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Jolly Phonics

32 replies

pumyin · 24/03/2008 15:00

Can anyone enlighten me on Jolly Phonics? I am particularly interested in the actions that accompany the phonetic alphabet and obtaining some resources to teach my 3½ year old. I have searched and cannot find anything about this. I know that this is often taught during a child's pre-school year and "a" involves ants!

OP posts:
FranSanDisco · 24/03/2008 15:03

You can buy books. I thinks there's about 8 of them. Have you looked on Amazon. Jolly phonics is taught at Nursery and Reception Level.

ShinyDysonHereICome · 24/03/2008 15:04

They teach this during children's reception year at school so I'd be careful not to teach it at home else you may find she has to repeat it at school which could be less stimulating for her!

pumyin · 24/03/2008 15:05

Thanks FSD, we have bought some books but it's really the actions that I am interested in; in fact I am quite obsessed with finding the actions!

OP posts:
FranSanDisco · 24/03/2008 15:44

The actions are in the books. I use these at my nursery and they definitely show you how to do the actions.

mankyscotslass · 24/03/2008 15:46

You can buy a book with the actions and a cd of the songs from Amazon. I got one for my DD who starts reception in September. I did buy the workbooks too , but we will only do them once she has brought home her completed letters from school to reinforce her learning, not to teach her, iyswim? DS loved the Jolly Phonics when he started on them!

nooonit · 24/03/2008 16:01

ELC also stock the books, jiglets, flash cards, workbooks etc. There is also a video that explains how to teach the scheme. You can also get cuddly puppets that link in. Should be on commission!

mrz · 24/03/2008 17:15

The Actions

s
Weave hand in an s shape, like a snake, and say ssssss
a
Wiggle fingers above elbow as if ants crawling on you and say a, a, a.
t
Turn head from side to side as if watching tennis and say t, t, t.
i
Pretend to be a mouse by wriggling fingers at end of nose and squeak i, i, i.
p
Pretend to puff out candles and say p, p, p.
n
Make a noise, as if you are a plane - hold arms out and say nnnnnn.

c k
Raise hands and snap fingers as if playing castanets and say ck, ck, ck.
e
Pretend to tap an egg on the side of a pan and crack it into the pan, saying eh, eh, eh.
h
Hold hand in front of mouth panting as if you are out of breath and say h, h, h.
r
Pretend to be a puppy holding a piece of rag, shaking head from side to side, and say rrrrrr.
m
Rub tummy as if seeing tasty food and say mmmmmm.
d
Beat hands up and down as if playing a drum and say d, d, d.

g
Spiral hand down, as if water going down the drain, and say g, g, g.
o
Pretend to turn light switch on and off and say o, o; o, o
u
Pretend to be putting up an umbrella and say u, u, u.
l
Pretend to lick a lollipop and say l l l l l l.
f
Let hands gently come together as if toy fish deflating, and say f f f f f f.
b
Pretend to hit a ball with a bat and say b, b, b.

ai
Cup hand over ear and say ai, ai, ai.
j
Pretend to wobble on a plate and say j, j, j.
oa
Bring hand over mouth as if you have done something wrong and say oh!
ie
Stand to attention and salute, saying ie ie.
ee or
Put hands on head as if ears on a donkey and say eeyore, eeyore.

z
Put arms out at sides and pretend to be a bee, saying zzzzzz.
w
Blow on to open hand, as if you are the wind, and say wh, wh, wh.
ng
Imagine you are a weightlifter, and pretend to lift a heavy weight above your head, saying ng...
v
Pretend to be holding the steering wheel of a van and say vvvvvv.
oo oo
Move head back and forth as if it is the cuckoo in a cuckoo clock,
saying u, oo; u, oo. (Little and long oo.)

y
Pretend to be eating a yogurt and say y, y, y.
x
Pretend to take an x-ray of someone with an x-ray gun and say ks, ks, ks.
ch
Move arms at sides as if you are a train and say ch, ch, ch.
sh
Place index finger over lips and say shshsh.
th th
Pretend to be naughty clowns and stick out tongue a little for the th,
and further for the th sound (this and thumb).

qu
Make a duck's beak with your hands and say qu, qu, qu.
ou
Pretend your finger is a needle and prick thumb saying ou, ou, ou.
oi
Cup hands around mouth and shout to another boat saying oi! ship ahoy!
ue
Point to people around you and say you, you, you.
er
Roll hands over each other like a mixer and say ererer.
ar
Open mouth wide and say ah. (UK English)

www.midsomernorton.bathnes.sch.uk/phonics.htm to hear the sounds with actions

miljee · 25/03/2008 09:57

As mrz says- hear the sounds in action. It's 'b', not 'buh'; 't' (like a short spit!), not 'tuh'. Nail this from the very start!

