Teaching letters, Jolly Phonics?

[cas2805]

Good evening all and happy new year!

Most of my mindees and DS are aged 2. I am just starting to tell them about letters and sounds. Thinking of using jolly phonics, is this still the right thing to do? What should I buy/download and where is the best place to start?

Thanks Caroline

[snuffy123lulu]

I use Jolly Phonics with my two three year olds as that is what they use in the foundation class they will be going to in September. They loved learning all the sounds using actions, dvds, books, magnetic boards etc and picked it up very easily. They have now started to blend small words without being asked or shown , they are like sponges. There is lots of information on the Jolly Learning website and the books are available from Amazon and any bookshop.

[Pipsqueak]

Get hold of Letters and Sounds (DofE) that gives you a good basis and within EYFS it gives you LOTS of activities.

Ideally though what teachers want from children is good listening, discerning sounds, good speech and a love of books, songs and mark making.

Each school teaches things differently so it may be worth checking with the foundation units what and how they teach.

[moggy]

Personally, I feel it can be detrimental to try to 'teach' such young children letters, unless they are really pointing to words and asking 'what's that?' (as some 2 years can be, I have one at the moment!). I really believe it can turn them off reading and has been highlighted as possible barrier to future reading in many of the things I have read over the years.
At age 2 I would concentrate on the joy of books and words- talking about the cover, the title, the pictures, the themes, what might happen, can they guess the story, acting out with puppets, follow your finger along the lines as you read etc etc. Rhymes and making up nonsense rhymes and rhyming words, play I-Spy etc etc. They will become curious about letters and words when they are ready and that may be at age 2 in some few cases but could be age 3 or 4.
I think there can be an attitude, particularly in the UK, where we want to get them reading ASAP but until the 'links' are developed/ready in the brain to process this info it is pointless and can end up with the children thinking 'I don't get this, I can't do it, I am failing' when actually it is just something they are not developmentally ready for. Sorry if I am going off on a rant but it is a particular issue with me!:blush:
As for Jolly Phonics- I would check with your local nurseries/schools to see what the local 'standard' is, for continuity in other settings the children may go to later. Jolly Phonics is the one used in my area.
EYFS - CLL - 'Linking Sounds to Letters' is a guide to the development stages- I'd say Jolly Phonics fits in to 40-60+mth section, although those Early Learning Goals are much debated themselves!

[RachelE]

My own 2 yr old ds knew all the letters of the alphabet and now as a 10yr old - always has his head in a book and has always been about 3 yrs ahead of his actual age, for his reading.
So, to say not to teach them letters or discourage them, is not accurate.
I would say, the earlier, the better. There is no better gift, than being able to read. - it opens up so many possibilities.
Ds started at a school where his gifted reading was not too unusual. Now he goes to a school where most of his peers cannot spell or read and I find that very sad.

My ds learnt his letters through a mindee reading letterland books - I love these! I think the letterland range is really good - you can extend it by looking for a 'c' in any context and then say - its clever cat.
My 2 children have really benefited from this.

I personally dont think it does any harm if they get taught a different way than at school.

DD(5) knew her letters and then when she was taught the jolly phonics actions - just went along with it - it didnt confuse her at all.

I have various abilities of mindees and go with their ability and interest.

Rachel x

[karensmart4]

We have a 3 year old that is very interested in her letters so I bought 'Fun with Phonics' it's a DVD and Poster and it's from Amazon. I put the DVD on in the background and I've put the poster up on display. I don't push teaching reading I read a story everyday and the children choose rhymes from our rhyme sack everyday too. We also have a comfy corner with a child size armchair and some cushions and a wicker basket with a variety of books for the children to sit and look at.

[dette]

My own DS4 can read really well.(even upside down i have recently discovered) i have always talked about letters and numbers in all kinds of situations and as he is gifted on the pc i decided to use "reading eggs" which is an online system for teaching children to read when he was 3,he thrived on it.My youngest DS (NOW 3 then 2) loved to watch him and i got him an account too.Now he knows all his letters ,upper and lower case.so even though he isnt yet quite reading words he has a good understanding of what its about and loves it.
On the down side i have a 4 year old mindee who started withme in august.she cant recognise any letters or numbers(previously in a nursery) .shes very keen to learn but finds it very frustrating that my littlest son ,who she considers to be a baby can do it and she cant..They all learn in their own time but little children are capable of so much more than some people give them credit for.I dont believe there can be such a thing as too early..in my oppinion its the earlier the better as long as you aim it towards the level they are at

[rosebud]

My own 2 yr old ds knew all the letters of the alphabet and now as a 10yr old - always has his head in a book and has always been about 3 yrs ahead of his actual age, for his reading.
So, to say not to teach them letters or discourage them, is not accurate.
I would say, the earlier, the better. There is no better gift, than being able to read. - it opens up so many possibilities.
Ds started at a school where his gifted reading was not too unusual. Now he goes to a school where most of his peers cannot spell or read and I find that very sad.

My ds learnt his letters through a mindee reading letterland books - I love these! I think the letterland range is really good - you can extend it by looking for a 'c' in any context and then say - its clever cat.
My 2 children have really benefited from this.

I personally dont think it does any harm if they get taught a different way than at school.

