PHONICS FOR KIDS

Learning to read is an important skill that all children need to learn.

Today the Internet and software programs make learning to read fun as well as allowing a child to progress at his or her own rate.

A new program accessed online with follow up book kits and developed by a highly experienced team of educational teachers, writers and developers is now available.

Called ABC Reading Eggs it was launched in August 2008.  

I recommend that parents of young children visit the website

www.readingeggs.com 

It contains valuable information and testimonials from satisfied users.

ABC Reading Eggs starts at the beginning and teaches every skill your child needs to learn to read. Children with some reading skills can begin the program at the entry level that best suits them.

Children as young as three can use the program. ABC Reading Eggs lessons can be replayed as often as you like as young children respond to repetition.

It develops essential reading skills in a progression.

The program is at present a sequential series of 90 lessons that starts at a complete beginner’s level and presents beginning skills to grade one level.

Level 2 suitable for 6 to 8 year old children is completed.

Level 3 is under construction. The lessons will then take readers up to a Year 2 reading level – their 3rd year of school.

Each learner has their own web-based dashboard which displays a brief overview of the reading skills covered and number of books read.

After each lesson a personalized email, describing your child’s reading progress and the skills and concepts covered will be sent to you.

The ABC Reading Eggs Program

•  Is a core reading curriculum of phonics and sight words
• develops skills and strategies essential for sustained reading success
• provides one-on-one lessons allowing children to progress at their own rate.
• provides for all learning styles with interactive animations, fun games, great songs
• lots of rewards
• completely supports what children learn at school.
• learning to read is enjoyable as well as very rewarding.

www.readingeggs.com

In the Reading Eggs World, children will have their own house to decorate, a big new shop, an avatar that can walk and travel to many new dimensions on Reggie’s bus.

Children are able to choose their own adventure from a wide range of activities and places to go.

www.readingeggs.com

Remember Reading Eggs is continually being added to.

This exciting Reading Eggs World will have:

•  lots of new lessons,
• a creative story writing factory,
•  new games and many wonderful new books to read in Storylands.

 The learning will focus on building reading fluency, reading comprehension, vocabulary, listening skills and a range of writing skills including grammar and punctuation.

Children are highly motivated to return again and again.

Reading Eggs, a world of interactive reading and writing activities will help to set kids up with positive attitudes about reading and learning for life.

That’s a tall order, but the developers are passionately committed to delivering this to hatching readers everywhere.

 All you need is a computer and the ability to set your child up on it at least two times per week. The program works best on a broadband connection.

www.readingeggs.com

The ABC Reading Eggs also has book packs which are a great way to access the program.

Each ABC Reading Eggs book pack comes with 10 reading books and an access code that opens a 14 day subscription to the online program.

The book packs also contain a Progress map with stickers. After each lesson, you can add stickers to the map as a reward and to mark progress.

This great feature adds to the rewarding experience and improves motivation.

 When you introduce Reading Eggs to your child you:

• Introduce him or her to an exciting learning experience.
• can witness their joy and wonder and watch their progress in learning.
• can cheer their achievements and successes.

Children gain confidence by reading books online that only contain words they have already learnt in the program.

ABC Reading Eggs book packs enable practise and reinforcement of the skills learnt online.

This powerful educational program is based on the most up to date research on how children learn to read.

Remember:  The ABC Reading Eggs learning process includes:

• lessons with animation, activities and reward games to keep children motivated.
• a completely interactive program to keep children on task.

Children want to come back because they are having fun as they learn.

When children start the program, they can complete a placement quiz to ensure they are starting at the correct reading level.

This combination of high-quality learning activities, motivation and rewards makes ABC Reading Eggs an unbeatable learning package.

To learn more and allow your child to experience a free sample lesson visit:

www.readingeggs.com

You will be pleased you did. The program has received rave reviews from teachers, parents and children.

Even struggling readers succeed with ABC Reading Eggs!

Learn to Read with ABC Reading Eggs 

ClickN Kids programs are designed for      

• Children as young as 3 who can use a mouse
•  Kindergarten and early primary school children
• Primary school children who need phonics and spelling tuition
• Adults learning to read and spell English as a second language
• Can be used for failing students and students with a wide range of learning disabilities

The programs are guaranteed to work for ESL students, autism, dyslexia and other learning disabilities.

The programs are designed by Dr J Ron Nelson based on effective reading instruction summarized by the US National Reading Panel as well as research done on spelling instructional practice.

Home Accounts are a LIFETIME subscription for a ONE-TIME payment.

This is less than 2 sessions of one on one tutoring by a qualified tutor.

Because the program is only available online it can be used over and over for many years. The lessons may be run as often as you like. One child can use it at a time but different children can use it.  Simply delete one name and add another or add another student at a discounted price.

Home Accounts are also transferable.  

