Mumsnet Talk

This isn't a thread about whether it works or whether a 3yo should or shouldn't use them.

I'd like to buy the products now, to see whether dd gets on with them and if not in preparation for school (who use the same system). I just don't know where to start. There are DVDs, books, workbooks etc but I'm not clear on which to begin first. Is there an order?

Thanks!

I'm a mum of 3 whose school also uses Jolly Phonics. IME the workbooks are quite good, as is the CD. I would recommend buying a tub of lower-case magnetic lettters and a board and using these for a few minutes a day, alongside the workbooks; another useful bit of kit is a magnetic doodle-board thing if you have one to let her scribble - I have found that a child doesn't need to press hard or have the correct pencil grip to make a mark on one of those. Watch "Alphablocks" and do the activities on the BBc website.

But dont buy the DVD. I did, naively, and because it was cheap (wonder why ); it is beyond awful. HTH.

For me I think the best thing about Jolly phonics is the way it helps children remember the sounds by combining an action as part of the learning.
My boys are 4 and 2 1/2 (both still at nursery.)
I've taken the lead from the boys really. DS1 recognised his own name and could tell almost instinctively the difference between letters and numbers and was asking about letters so I got him Jolly phonics workbooks when he was about 2 1/2 to 3 years old. We didn't use them at that stage to write in or anything, just to look at the letters in combination with the actions. Now he is older we are using them as writing tools to help practise letter formation.
Similarly DS2 suddenly developed an interest about 1-2 months ago- he has recognised his name for ages and shocked me by pointing out some letters to me when we were out shopping- I hadn't realised he knew any but must have picked it up from DS1. We are using the books again in the same way for him. He loves them.
A tip if you have more than one child is to buy a set of workbooks, use them as a book rather than a workbook and when they are ready for writing scan and print the pages off so you can use them with subsequent children.
I bought the song book but we haven't used it. I think the flashcards are useful later on as well.
Both boys love the system and "got" letter sounds/ phonics very quickly.

Thanks for your suggestions and comments. We only have one child but are planning another do copying the book pages is a good tip, I expect the system will be around for a while.

The school dd will attend has a pre-school. They use the system too. Unfortunately, she doesn't attend the pre-school as another playgroup won my vote (opening hours just won me over!) although it is very good, both have outstanding ofsted reports. I will place her to the school pre-school a term before she actually begins school to allow her to familiarise herself.

Getting to the point , if the children there use it now they're going to be familiar with it at age 5 and unless I do something, dd won't be.

Is there a kit or group of books to buy? There seem to be a variety and I don't know where to begin really. Probably can't afford to buy the entire collection right now.

Thank you!

Yes, there is a pack of six workbooks. Try Amazon.

Hi there,

I'm from Jolly Learning, publishers of Jolly Phonics (thought I should make that clear!)

To let you know, Activity Books are good for starting with, they are more fun than the workbooks as they have sticker activities, games, puzzles etc.

There is also the My Jolly Phonics Kit if you are looking for a kit of resources. This has Games CD, Activity Books, Posters, Jolly Stories, Jolly Songs and DVD and is £99.99. But if you don't want the whole kit then I'd still say start with the Activity Books.

£100!!? That's too many pounds!

ds nursery uses jolly phonics and they said if we want to buy anything for at home then they recommended we go for the jolly songs cd

Don't buy all that it isn't necessary!
I agree with Firawla's nursery buy the Jolly Songs book and CD forget the rest. The workbooks aren't really suitable for pre school children and I'm speaking as a fan of JP and someone who has used it since it was first published in the early 90s.

mrz have you seen the new activity books - I don't mean the workbooks that have the small writing and that seem to teach joins before the sounds have been taught... but the new activity books. There is a lovely satpin one where there are fun hands on activities eg. put cress seeds on a damp kitchen towel in the shape of an 's' to grow and 's'.
I think these are great for preschool. I would agree that the activity books are not for little ones - our girls love phonics, letters, workbooks but found these very BORING! Buy the activity books from amazon, cheaper than jolly learning.

Yes I've seen them and IMHO they aren't necessary or particularly useful

We bought the CD, workbooks, computer game and the poster when DS started school and began Jolly Phonics.

He enjoyed the CD and I found it helped DH and I too as we weren't sure exactly what the phonics sounds were and the CD taught us, enabling us to teach DS.

The workbooks have helped us all too. They give DS a chance to practice the letter shaped and have helped DH and I see how the letters should be formed, again so we can teach DS. I wouldn't recommend them for pre-school children though as I think they would just be too much. The activity books sound like they might be a good place to start for DD when she's ready though.

The poster was a good conversation piece that helped us see how well DS was doing and was a quick way of showing him the letter shapes if he was stuck. It also has a little picture to remind him of the movement that goes with the sound and was a good visual reminder for DH and I.

The computer games were OK but not particularly engrossing. DS soon became tired of them.

I got ours from another MNer who owns a book shop who matched Amazon's prices for me. Personally, if I were buying for a 3 year old, I might get the CD (and possibly the activity books although I haven't seen those yet) and not bother with the rest until your DD is a bit bigger.

I've used JP for almost 20 years as a teacher but I would never advise parents (or other teachers) to buy lots of the products. The CD is fun for younger children and helpful to parents and the handbook and phoneme flashcards are really all a teacher needs to teach the programme.

I succumbed and bought the activity book 1 - that "Buy With 1 Click" option on Amazon is just too easy. And she loves it. Much more fun that the work books.

My son is 3.5 and goes to a pre-school nursey class attached to a school where they do jolly phonics. We brought the poster, the cd, and someone sent me a PDF of the work books. The poster was fab for me as an aide memoire of the order they learn them, and the actions. I often use it with ds as well for various things. He didn't like the workbooks. They use the finger phonic books at school, which look good, and I might buy (more for future children) and are only about £20 from amazon.

The best thing for teaching him the letter sounds, however, was an iPad app called abc pocket phonics. He pretty much learnt the first few groups during a weeks holiday abroad. Once they've learnt the first 19 sounds they get to bring reading books home and learn word walls, which are the high frequency words.

Don't spend too much yet. Maybe borrow some books from the library?

Why are they sending home high frequency words to learn and not teaching him how to decode them?

Mr Z, the high frequency words are sight words they are meant to memorise, and can't easily be decoded, I think.

No you aren't PeppermintCreams that is why I asked.
There is nothing simpler than decoding
a
am
an
at
in
on
mum
dad
cat
dog
(all high frequency words)

the HFW with tricky parts are meant to be taught by decoding the straightforward part and explaining the tricky bit ... not as whole word memorising

Don't bother buying anything. Just go on you tube and you get 2 excellent videos for phonics and digraphs. I did this for my DS1 in reception and my DD2 ( who was only two at the time) picked it all up and can now read at 3.5. Even better....recently we bought a new web TV and now we they listen to it on the big telly so my 1 year old joins in! ( family fun....how sad! )