how to blend the letters and soundsConsonant Phonics Patterns Consonant Digraphs
together to read words.are spellings where two letters are used to
Phonics is a widely used system for teachingrepresent a consonant phoneme or sound such as
reading in the English speaking world. The teacherch, sh, ph. Letter combinations for wr and kn are
must teach the students phonic rules and patternsalso consonant digraphs although they are often
about how to decode words. Although thecalled silent letters.
patterns are inconsistent in some cases 75% ofBecause of the complexity ot the English language
rules are reliable.there is much debate over whether phonics
Phonic Patterns - Vowels a. Short Vowels are theshould or should not be taught to beginning
five letters a,e,i,o,u and they produce the soundsreaders or indeed at all.
a as in cat, o as in hot, u as in cup, e as in bet, iResearch shows that phonic instruction improves
as in sit.b. Long Vowels are pronounced as in thechildren's ability to identify words. Studies in the
letter names of the vowels such; the a in baby,US and in the UK have shown that phonics is an
the e as in meter, i as in tiny, o as in broken, u aseffective method to teach reading from the start
in humour.c. Schwa is an indistinct sound of aand for all children who are having reading
vowel such as in the word lesson where the 'o'difficulty. Phonics also benefits all ages in learning
says uh. It is not always taught as a distinctto spell.
phonic principle but some educators think is should'Simple Phonics' is an easy to follow e-book
be as it is such an important part of the englishwritten by a teacher and parent which will show
language.d. Dipthongs are two adjacent vowelyou how to teach phonics to your child. It shows
sounds occurring within the same syllable. Foryou that phonics and teaching reading is not
example boy, cow, eye.e. Vowel Digraphs arerocket science and gives you the confidence to
spelling patterns where two letters are used toteach your child yourself.
represent the vowel sound such as ai in sail, oo as