Our friends at Jitta Bugs are launching brand new classes: Phonic Bugs

Jittabugs are proud to announce they use the Jolly phonics system in our Phonics sessions read more about Jolly Phonics It uses the synthetic phonics method of teaching the letter sounds in a way that is fun and multi-sensory, enabling children to become fluent readers. The sounds are taught in a specific order (not alphabetically). This enables children to begin building words as early as possible.

There are five skills taught in phonics, they are –

• Learning the letter sounds
• Learning letter formation
• Blending
• Identifying the sounds in words (segmenting)
• Tricky words

At Jittabugs we only concentrate on Learning the letter sounds and using those sounds in song and dance & sensory.

This program is aimed at age 2-5 years old. Some of our tutors offer this class in a 30 minute session, others 45 mins to an hour. We don't sit at desks, this is an informal, fun, educational class. We sit in a circle on the floor and sing songs, use movement and multi- sensory to enhance our learning of Phonics and numbers . In some sessions art and craft may be included at the end of the session using the Phonic & Number handouts.

They are also doing Number Bugs to teach early maths skills.

Tutors offering these classes Dawn -Tyne & Wear, Caroline- Taunton, Lynsdsey-South Shields, Margot-Durham, Jen-Blackpool

Caroline Ashworth

www.jittabugs.com

You think we're just singing but we're doing so much more

It was lovely to see so many families at the Songs and stories session last week at Stafford Children's Centre when I covered for Nikki. One family had even travelled from Cannock because they know the benefits of the class. Someone else commented they weren't coming because 'it was just singing and reading'.

Well, it's not 'JUST' singing  at all .........

We mostly use nursery rhymes  which are important for many reasons:

1. Most importantly (to me as a speech and language therapist) is that they help develop spoken language skills. They are a  powerful tool in the repertoire of language developers. They show the child the rhythm and flow of language, help connect words to actions and help a child to understand and remember words. They also help attention and listening. A room full of noisy babies will still and quieten when I start singing (No, that's not my awful voice!!) and to add action keeps their attention for longer.

2. Bonding: Singing together helps language development but also interaction between parent and child or carer and child.

3. A Swedish study published in the journal Integrative Physiological and Behavioural Science suggested that singing, not only increases oxygen levels in the blood but triggers the release of “happy” hormones such as oxytocin, which is thought to help lower stress levels and blood pressure. As other studies show the increased levels of  both parental and child stress levels in the 21st century, this must surely help.

4. They can be used in conjunction with other communication enhancers e.g. choice making. The ability to be able to make choices is fundamental to human communication. Choosing which song to sing from a variety of props or choosing the next behaviour for action rhymes such as  'if you are happy and you know it'. These are non-verbal behaviours so do not require a verbal response. 

5. Increases confidence. Even if they haven't got the necessary expressive skills to join in verbally, they can take part with the actions.

6. There is overwhelming evidence that early learning of nursery rhymes and rhythmic poems, songs, and chants significantly enhances early reading skills and phonemic awareness.  In fact research highlights phonemic awareness as a strong predictor of a child's reading success. It helps them:

• to hear rhymes or alliteration
• to blend sounds to make a word (e.g., /a/-/t/ = at)
• to count phonemes in words ( how many sounds do you hear in "is"?)
• to identify the beginning, middle, and final sounds in words
• to substitute one phoneme for another (e.g., change the /h/ in "hot" to /p/
• to delete phonemes from words (e.g., omit the /c/ from "cat")"

so its helping them with pre-reading skills!

Come along to any  of our Smart Talkers Pre-School Communication classes and join the fun

www.smarttalkers.org.uk

Communication consortium expresses concern about Phonics Screening Check

The Communication Trust, a consortium of nearly 50 leading voluntary sector organisations specialising in speech, language and communication in children and young people, has expressed its concern over plans to roll out the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check. The results from the first round of screening were published recently   by the Department for  Education.  The Phonics Screening Check is a short, light-touch assessment to confirm whether pupils have learned phonic decoding to an appropriate standard. It also identifies children who need extra help so they can receive extra support to improve their reading skills. They can then retake the check so schools can track them until they can decode. But independent evaluation undertaken by Sheffield Hallam University showed most teachers still had difficulties in judging whether a word was read correctly, including in children who were good readers but had speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). Anita Kerwin-Nye, director of The Communication Trust, said: “We fully support the Government’s ambition to improve literacy standards in English schools, and welcome the Department for Education’s support for communication, language and literacy in the Early 

Years Foundation stage. “However we are very concerned about the impact the Year 1 Phonics Screen, and the wider emphasis on phonics, on children with speech, language and communication needs. 


