Phonics and the Benefits of Teaching your Child How to Read

If you’re a parent of a young child, I believe you want your child to learn how to read efficiently and have an early head start in acquiring the skills to do so before they enter Primary 1 (I know you’re thinking about their education way ahead of time!). As a preschool educator specialising in Phonics, it is my goal and desire to impart my knowledge and techniques to young learners, and in doing so, I hope to inculcate a love of reading in each and every one of them. On top of that, I also wish for these children to be encouraged enough to eventually strive towards mastering the English language. The good news is that your child can begin his/her learning journey on how to read (and write!) through Phonics education.

Phonics is the system of relationship between word sounds (phonemes) and written symbols (graphemes). It involves how to connect sounds with letters (or group of letters) and blending the sounds of letters together to produce approximate pronunciations of unknown words. The purpose of Phonics instruction is to provide the reader with the ability to associate printed letters with the speech sounds that these letters represent.

In short, Phonics is an instructional method for teaching children how to read English.

This instruction requires a certified/qualified teacher to provide students with information about Phonics rules or patterns. It also requires learners to learn the connections between letter patterns and the sounds they represent.

If you want your child to be fluent at reading, then Phonics lessons are the best way to achieve this. Learning and excelling at Phonics will improve their reading accuracy as well as the speed at which they can read. As they continue to develop their Phonics skills, along with their reading comprehension, their understanding of words and vocabulary will also increase. As young learners continue to develop their text recognition skills, they will, in turn, attain the ability to read, write, and spell correctly.

I personally believe that teaching Phonics is beneficial to the teacher, the student, and the parent. As a teacher, I am able to educate my students using methods that have been proven to be very effective in developing the essential skills of reading and writing. For the children, they take great pride in their growing vocabulary as their skills develop and their new found ability to read, write and spell through fun-filled learning experiences. For you as a parent, you can relish in the joy, relief and contentment that your child is able to pick up the skills required to prepare them for the future. I strongly encourage all parents to expose your child to Phonics education during their preschool years because that is the best time to equip themselves with the necessary reading and writing skills in preparation for their life ahead.

It is a win-win situation for all! 🙂

Next: Why You Should Read Storybooks to Your Child

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