We have recently started our Phonics
Storytelling Workshops. I never learnt phonics in school. I learnt the
letters as A, B and C, and then I learnt spellings and therefore learnt to
read. I became aware of phonics when my daughter started going to school. I did
my little research on the Internet, and was amazed with what I learnt!
Phonics refers to the sounds that
the English alphabets make. The words we read are made up of small sound
segments, 44 in all. If children learn these 44 sounds, then they can connect the
sounds to the letters they read, and will thus be able to pronounce a word.
Likewise, if they hear a word, they can break it into sound segments and can tell
how it is spelt. So, in short, phonics is about learning the 44 sounds.
At The Story Place, we teach the
44 sounds through stories. Each letter represents a character, who has his/her
own personality, and each personality makes a unique sound and has a unique
shape.
When children sit for our
storytelling sessions, they don’t look at alphabets, they look at characters. They
listen to a story about the character, and listen to songs about the sound the character
makes and how the character gets its shape.
Later, when they see a letter,
they relate the letter to its character, and then they recall the sound it makes!
Doesn’t that sound like a fun way to learn the English alphabets?
If you are interested in learning
about phonics or if you’d like to become a phonics trainer or if you’d like
your child to attend our storytelling sessions, then write to us at
thestoryplacefolks@gmail.com or visit our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/thestoryplace) for more details.