IdrisTheDragon · 25/03/2008 10:00

There is a jolly phonics website where I found the actions (so I can join in with DS )

hana · 25/03/2008 10:01

why would you want to teach your 3 year old phonics? isn't there lifetime of learning ahead of her in school?
have fun instead
(loads of threads on this)

dd (6) never touched jolly phonics at preschool or reception and has turned out to be a fab reader

Reallytired · 25/03/2008 12:54

I see no harm in teaching a three year old Jolly phonics. Provided that you are child led and are prepared to back off if she is not in the mood.

Jolly phonics have some lovely resources. Particularly the Finger phonics books, Jolly songs CD and the Jolly phonics DVD.

Your daughter might like

www.starfall.com

Schools can not be trusted to teach a child how to read. 20% of children leave primary school with insufficent literacy skills to cope with the secondary school curriculum.

It is true that some children manage to learn to read without phonics like hana's dd. However phonics helps children who find it harder to pick up reading. However look say methods are devestating for children with dyslexia.

I taught my son to read at the age of four years old. I don't think he would have had the concentration at three years old. I wanted to school proof him. He learnt very quickly and I only spent 5 to 10 minutes a day teaching him. He had plenty of time for fun.

The problem with mixed methods is that it encourages children to guess rather than to blend sounds into words. In the early stages blending is difficult and if the kids are encouaged to use mixed methods then they will pick guessing as it gets them by.

The problem is that there are only so many words the brain can hold. A child may appear to do well at the age of 6 on memorisation, but then is diagnosed as dyslexic at secondary school or university when the vocabulary level ups in intensity.

If you look at websites like

www.dyslexics.org.uk/

www.rrf.org.uk/

www.syntheticphonics.com/

You can find out more about the teaching of reading. If you do decide to teach your child to read, the Jolly phonics teachers handbook is useful. Amazon is a good place to buy resources.

Jolly phonics is not the only good scheme about. It is worth looking at Ruth Misken's scheme and the website I have suggested.

I think three years old is a bit young to teach a child how to read unless your daughter is developmentally advanced. However its not too young for a parent to find out all they can.

cornflakegirl · 25/03/2008 13:46

My DS is 2.9 and we are "teaching" him phonics. This basically amounts to two things:

1 When he asks about letters, as well as telling him the letter name, we will tell him the sound that it makes - properly phonically rather than cuh-ah-tuh (although DH who used to be a primary teacher usually corrects me!).

2 We bought the phonics wall chart, and have the first section stuck to the wall. Again, we only use this if DS starts us off. When he knows these first six letters we might put the next bit up. The first bit has been up for several months.

Not trying to be pushy parents. I just wanted to make sure that when I answer his questions about letters, it's in a way that will help him to learn more.

Reallytired · 25/03/2008 14:14

I didn't bother with teaching my son letter names. Knowing the letter names does not help a child learn how to read. In some children it can be confusing letters having names and sounds.

I think its better to wait until a child can blend confidently before teaching letter names. My son learnt all the letter names quickly and easily in his school reception class.

Games ares are good for learning to read or learning letter sounds. Also it makes learning more effective and fun if you use all the child's senses.

For example if you make biscuits with alphabet biscuit cutters its more rememberable than flash cards. Get the child to listen for sounds in words or play Robot speak. For example, "where are your f-ee-t" "can you find me a s-w-ee-t"

CBeebies sometimes have "Fun with phonics" programmes.

www.bbcactivefunwithphonics.com/

There is no need to buy the DVDs is worth looking at TV guides to see when these programmes are being played and record them.

Smithagain · 26/03/2008 10:46

Is your child going to go to school? Have you asked the school which method they use for teaching phonics? Just that I would really steer clear of teaching all the actions if they are then going to learn them all again later.

Am writing from the point of view of a mother to a child who knew all her letters when she started school, but still found it fun because the actions were new and interesting. I think she'd have been a bit bored if she had already learned them.

There are so many other ways to have fun with letters - don't rush into doing things they are going to have to do again later!

MadameCh0let · 26/03/2008 10:48

I agree. Play games, paint, sing, dance...

When they get to about 4 and a half, they will go suck up the information so quickly. There's no point HOTHOUSING a three yr old!!

islandofsodor · 26/03/2008 22:11

As virtually all nurseries and pre-schools are teaching Jolly Phonics or a similar system I can see no reason why you shouldn;t approach it. After all JP is designed to be a FUN way to introduce a child to the idea that reading can be funa nd easy.

There are other excelent phonics systems, but JP is akin to singing a nursery rhyme with actions.

I had no intention of doing them with my 3 year old but he picked up his sisters books and begged me, he saw her doing them and joined in. He began to blend before his 4th birthday.

