Phonics

[DreamQ]

Hi, would someone be able to recommend a phonics app/ website that can be used for a 4 year old?

We are watching Alphablocks but, he sees that more as a tv programme ans he doesn't repeat after it.

TIA

Thanks @Norestformrz. I'm secondary not primary so learning to read and phonics is a minefield! I read with him and do his homework but he will actively ask for the app whereas homework is a struggle. Are there any you would recommend? Or better off sticking with books and school homework?

My apologies not sure what I was thinking as I knew Matthew Sandblom is Australian.
It doesn't change the issue though as it really has a strong Whole Language element.
You might like these critiques from an Australian phonics "expert" https://www.spelfabet.com.au/2020/07/is-reading-eggs-all-its-cracked-up-to-be-boom-tish/
" https://www.spelfabet.com.au/2020/07/reading-eggs-fast-phonics/
https://www.spelfabet.com.au/2013/10/reading-eggs-eggy-phonics/

From my experience of doing Reading Eggs with my daughter it uses teaching methods very much like at school but also with fun games.

When you progress on the map you unlock other activities like story factory. Story factory helps children write their own picture books and enter them in for competitions with other kids using Reading Eggs.

There is fast phonics, spelling, driving school and maths seeds. There is also a library of books to read.

You earn eggs as you progress and can use them to buy furniture for your house, costumes to dress an avatar, play games etc. Each dot on the map is one lesson.

You can print out activity sheets to go with the lessons. This has helped my daughter to learn how to write. There are activity packs and books to purchase as well.

You can start at the beginning or do a placement test that determines what level your child is at and starts them at the right level.

Parents are emailed a progress report that outlines what your child has learnt and how they are progressing.

Your child does the placement test, not you as a parent. Sorry if was not clear in the way I wrote it.

Teach your monster to read is completely British. It’s created by a charity founded by British publisher Usbourne Publishing.

As the game progresses it does teach high frequency words though that’s part of the national curriculum.

It’s a great way for kids to practice synthetic phonics and is very much aligned to UK practices.

They're both still based on US methods not how we teach in the U.K. and include elements of the discredited Whole Language

Even Nessy is based on the US Orton Gillingham method (as is Reading Eggs) which was the best we had available in the 1920s but we know so much more now.

@Norestformrz

They're both still based on US methods not how we teach in the U.K. and include elements of the discredited Whole Language

That’s simply not true. Teach Your Monster is based on synthetic phonics and is aligned with the English National curriculum.

@Norestformrz I am aware that some very old school teachers and parents prefer systemic phonics to the exclusion of whole language approach. And Wikipedia claims that the whole language method is discredited. (I couldn’t find other sources that made this claim, though I am sure they are out there). However many teachers and experts in education would disagree that the whole language approach to learning how to read is discredited.

It has been used in schools since the 70’s, with success. That is a decent amount of time to assess it’s effectiveness.

The whole language method does not exclude systemic phonics or phonemic awareness. It incorporates more than one way to learn how to read. And the good thing about that, is it incorporates the many different learning styles that individual children can have.

Learning how to read is more than just sounding out the words. Not all words are spelled phonetically. There is also the flow and sequence of words that make a sentence. Words have meanings. Some words that are spelled the same and sound the same can have different meanings depending on the context, such as bark. Example of a homonym: a dog can bark; a tree has bark.

Then there are words that sound the same, have different meanings but are spelled differently (homophone). Such as: knew and new.

Some children respond well to memorisation and that is where sight words and flash cards can be helpful.

Everyone has their own learning style that works best for them. And that is why I like how schools try to use a range of teaching methods.

You're aware of more than the rest of the world. Systematic phonics is accepted as the most effective current method of reading instruction.
I suggest if you want to know about the discredited Whole Language theory (because despite being widely used it was never more than a theory that had no evidence to support its beliefs) looking at Seidenberg, Stanislas Dehaene, Stanovich, Ehri, Moates, etc and the work of Professor Bruce McClandliss at Stanford - "Beginning readers who focus on letter-sound relationships, or phonics, instead of trying to learn whole words, increase activity in the area of their brains best wired for reading, according to new Stanford research investigating how the brain responds to different types of reading instruction." rather than wiki

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Norestformrz I am aware that some very old school teachers and parents prefer systemic phonics to the exclusion of whole language approach. And Wikipedia claims that the whole language method is discredited. (I couldn’t find other sources that made this claim, though I am sure they are out there). However many teachers and experts in education would disagree that the whole language approach to learning how to read is discredited.

"It has been used in schools since the 70’s, with success. That is a decent amount of time to assess it’s effectiveness." Actually it was in schools much earlier and has been far from successful leaving millions struggling with basic literacy across the world.