DD(5) knew her letters and then when she was taught the jolly phonics actions - just went along with it - it didnt confuse her at all.

I have various abilities of mindees and go with their ability and interest.

Rachel x

My oldest child also knew his letters aged 2 and loves to read but my youngest was definitely not ready for this until she started school, and she still loves books.
It is so important to think about each INDIVIDUAL child and what they are ready for. Children come from all sorts of different backgrounds and whilst one 2-3 year old may benefit from this kind of activity most others will not. What about children for whom English is not their first language? what about children who come from homes where there are no books? (sad but it happens) what about children who's parents can't read. (also sad)
I agree with you Rachel that there is no better gift than being able read but Moggy's post is absolutely accurate in that many, many children are put off reading forever by being made to do things before they are ready.

Please don't be offended by the difference in opinion but just thought it was important to make the point.

[appleblossom]

I came onto the Forum today with the intention of asking a question about 2 year old's interest in learning letters, and found this thread already running.

Here is my dilemma. I look after 2 2 year old girls. One is 2 yr 8 months. She is interested in letters and numbers. She knows all her numbers and has started learning letters. She recognises her own name and can pick out the letters in it from our box of magnetic letters.

The problem I have is that her parents have taught her the names of letters rather than the sounds. For example if she sees a "b" she says it is "Bee". A "w" to her is "double you." My concern is how this will affect her chance of "sounding out" letters? Is it something I should be concerned about and how should I now encourage her interest in letters? If I say the sound of a letter when we play with letters she corrects me and says "No, it's double you, or for "k" she will says it's "Kay."

I suppose I ought to go and see the FS staff at school and ask them what the best way to approach this is. If she gets a place she will start her 15 hours at the school nursery in September. I really want to encourage her interest in letters and words but need to be sure I am going about it in the right way.

The other little girl I mind is a month younger. She has no interest whatsoever in numbers or letters. That's fine. I firmly believe in not forcing it on them if they are not interested

[sdean]

I approach it by saying its name is "double you" but it's sound is "w" and go through that during play etc then when playing with magnetic letter etc I sound out the letters showing how they blend together to make words c - a - t etc

I would also do the letters and sounds activities such as metal mike where they have to talk like robots to sound out words from a picture as they post it through metal mike's mouth. That way she is learning the sound as well as the name of the letter which is still important to learn.


I would also try and speak to the parents and explain the importance of phonics and children learning the phonetic sound as well as the name of the letter within the alphabet.

[Wendybird]

[QUOTE=moggy;1032017]Personally, I feel it can be detrimental to try to 'teach' such young children letters, unless they are really pointing to words and asking 'what's that?' (as some 2 years can be, I have one at the moment!). I really believe it can turn them off reading and has been highlighted as possible barrier to future reading in many of the things I have read over the years.]

This is the stance that scientific research supports. Babies CAN learn to read, even infants (see the Your Baby Can Read programme), but scientific evidence suggests that they shouldn't. Neurologically, teaching children to read (and calculate formally) runs roughshed over what they are meant to be doing developmentally. This is particularly true with boys and can have negative impacts down the road, including negative associations with reading/ academic learning, poor self-esteem, and negative impacts on creative development. Of course, some children are ready earlier than others, but these will be rare. We teach reading in the country earlier than in any other (as far as I know) yet those nations that teach it later have better reading skills by the time children reach age 14 and the differnce in performace grows as time goes on. Overall, we aren't doing our kids (in a global, national way) any favours by pushing reading and academic learning early. I can't for the life of me understand why governments (here and the US) continue down this route policy-wise when the research SO CLEARLY and CONSISTENTLY indicates that the opposite route should be pursued. Bah. I know this isn't what the OP asked, but it is an issue that pushes my buttons. No offense is meant to any individual, my moan is at the policy-makers. Quietly steps off soap-box

[louise]

My ds school has just stopped using Jolly phonics, I'm not sure what the scheme is called but for each letter they have a saying of how you write the letter. For example M is up the mountin, down the mountin, up the mountin, down the mountin. So it maybe worth finding out what local schools use.

[sdean]

My ds school has just stopped using Jolly phonics, I'm not sure what the scheme is called but for each letter they have a saying of how you write the letter. For example M is up the mountin, down the mountin, up the mountin, down the mountin. So it maybe worth finding out what local schools use.

This sounds like Read Write Inc - Ruth Miskin scheme - our school moved over to this scheme from Jolly phonics about 5 years ago - my eldest learnt her letter sounds with this scheme and so has my youngest (5). The theory of the scheme is that is is very active and teaches them to write the letter as well as read it. You can get the letter flash cards on ebay/amazon there are three sets in total - the first pack has letter sounds set 1 & 2 and then there is another set which is set 3. For example - M is mmmmmmmm maisies mountain mountain - go go maisie and over the mountains. "b" is bbbbbb boot down the leg and over the foot.
Hope that helps

[cas2805]

Thanks very much everyone. Rather than teaching the children, I just want to introduce them to the letters and sounds. I hope this will make it easier when they get to school/nursery. Your advise has been a great help so far as I had no idea where to start!

Any more advice would be great, so bring it on! Also glad this thread is helping others too.

Oh and with the "ask the local schools" part, each of the 4 x two year olds will probably go to different nurseries as they are from different areas.