Phonics

[Pigletin]

Can you give me some advice on the best way to practice phonics? My son (reception) came home with a few letters and we are supposed to practice the letter sounds, but not sure how to go about it. My native language is not English and the concept of learning to read via phonics is foreign to me. Can you suggest good resources to read/use on this topic? Help please!

If you could find some objects/pictures of things beginning with the sounds you could practice recognising (by ear) and saying the initial sound. Also show the letter for each sound. He could sort them into groups.

Look up the jolly phonics songs for each sound on YouTube and google the actions. (School may or may not be using jolly phonics, but they are good fun and catchy.)

Write the corresponding letters in the garden using chalk and ask him to run to them/jump on them.

Spot letters he has been learning the sounds for in books/on signs/ posters etc and ask him what sound the letter makes.

Keep it fun with lots of games. No need to spend hours on it. A few ministers here and there and the odd,”Ooo, what sound does this letter say?” will keep the letters/sounds fresh in his mind.

*minutes! No need to involve any ministers 😂

Many thanks for the specific examples of what to do. I am only now starting to swim in the sea that is the English education system and I have lots to learn it seems. Cheers!

This video is useful to help you with the pronunciation of the different sounds. Obviously I don’t know if you have a strong accent/if your native language uses types of sound, but I know some of my non native English speaking parents have found it useful.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=BqhXUW_v-1s

Oh that doesn’t quite make sense, sorry! Hopefully you get what I’m trying to say.

I was about to post the same clip-have a look.

I'm a teacher, and I always invited parents in for a phonics coffee morning, to explain how it all works. Perhaps ask your school if they have anything in the pipeline? May be worth asking if they are following a particular scheme. For example, Read, Write, Inc. has very useful flash cards which you can from Amazon.

birdybirdbird this video is very useful, some sounds (in my head) are clear, others not so much so will have to learn them myself so as not to confuse the poor child.

The school follows the Jolly Phonics app so will also use that and check for other resources online.

I mean they use the Jolly Phonics system, not the app, the app is used at home.