Blending is the process of saying the individual sounds in a word the running them together to make the word. For instance sounding out d-o-g and making dog. It is a technique every child will need to learn, and it improves with practice.    To start with you should sound out the word and see if a child can hear it, giving the answer if necessary. Some children take longer than others to hear this. The sounds must be said quickly to hear the word. It is easier if the first sound is said slightly louder.    Try little and often with words like b-u-s, t-o-p, c-a-t and h-e-n.…

There are a number of ways to learn tricky words: 1. Look, Cover, Write and Check. Look at the word to see which bit is tricky. Ask the child to try writing the word in the air saying the letters. Cover the word over and see if the child can write it correctly. Check to make sure. 2. Say it as it sounds. Say the word so each sound is heard. For instance, the word was is said was “wass”, to rhyme with mass, the word Monday is said as Mon-day. 3. Mnemonics. The initial letter of each word in a saying gives the correct spelling of a word. For…

The easiest way to know how to spell a word is to listen for the sounds in that word. Even with the tricky words an understanding of letter sounds can help. Start by having your child listen for the first sound in a word. Games like I-Spy are ideal for this. Next try listening for the end sounds, as the middle sound of the word is the hardest to hear. To read the full article on Jolly Phonics site, click here.

    Blending is the process of saying the individual sounds in a word the running them together to make the word. For instance sounding out d-o-g and making dog. It is a technique every child will need to learn, and it improves with practice. To start with you should sound out the word and see if a child can hear it, giving the answer if necessary. Some children take longer than others to hear this. The sounds must be said quickly to hear the word. It is easier if the first sound is said slightly louder. Try little and often with words like b-u-s, t-o-p, c-a-t and h-e-n. There are…

It is very important that a child holds their pencil in the correct way. The pencil should be held in the “tripod” grip between the thumb and the first two fingers. The grip is the same for both left and right handed children. If a child´s hold starts incorrectly, it is very difficult to correct later on. A child needs to form each letter the correct way. The letter c is introduced in the early stages as this forms the basic shape of some other letters, such as d. Particular problems to look for are: the o (the pencil stroke must be anti-clockwise, not clockwise) d (the pencil starts in the…