PHONICS!!!

World is changing and it is important that we keep ourselves updated. Well we all hear about phonics and how important they are. But first we need to ask ourselves a question what is phonics and what it has to do with reading?

There are many tools that help children to read and phonic is one of them. Phonic is the connection between letters and sounds and how we use these sounds and letters to read. We teach children phonics when they are first learning read so they realize that the letters on the page come together to form words.

One should always remember that it is important to balance direct instruction of phonics skill with meaningful, thoughtful application. Therefore, one must make it a point to teach phonics sensibly, as research says one should. I teach letter sound in context so that my children have enough time to practice them – instead of in isolation. Well I do this in a variety of ways :

v  I teach consonant sounds first as they tend to be more regular than the vowel sounds.Reseach shows that vowel sounds are rampantly irregular.

v  Well research shows that teaching all those tough phonic rules doesn’t work so one should focus on a few consistent patterns.

v  I always tech them in context .The context give my direct instruction an extra boost.

By teaching phonics in context, I am applying the most scientific research methods and making the best use of instructional time. I hope that this might prove to be a help to eager parents and curious teachers.

Thanks,

Pratima

‘Finger pointing’ – The Tough Question

Parent: ‘I noticed that you use your fingers to point while reading. Now my child has picked up this habit. When I was in school, we weren’t allowed to use our fingers as a crutch to read. Why are you encouraging this behavior?’

The researchers concluded that finger point reading is a necessary stage for children when they are learning to read. Here’s why:

Ø  At first, children don’t understand the concept of speech to print – that one spoken word equals one written word. This is because we don’t clearly separate our words when we talk. We don’t pause between words. Instead, we blur the individual words together.

Ø  Children need to understand that the spaces in text, the junctures between words, are makers. Early in the process, children often sweep under the text they have previously memorized, with no match at all to the print. They don’t track accurately with their eyes or know they are reading individual words. They need to understand the concept of a word as it occurs in written language. Finger pointing helps them do that.

Ø  I can’t teach word recognition if my students don’t know what a word is. In order for them to understand the alphabetic principle – students need to point to the words at first.

Ø  Once students have the idea of what words are and can see the similarities and differences among them, your child and even elders focus on sweeping through the words in sentences. Through shared reading of enlarged texts, students learn not just the concept of speech to print, but the importance of fluent, expressive reading.

Finger pointing is not a bad habit. It’s an important developmental stage and instrumental tool in reading. One has to make sure that children move past it because it’s important for them to know that reading is not about individual letters or words; it’s about meaning.

Parental Tips

In today’s world there are many parents who are looking for the best parenting tips. However, when parents look out for guidance they rely on school first. In Sapphire International you will find the best parenting advice. Here are few parental advices that you should know about mentoring children.

First, no matter how busy are you for the world you need to show love and compassion even if your kid goes wrong at any point. Whenever you get a chance praise your ward as it helps in boosting up his/her moral. It silently builds self-confidence.  This is the way you will gradually teach them discipline of life.

Second, need to discipline children. When they do something wrong, parents/teachers need to get down onto their level to make them understand. Kids won’t do well at first go. If you have set any warning you need to stick with it so that the kids don’t take you for granted. Even still they do things wrong repeatedly you need to discipline them by your set criteria and show them the boundaries. If parents, become lenient with the set boundary level they will naturally keep pushing on your limits.

Best advice any counselor or any institution would give is that you need control and handle your anger. Many parents act very badly in front of their children in personal and with their children. Give a pause to yourself take deep breath whenever such situation pops up and with calm nature confront your child. You need to approach kid in positive and understanding manner. When these things are done in proper manner, you will automatically see changes and things will become a lot easier to deal with.

Find some quality time for your child this way you will also relax and your child will feel supported, this way it helps to reduce stress and pressure from our child. You and your spouse need to make sure that you’re on the same platform so as to understand the child and make him understand.  This is not hard to do, but it demands time. These are the basic golden rule but many parents fail to do this because of all other things weighing down on them, they find that handling children problems can be pretty hard to deal with. All such things clashes and end result you tend to hurt the kid or themselves. Parents need to keep setting up examples of healthy living rather putting it in words.

Ms. Karishma