"The whole language method does not exclude systemic phonics or phonemic awareness. It incorporates more than one way to learn how to read."
Whole language does exclude phonics and phonemic awareness suggest you read what Frank Smith had to say " Phonemic awareness is a spurious concept" and "systematic phonics and phonemic awareness is the thin end of the wedge" Whole Language incorporates many ineffective strategies that amount to little more than guessing.

And the good thing about that, is it incorporates the many different learning styles that individual children can have.

"Learning how to read is more than just sounding out the words."
No one has ever claimed that phonics is all there is to reading - recommend looking at the Simple View of Reading and Scarborough's Reading Rope.

"Not all words are spelled phonetically." Actually they are. The fact that English has a deep orthography complicated by history means we don't have a straightforward 1-1 correspondence between spoken sounds and their symbols like some languages but that doesn't mean it's not phonetic only that it requires more explicit instruction.

"Some children respond well to memorisation and that is where sight words and flash cards can be helpful."

Everyone has their own learning style that works best for them. And that is why I like how schools try to use a range of teaching methods.

"Everyone has their own learning style that works best for them. And that is why I like how schools try to use a range of teaching methods."
You do realise that learning styles like Whole Language has been debunked?https://digest.bps.org.uk/2021/02/04/the-learning-styles-myth-is-still-prevalent-among-educators-and-it-shows-no-sign-of-going-away/

Can this thread please not devolve (like others have with you) into a debate about the merits of phonics and remain a space for parents to share information about synthetic phonics games and programs that our DC enjoyed.

Start a different thread please.

Phonics play:

www.phonicsplay.co.uk

A very accessible article for anyone interested https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2019/08/22/whats-wrong-how-schools-teach-reading

Londongirl perhaps you can get beyond your prejudices and consider why parents should know the facts about apps rather than their entertainment value. Do you want something effective or something that's detrimental but fun?

I’m actually very pro-synthetic phonics but I don’t think every thread on phonics needs to be derailed into a debate between you and the whole language contingent.

@Norestformrz you do this regularly with these posters. Just let some threads stay on topic so parents can use them without having to sift through all the off topic posts.

You also have posted misinformation about the apps which isn’t helpful to anyone.

I think you'll find it was the Whole Language advocate who derailed by posts lots of false information. Should it be ignored so that other parents are misled?

I'll stand by what I posted about the apps ...they are using US methods based on OG not those taught in the U.K.

@LondonGirl83 That's fair enough. I’m sorry for any role I played in derailing the thread. I like synthetic phonics too. And I’m interested in the Teach your monster app. My daughter seems to respond well to educational games on her iPad and I’m always interested in new ones.

Synthetic phonics has helped my daughter with pronunciation. She sometimes struggles with how to say a word and I remembered how a speech therapist helped a child in my care (nursery) break down words into their smallest parts to help overcome their speech impediment. She would say each part of the word slowly and he would repeat it. Then they would repeat this a little faster until he could say the word with ease.

Synthetic phonics is a method of teaching where words are broken up into the smallest units of sound (phonemes). ... Children are taught how to break up words, or decode them, into individual sounds, and then blend all the way through the word.22 June 2012
readingeggs.com.au › articles
Synthetic Phonics - Reading Eggs

Oops I just read my previous post and I typed systemic instead of synthetic I’m not sure how I did that. I do use the shortcuts on my phone instead of typing whole words. I should have proofread.

Sorry but the Reading Eggs definition doesn't match the U.K. description

UK-style Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) Programmes:

Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) is built on the alphabetic principle. It is a structured, cumulative method of teaching reading. Children are first taught the link between letters and the speech sounds they represent. Once they have learnt a small number of letter/ sound correspondences these are used to read and spell simple two and three sound words such as sat, sit, pan, pin, nap.

Reading Eggs uses synthetic phonics in line with the UK government guidelines. It starts with phonemes and builds to reading words by blending.

On Reading Eggs website it says the same thing regarding being built on the alphabetic code. Extract below:

"What is synthetic phonics?
In order for children to read successfully, they need to understand the alphabetic code. This is the idea that individual letters and groups of letters represent the sounds of spoken language. While there are 26 letters of the alphabet, there are actually 44 sounds, or phonemes, in the English language. It is very important that children learn to make the association between these letters and sounds in a direct and systematic way.

Synthetic phonics is a method of instruction in which words are broken up into the smallest units of sound (phonemes). It teaches children to make connections between the letters of written texts (graphemes, or letter symbols) and the sounds of spoken language. It also teaches children how to identify all the phonemes in a word and match them to a letter in order to be able to spell correctly."

This is how all synthetic phonics schemes work used in UK schools.

Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) is built on the alphabetic principle. It is a structured, cumulative method of teaching reading. Children are first taught the link between letters and the speech sounds they represent. Once they have learnt a small number of letter/ sound correspondences these are used to read and spell simple two and three sound words such as sat, sit, pan, pin, nap.

@Norestformrz And they do exactly that. But then you wouldn’t know because you haven’t done any of their lessons, have you?

@SouthLondonMommy Thank you.