Why deny any child the joy of reading? My daughter learnt via a different method at school and I am convinced that it was only beacuae I did JP with her that she is one of the best readers. Nursery and school have since moved over to that system and the fact that what I am doing with ds is being reinfoced at nursery means he is streets ahead than she was at her age.

maverick · 26/03/2008 22:52

Jolly Phonics is a superb synthetic phonics programme. It is SAFE and small-child friendly. No harm can come to children by teaching them to read under the age of five.
In fact, with the amount of misinformation and poor teaching that is still going on in schools, it is probably wise to school-proof your child by teaching them to read BEFORE they start school.

handlemecarefully · 26/03/2008 22:59

"dd (6) never touched jolly phonics at preschool or reception and has turned out to be a fab reader"

Yes but - to give an alternative perspective - my 5.9 year old (in Year 1) also didn't touch jolly phonics prior to school and thus far has turned out to be a crappola reader and is definitely struggling.

IMO it is parents not teachers who end up teaching children to read. Or at the very least, parental input is pretty crucial.

I have the jolly phonics CD and booklet and have been playing the songs and doing the actions with ds (3.11) who will hopefully not fall quite so far behind his peers when he starts Year R in September.

handlemecarefully · 26/03/2008 22:59

Oh how I agree with Maverick!

Reallytired · 26/03/2008 23:13

handlemecarefully, its well worth getting the Jolly Phonics Teachers handbook if you not got it already.

www.amazon.co.uk/Phonics-Handbook-Teaching-Reading-Spelling/dp/1870946073

I sure that your year 1 child will catch up with the right teaching from you.

It also helpful getting decodable books. Something like the jelly and bean books would really boost your older child's confidence. The problem with oxford reading tree books in the early stages is that they contain really hard words to decode like "ice-cream" or "fence"

www.jellyandbean.co.uk

There is more to Jolly phonics than just the hand actions. The children are taught letter sounds and then to blend and segment letters into words. Children are not given books to read until they can actually decode words. Instead they practice decoding word boxes before being let loose on decodable reading books.

Ofcourse parents still read books to the child and the child enjoys literature. I think a lot of reading failure happens because people expect children to be able to run before they can walk.

crackinggoodegg · 26/03/2008 23:22

cornflakegirl - sorry but 2.9 teaching phonics and "not trying to be pushy parents", oh gosh, sounds a bit much to me, imho. Let them play - they'll push themselves when ready. My 3.5 year old went into overdrive after starting school and is reading competently now at 4. Please don't push and let it come naturally.

Reallytired · 27/03/2008 08:49

cornflakegirl,

I wouldn't worry about other people's comments saying you are pushy. It better to be pushy than uncaring. Have you chosen to teach your child phonics because you are worried about how reading is taught in schools?

I think its a good idea to school proof a child, but there is no real need to start teaching before the age of four. At four years old its easier to get a child to sit still and concentrate. Seriously if you follow the jolly phonics manual and do ten minutes a day at four years old your child will be reading within about 12 weeks.

I don't think phonics at 2.9 damages a child, but possibly you are making a lot unnecessary work for yourself. If you want to do any thing educational then your energies might be more productively spent playing games to improve your child's speech and reading books to him.

A lot of mothers enrol their babies into swimming lessons, yet no one accuses them of being pushy. Yet a child at the age of five of six learns to swim very easily.

Chocolateteapot · 27/03/2008 09:00

HMC, can I just offer some hope ? DD was utterly rubbish at reading until the Christmas of Year 1 when she turned 6. Until then she could barely recognise one word consistently, despite having gone through the Jolly Phonics in reception with the others.

During the 2 week Christmas break she want from not being able to read a simple sentence to being to read one of those Daisy Meadows books on her own. It was literally as if someone had flicked a switch and quite amazing to watch. She now (age 9) has a reading age a good couple of years ahead of her age.

Pumyin, there is a Jolly Phonics video that we bought for DD when she was struggling in reception. Looks pretty rubbish to me but I used to find DS had put it on and was watching it when he was 2.5 so obviously does appeal to young children.

singersgirl · 27/03/2008 09:17

DS2 asked to learn to read at 3.5 and I used Jolly Phonics for about 10 minutes a day. He enjoyed it and was so excited when he could blend and read words. By the time he turned 4 he was a competent reader (Y2 books).

I agree with Reallytired about the swimming lesson comparison. For some reason we have a hang up about teaching small children anything academic. Of course don't do it if you child doesn't want to (though plenty of people make their child go swimming when they're not that keen).

I don't think of it in terms of DS2 being ahead (and now in Y2 there are lots of fab readers in his class), but in terms of the enormous pleasure and satisfaction he has got out of being able to read well over the last 2.5 years.

handlemecarefully · 27/03/2008 10:27

Reallytired - thanks very much indeed for that link to jelly and bean books

..and chocolateteapot - thanks for the reassurance. I think dd will get there, she has been far more willing to try with her reading and writing lately and there is some definite recent progress (although she is still behind her peers)

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