Dongguan
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Course Information
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Phonics
- Ages: 4-12
- 2 Classes / wk or 1 Class / Weekend
- 1 hr or 1.5 hr / Class
- Max.6
Levels
- Beginner
- Intermediate
- Advanced
Course Description
Our Phonics program enables your child to build the foundation to become a fluent reader and accurate speller. The course is structured over three levels, each building on the one before and geared to target crucial learning outcomes. We teach your child the letter names and sounds, a comprehensive variety of blends, digraphs, trigraphs and complex word groups and ensure that they are able to identify, read and spell each of these. We focus on pronunciation to ensure that your child speaks and reads with the clarity of a natural English speaker. Throughout the program, your child’s ability is closely monitored and special attention is given to areas for improvement. Towards the end of our program, your child’s reading and spelling abilities will be better than their peers.
Importance of Phonics / why students need to learn Phonics:
Phonics is the method of teaching the sounds made by individual letters or letter groups so that they can be merged together to form words. In English, this skill is essential and forms the basis for all reading and spelling. Our Phonics course is carefully mapped out to ensure our students are meeting fundamental objectives at every stage. By the end of the course, our students are able to read fluently, spell accurately and pronounce complex word groups with ease. In educating our Phonics students with our “Learn to read, read to learn” approach, we provide the building blocks necessary for them to have a wealth of knowledge at their disposal!
The acquisition path of Phonics:
Our Phonics course is meticulously arranged over three progressive levels. At each, we develop a number of key skills that form the foundation for fluent reading and accurate spelling.
Beginner Phonics: In Beginner Phonics, our students learn the name and sound of each letter in the alphabet. We have them perfect their writing of all upper and lower-case letters as well as teach them how to identify the starting sound of any word.
Intermediate Phonics: In Intermediate Phonics, we teach our students how to blend letter sounds together. We focus on short and simple blends and have them read and spell four letter words independently.
Advanced Phonics: In Advanced Phonics, we develop their blending abilities. We focus on complex word groups like digraphs and trigraphs, r-controlled and long vowel sounds and ensure correct and natural pronunciation. Our students are taught to spell difficult six letter words accurately and read stories with fluency and appropriate intonation.
Milestones
Milestone 1 (After approx. 6 - 8 months’ study): Students can identify and recall all letter names and sounds. They are able to write independently and can differentiate the beginning sound from the rest of the word.
Milestone 2 (After approx. 12 months’ study): Students have memorized short vowel sounds and can blend simple, four letter words naturally. Students can also read and spell these words quickly and accurately.
Milestone 3 (After approx. 14 - 16 months’ study): Students are equipped to read and spell complex blends and can differentiate between them, as well as long and short vowels, with ease.
Milestone 4 (After approx. 18 - 24 months’ study): Students have a solid foundation of complex word groups. They are to read simple stories independently and fluently. Students pronounce blends naturally with correct intonation and are able to spell six letter words with precision.
Moving forward: Students are now ready to advance to more academically inclined courses. Material in such courses builds on their foundation in Phonics and develops skills related to reading and comprehension, speaking, writing and grammar.
Class structure
Our Phonics classes incorporate a number of different tasks and activities to ensure that all our learning outcomes are met. After teaching the content, we focus most of the class on reading and dictation. Sufficient time is also provided for listening and writing activities. Every class includes time for reviewing, a related song and a fun game to reinforce what our students have learned.
Reading and Writing Practice
Listening Practice & Independent Spelling Test
Course materials:
Our experienced in-house curriculum team has developed our very own ‘Phonics Jungle’ textbooks and readers that are specifically tailored to our Phonics course. Each level has a corresponding textbook filled with outcome-appropriate activities focused on sound identification, differentiation, listening and spelling. For every lesson, we use a different colorful and beautifully animated reader dedicated to practicing the specific sound or blend of that class. These materials provide our students with a fun and interactive way of engaging with the course.
Textbooks: Phonics Jungle
Reading: Each section in our Phonics Jungle Readers has a full page dedicated to reading. This page contains a short story with a focus on the target sound group. Each story is accompanied by colorful animations and a set of sound group specific vocabulary words for the students to learn. Our teachers have their students read for 15 minutes in every lesson and ensure correct pronunciation, intonation and fluency.
Listening Practice: Our multiple-choice activities train our students to identify the specific sounds they’re learning. For every sound group, students are presented with 12 pictures with three options for each. Our teachers say the word and have their students listen to and circle the correct sound. This allows our students to solidify their understanding of the relevant sounds groups.
Differentiation: Our differentiation activities require our students to view words in their entirety and distinguish between them. For every sound group, students are presented with 15 pictures with four options for each. Our teachers say the word and have their students listen to and circle the correct word. This trains our students merge the sounds and identify full words.
Progress report:
Every student is given a student progress folder. Our teachers use these to provide parents with detailed, academically-orientated written feedback on how their children perform in every lesson. The teachers comment on what was covered in the class, where the student performed well and if there are any areas that require revision in future classes. This allows parents to stay up to date with and closely track their child’s development through the course.
Certificate:
Upon successful completion of each level of the course, our students are awarded with an official, personalized Monkey Tree certificate.