This concern is backed up by the findings of the evaluation carried out by Sheffield Hallam University. This showed that nearly 29 per cent of schools felt the experience of the Phonics Screening Check was negative for children with SLCN and that only 35 per cent felt the check accurately assessed the decoding abilities of children with speech difficulties. “These figures alone suggest significant changes need to be made to the way the Screen is implemented and I have urgently requested a meeting with Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State 
for Education to discuss the precise details. Phonics is a valid approach to teaching reading but it is essential that it is delivered as part of a well-rounded approach to communication and literacy skills.”  

How to develop your child's phonological awareness skills

Another post from the fantastic Australian team at Talking Matters.

Phonological Awareness is the ability to hear and understand sounds and sound patterns within words.  A child’s phonological awareness abilities at the preschool age have been identified as the biggest predictor of early literacy development.Phonics is the ability to link sounds and letters and develops from phonological awareness. 

Children usually develop the ability to hear syllables, rhyme and beginning sounds prior to beginning school. Having these skills means that your child is ready for formal teaching in reading and writing. In the first year of school children typically develop the ability to break words into separate sounds (segmenting) and blend separate sounds into whole words (blending) as well as learning to link sounds to letters and recognise letter patterns (phonics). They also learn to recognise common sight words.                                           

Ideas for preschool children:

Rhyme. Story books and nursery rhymes are often children’s first introduction to rhyme. Initially children need to be able to recognise if two words rhyme, e.g. “Do “big” and “wig” rhyme?”  Later they will learn how to make their own rhyming words. Young children often enjoy playing with rhyme, e.g. “can I have cheese please” and “look at the funny bunny.” You can help your child learn about rhyming by reading stories and rhymes, listening to rhyming songs and making up your own rhymes.  

Syllables.  This involves being able to break up a word into beats. This is often learned by clapping out the beats in words. Start with your child’s name e.g. “Jess-i-ca” and other family names then move onto other words e.g. “el-e-phant”.

Identifying sounds in words.  Children learn to hear beginning sounds first. Talk about the sounds words start with as you look at books and play games with picture cards.  Look for other things that start with the same sound as your child’s name. Later look for and match other things with the same beginning sound. Once your child is skilled at listening for beginning sounds (they most likely have started school by now) you can listen to end sounds and later middle sounds (use simple words with three sounds such as “cup”).   

Ideas for school aged children: 

When children can hear individual sounds they can learn to: 

Blend sounds to form words. Break down words into sounds (not letter names or spelling but the sounds you can hear e.g. “m-u-g” not “em-you-gee”) and see if your child can work out what you are saying e.g. “can you pass me a c-u-p please”. Make it a game and praise your child for success or for trying.  Look at a book and see if your child can point to the picture that you sound out.  Sound out your child’s name when you call them.  

Segmenting words into separate sounds. Next your child can learn how to break words into sounds all by themselves. This is a skill which is needed for writing and spelling. Try the above activities and see if your child can break up words for you to guess.

Manipulating sounds. Once your child can break words down into sounds you can try:

• changing sounds in words, e.g. changing the first sound in “pet” to make “get” or the last sound in ‘pet’ to make ‘pen.’
• re-ordering sounds in words, e.g. re-ordering the sounds in ‘pan’ to make ‘nap.’ 
• removing sounds in words, e.g. ‘spoon’ without the ‘p’ says ‘soon.’

By now your child is well on their way and can probably recognise letters so magnetic letters are a fun way to develop these skills. Once your child has mastered these skills they are well on the way to being skilled in the early stages of literacy. 

What else can I do?

• Log into the “plus” section of our website and download free ideas and activities to develop your child’s understanding of rhyming, syllables, beginning and end sounds, segmenting and blending.  Just go to the “phonological awareness” section.http://plus.talkingmatters.com.au/families
• Look at the Reading Doctor program in the “resources” section of our website as this is a program designed by a speech pathologist to develop phonological awareness and phonics skills. http://talkingmatters.com.au/resources/software
• Look at the “ready to read” program at Talking Matters which teaches phonological awareness skills and oral language skills to help with the development of literacy. If this program may suit your child contact the office for more details. http://talkingmatters.com.au/therapy/reading

If you are concerned that your child may be having difficulties consider an assessment by a speech pathologist. For details about assessments at Talking Matters see our website http://talkingmatters.com.au/therapy/assessment or contact a speech pathologist in your area.

Talking Matters Team

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