What is Phonics ?

Phonics is the relationship between the letters and sounds in a language. The 26 English letters produce over 44 sounds and we call them phonemes. Many letters represent a number of different sounds. Phonics helps to identify the sounds that different combination of letters make. Children who learn Phonics, tend to learn the skills they need to tackle new words. They in fact can take any kind of text fluently and start reading for enjoyment.

English is not a phonetic language

English began as a Germanic derivative, however over the years, many words from different languages have been added including French, Spanish, Yiddish, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Dutch, etc.

The sounds that are common in German were common in Old English too, but those sounds dropped out over time. However the spelling did not change to reflect the new pronunciation.

Also the words that entered English from foreign languages sometimes kept their original spelling and pronunciation. This means that the sounds that are used in those words are foreign (non-English) sounds. In other instances, the foreign

pronunciation was adopted to an English pronunciation but the foreign spelling was maintained. This resulted in a disconnection between the English sound and spelling, giving English the ‘non-phonetic’ adjective.

Why is Phonics important ?

English is a widely used language in India and has acquired the status of being the official language in all aspects of our life. The Education system has also adapted English for teaching almost all the subjects. As English is not our native language,the cognitive academic language proficiency is very low in many schools. This is one reason why students have general learning difficulties which leads to drop in academic performance.

Early reading ability bridges the gap leading to academic success. Reading skill is the primary avenue for cognitive development because it allows children to explore books which introduces them to people, places and new ideas. Phonics lays foundation for reading and prepares the child to meet the challenges of higher education. Therefore, Phonics should be an indispensable component of our education system and should not be neglected.

Phonics ultimately helps children…

What is the right age to learn Phonics ?

Kids sponge up everything until a certain age.“In the first six years, children learn at a much faster pace than at any other time in their lives. Vital connections in the brain are made very early in life. At birth, a healthy baby is born with approximately 200 billion active brain cells or neurons. Given the right kind of stimulation, each of these brain cells is capable of sprouting up to 20,000 different dendrites / branches and synapses / connections between them which store additional information. These connections, which are a direct result of stimulation the child receives through early experiences, form the basis of all future learning and intellectual ability.”

As we talk, sing and read to children, existing links among brain cells are strengthened and new links are formed. At a younger age, learning is faster than it will be as the child grows older. When a child is taught to read, the process of learning has a profound influence on the entire functioning and development of the brain.

We at ‘Magic Spell Phonics School’strongly believe that a child can master Phonics at the pre-primary level, effortlessly.

Apart from mastering the sounds the child can also imbibe the spelling rules and the patterns very easily at this stage .Phonics has a strong impact on reading skills of young children and receiving Phonics instruction in the early stages shows significant gains in reading and spelling abilities.

Children who learn Phonics, tend to learn the skills they need to tackle new words. They in fact can take any kind of text fluently and start reading for enjoyment.

Only by mastering effective reading strategies can the child pick up the necessary knowledge and information, which will enable him or her to excel scholastically in the future.

children grow in self confidence and independence. Reading promotes greater maturity, increases discipline and lays the basis for moral literacy. It sparks curiosity about people, places and things and also satisfies the child’s curiosity by providing explanations of how things work. It exposes the child to a range of problem-solving techniques. In addition, early reading ignites the child’s creativity and imagination.

Why ‘Magic spell Phonic School’?

BEWARE !!!!……..Is your child learning the right sounds ? When we get new students to our reading program, we always find that, probably 8 out of 10 kids are taught sounds incorrectly. To teach your child to ‘sound out’ you need absolutely exact pronunciations. If you don’t blend pure and correct phonetic sounds, you end up with very strange sounding words.

Reasons why kids learn wrong sounds……

Lack of proper knowledge of phonic sounds is a major concern. Usually such people tend to associate English sounds with vernaculars.

The catchy phonics songs can also be misleading. Many of the on line lessons on phonics for kids don’t teach the accurate English phonic sounds.

It is important to teach Phonics accurately in a significant and sequential way and to make sure the child gets a lot of practice before moving on. With this goal, Magic Spell Phonics School has uniquely designed phonic worksheets to help the child greatly. It is unique because it not only teaches the 48 basic sounds of English but systematically acquaints the child with the 80 phonograms and basic spelling rules which eventually lays a strong foundation for reading and spelling.

The non-phonetic word section.

Bearing in mind the complexities of English language, we have formulated this section to impart the complicated words. This section lists the most important words of English that are pronounced with the sound, even if the spelling makes it look like it should be pronounced differently and the words that do not follow the phonics rules

For example, a classic non-phonetic word is the word said. According to its spelling, the word said should be pronounced as *sayed*. It should rhyme with the word paid. But it doesn’t. Instead, the word said is pronounced with a short e sound and rhymes with the word bed (as well as the word instead).

Our Methodology

Our curriculum provides everything a teacher needs to successfully engage in phonics lessons.

We practice a systematic ‘Teach, Practice and Apply’ model for effective instruction. The Teach component is the part of a lesson that presents students with what they need to know. The Practice component of the lesson provides opportunities for students to “practice” what has been presented by completing work directly related to the lesson topic. In the Apply component of TPA, students begin to use the skill either with less teacher supervision or with teacher encouragement to use the skill in broader contexts.

Our Teachers

We have a team of qualified and trained teachers equipped with understanding of phonics and decoding strategies. They are familiar with the conceptual framework of our reading program and are trained to deliver phonics lessons effectively.