Daddy, Mummy, please help me learn to read!

Editor: At a PTA meeting the principal asks: “Which parent sitting here does not want his or her children learn to read?” Of course, any normal parent wants his/her child to learn to read. Many, by now, have heard of “Jolly Phonics.” As the term “Jolly” suggests, Jolly Phonics is a happy and cheerful way of learning letter sounds. Learning the sounds of the letters becomes fun for the children.{{more}}

Parents, can you do more to help your children learn to read? You can make up your own fun way to teach the letter sounds. Why not use this Jolly Phonics link to help: http://jollylearning.co.uk/gallery/audio-2/

This link leads you to a video that teaches the 42 basic sounds of the English alphabet. Below the video, you will see the same 42 sets of letters in seven groups; each group has six sets of letters. According to your child’s ability, patiently teach him/her the sounds of Group 1 letters, making sure the child masters them or most of them before moving on to Group 2 letters, then Group 3 letters etc. Later, parents can give the children simple words that contain these sets of letters and encourage them to blend as they try to call the words: e.g. seat – child blends letters s, ea, and t together to call the word “seat.”

Use this link with a video called, “Drive – Thru Blending.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nkwUtPc_lQ Also, parents must let children know that some words are called “Tricky Words” since we cannot use phonics to call the whole word: e.g. was, you, to etc. Teachers do their part to help. Parents, do your part too. Parents, whether they say it or not, many children are crying out for help. So please, help your children learn to read.

BP