This week in Reception – Phonics

This week in Reception – Phonics

 

This week your little one will be starting their phonics journey. Phonics is the way we teach children to read and write by helping them recognise the sounds that letters make. We begin with the very basics and build up step by step so children can blend sounds together to read words and segment words to spell.

 

Some key things to know:

 

• Sounds, not letter names – At this stage, we focus on the sounds letters make (e.g. s = “sss”) rather than their names (“ess”).
• Blending – Children learn to push sounds together to read simple words (for example, s-a-t becomes sat).
• Segmenting – The opposite skill: breaking words into sounds to help with spelling (dog = d-o-g).
• Daily practice – We revisit sounds regularly, and lots of repetition helps them stick.

 

 

You can support at home by listening for sounds in words when you’re out and about, pointing out letters in books or signs, and encouraging your child to enjoy sharing stories with you.

 

Please do let me know if you have any questions about phonics—I’m always happy to chat about how best to support your child.