Teaching children anything complex, such as learning to read, can be done by breaking down the end goal into segments and stages.  This is why many children learn the ABC song first, then learn to recognise the letters, then learn the sounds and so on.  However, many parents are met with challenges when their child or children are not interested in the lessons being taught.  This is where a creative teaching style can really support a child in their development….especially when it comes to teaching phonics.

The Benefits of Teaching Phonics to Children

·       Sound and letter recognition is stronger in children who practise phonics

·       Sounding out unfamiliar words becomes easier, due to recognition of letters and their respective sounds

·       Understanding spelling patterns makes for easier reading of larger more complex words

·       Comprehension of the letters in a word and the SOUNDS of the letters in a word is more complete

At Little Human Scholars, a preschool, playschool and daycare centre located in Petaling Jaya, near PJ Old Town, University Hospital, PJ New Town and Jaya 33, we use a UK based system called Jolly Phonics.

Jolly Phonics is an incredible teaching system whereby children first learn to recognise letters, then the sounds of the letters, then blending combinations of letters and so on until reading and comprehension is reached.  It is a multi-sensory form of education, whereby the children use visual, auditory and kinesthetic means to learning.  In other words, instead of sitting down and receiving a data-dump of information (where the children sit quietly and listen for extended periods of time to their teacher), there is a song, a dance and an action for each letter.  This whole-brain learning supports children in retaining more information faster, comprehending this information more fully, and in being able to utilise it over and over again in the future when more complex lessons are taught.

Advantages of using Jolly Phonics

·       Systematic way of learning English as a language

·       Effortless and Correct pronunciation

·       Understanding relationship between sounds and letters

·       Supports to improve your child’s vocabulary

·       Making your child spell a word effortlessly

·       Improvised performance in spelling competitions

·       Improved comprehension skills

We use Jolly Phonics at Little Human Scholars preschool, playschool and daycare centre to support children in learning the basics before learning to read.  Here is a sample of the songs we use in our playschool lessons:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djz82FBYiug

In short, phonics in and of itself can be a fun and exciting lesson for children to learn, or it can be boring; it all depends on how you teach it!  This is why jolly phonics works so well for our play-based school; there is a song, a dance and an action to follow for each letter and sound.  When learning is fun, there is no end to the education process!

If you would like to register your child for a free week trial (no strings attached), feel free to call us at +6017-7303 025 or +603 7932 1107.  Our playschool, preschool and kindergarten is located in the heart of Petaling Jaya, near University Hospital, PJ old town, PJ new town and near Jalan Gasing, at No 1. Jalan Bukit 11/2, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Feel free to give us a call or stop on by!

Jana Moreno