Teaching Phonics makes sense to alphabets. Along with learning the alphabet form, it is crucial to understand its sounds, patterns, combinations, etc. These steps are often skipped in schools. Here, phonics classes come into play.
It isn’t very uncommon today to hear about toddlers going to phonics classes. Phonics is a teaching method focusing on the relationship between alphabets and their sounds. There are plenty of phonics classes around us and several verified online phonics classes and courses for kids too.
What are phonic sounds?
Phonics teaches the sounds of alphabets. Phonemes refer to the sounds of alphabets made in a specific language.
Example – The sound of ‘O’ in ‘go’ is more alike to the alphabet name, than ‘O’ sound in ‘orange’
‘A’ sounds more like its name in Aim and Acorn than when used in ‘Apple or Ant’.
This isn’t the case with Indian language alphabets that make the same sound like their names. Example – क sounds क everywhere.
Besides single sounds corresponding to alphabets, kids’ phonics classes also teach the pattern of alphabets to use to form a particular sound, keeping in mind its spelling.
Example – The sound e can be spelled ‘He’ e, in See ee is used , read ea is used, and ‘y’ when used in ‘happy’ make the same sound but require different spellings.
There are several sounds and they form over 100 spelling patterns. Moreover, rules and exceptions make the non-phonetic English language more confusing. Hence, phonics classes for kids play a vital role.
Why do we teach phonics?
English is quite an opaque language derived from a variety of languages. It also greatly differs from our Indian languages and these differences can complicate the learning process.
The English language has 26 alphabets that make 44 sounds. There is more than just one sound to an alphabet, unlike Indian languages.
Example – ‘C’ makes a ‘k’ sound in ‘Cake,’ but also makes an ‘s’ sound in ‘Cinnamon.’ It makes the s and the k sound respectively in ‘Circus.’
Kids phonics classes focus on familiarizing these sounds to assist in learning more words. Learning 10 letters restricts a child to just those 10, whereas 10 sounds help to know around 3000 words.
Phonics classes for kids ensure that learning is systematic and efficient and fun that further improves English speaking, reading, spelling, and writing skills.
What is the importance of Phonics Sound a-z for kids?
Phonics classes for kids aim at introducing sounds that form the base of a word to facilitate better pronunciation, reading, comprehension, and writing. Phonics sounds are taught so that while reading a word, a child can automatically decode, isolate, blend, add, delete, or substitute vowels and consonant sounds wherever necessary.
Example – while learning about the word ‘cat,’ a child can decode all sounds – ‘c’ ‘a’ ‘t’; blend them to form ‘cat,’ add ‘s’ to form ‘cats,’ and even substitute the ‘a’ with an ‘u’ to make ‘cut.’
This is how all words work and learning how to process syllables and pronounce them fluently comes in handy.
How are children taught at school?
Except for Montessori Method, Phonics classes for kids are neglected in regular school curriculums. Children directly learn alphabets and words corresponding to each alphabet. Example – A for Apple; B for Ball.
In phonics, a child learns the different sounds of ‘A’ like in Apple, Car, About, Many, etc.
Kids phonics classes help to analyze and learn with logic instead of mugging up lists of words and their meaning to read them correctly.
Fun activities to teach Phonics
Wondering how to teach kids phonics in fun learning methods? Here are some DIY ideas:
- Make flashcards with sounds and hold them up for the child to say the sound out loud.
- Make cubical boxes for each letter where 6 faces of the cube have 6 separate components – capital A, small a, sound of A, word starting with A, word with A in the middle, word with A in the end. Ask the child to roll the sound and say out the sound, letter, words, etc.
- Create colorful sound/alphabet squares where you can say the sound out loud and the child identifies the square with that sound and further matches them to form words.
- Make tiles for the child to match Alphabets with their root words. Example – root word for A is Apple, B is Ball, C is cat, O is orange, etc.
- Tracing letters on sand, rice, or sooji while constantly repeating the sounds can be a fun multi-sensory activity. The child can first look at a flashcard with the letter, then trace it repeatedly based on memory, and eventually with closed eyes.
Making learning fun and active ignites enthusiasm in a child. It not only arouses visual and auditory but also muscle memory for better retention.
You can find phonics classes near you with plenty of phonics classes in India. You can easily browse for Phonics classes in your city and explore options. Besides, there are online phonics classes and phonics courses to choose from. Make sure to verify information and credibility. Check for fun techniques of teaching overall phonics and not just phonemic sounds.
You can find online phonics classes for kids at MANAS Learning. We are a verified organization creating success stories among kids. Our classes are explicit, engaging, with games, stories, etc. We focus on providing clarity about learning phonics focusing on the phonemic awareness. Help your children build their basics with online Phonics courses at MANAS Learning.
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