You may transfer the program to another child or anyone you wish to give it to afteryou have finished with it. My program is going to my grandchildren. There is no charge to transfer.  

What is the refund and satisfaction guarantee policy?

ClickN Read Phonics and ClickN Kids Spelling Program are the ONLY reading and spelling programs to offer a completion guarantee.  

If you are not satisfied with your child’s progress after completing the 100th lesson you can request and receive a refund.

The same applies to ClickN Spell.

Also if you are not satisfied with the program within 60 days of purchase you can ask for and receive an unconditional refund.

ClickN Kids have never received a refund request from a school and have never declined a refund request from a home customer.  

What will ClickN READ Phonics teach my child?

A complete Prep Grade to – Grade 3 phonics curriculum. 

• letter sounds relationships  
• beginning, middle and ending letter sounds in words   
• word blending;
• sight words;
• spelling sight words;
• word families 
• word ending       
• silent E Rule;
• spelling
• silent E words
• making sentences   
• sentence dictation
• prefixes
• suffixes
• story reading
• letter sound review
•  word recognition review
•  reinforces listening skills
•  teaches basic keyboarding and mouse computing skills      

What will ClickN READ Spelling Program teach my child?  

• A complete Prep – Grade 5 spelling curriculum. 
• It   Includes the 800 most common used words in English language.
• The most commonly spoken 800 words are used 13 times more frequently than the next most common 800 words.
• ClickN SPELL therefore provides a solid foundation not just for spelling, but also for the English language in general.

How are ClickN KIDS programs different from other reading and spelling programs?

They have redefined computer based instruction and have set new standards for online learning.

Do ClickN KIDS programs come with any workbooks or other tools?

All the features of flashcards or workbook based phonics and spelling products are built into the programs. The short stories built into the ClickN READ Phonics lessons are the equivalent of a small library of children’s story books! Downloadable worksheets are also provided for offline word and short story reading and spelling practice.

 Are there practice review exercises?

Yes! Each ClickN READ Phonics lesson has a fun and challenging review module called, “The Speed Chamber.”

Every 5th ClickN SPELL lesson contains a pop quiz and at the end of each of the 5 levels in the curriculum, a level test must be completed.

Are there progress reports?

Reports offer pinpoint accuracy where extra instruction or review may be needed.

SUMMARY

1. The programs are delivered online after account and payment has been verified
2. They are not available on CD Rom.
3. They work on all types of computer systems and browsers.
4. There is no software to install
5. Your account is user name and password protected
6. You may purchase each program as a gift for and a order confirmation will be sent on your behalf to the intended recipient.
7. Sample lessons for your child to do are available before purchasing
8. The content of the programs are the same for both home and school users.
9. You can access your account from any computer as long as you know your user name and password. 

If you would like to review ClickN Kids products please click on the ClickN Read Icon on this page.

Without a doubt using these programs as instructed will ensure reading and spelling success for all children. 

A whole language approach to literacy.

Language skills are the basis for a child developing as a fluent reader. Children with parents and caregivers who read and talk to them have an enormous advantage.

Learning how to spell (encode) and read (decode) words are simple skills to learn when taught properly. Children who are taught these skills early will most likely develop into fluent readers.

This article is about phonetics and phonics.

Phonetics is the name given to the scientific study of how speech sounds of all languages are produced. It is complex, scientific study of language.

Phonics is a method of teaching people to decode and encode words by correlating sounds with alphabetic symbols.

Phonetics is much more detailed than phonics which simplifies language for reading and spelling.

Phonics for kids in the early stages of reading is a necessary skill for a child to master. Phonics for kids needs to be taught systematically. It is very easy to confuse beginning readers.

The important organs of speech are:

• the tongue
• the hard palate
• the lips
• the teeth
• the soft palate
• vocal cords of the larynx

The sounds made by the organs of speech are divided into 2 categories -

Consonants and Vowels

There are consonant and vowels sounds in English.

All words must contain at least 1 vowel sound.

Consonants

Consonant sounds are made with a complete or partial stoppage of breath or audible(heard) friction stoppage. Consonant sounds are made using the lips , teeth and teeth ridge, front palatal and back palatal (palate)

The sounds are described as:

plosive- the air flow is first stopped by lips, teeth or palate and quickly released.

fricative- Sound made by breath in a small opening

nasal - soft palate is lowered allowing the breath to enter the nasal cavity.

lateral - produced by raising the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth.

rolled -  teeth and teeth ridge used for tongue to block air. the air  flows past one or both sides of the tongue.

glides or semi-vowels - the tongue is close enough to the top of the mouth and produces a slight turbulance.

The above are very broad distinctions but show how complex language is.

English Consonant Sounds are:  Digraphs are two letters that spell one sound.

/b/ bat    /c/ cat   /d/ dog   /f/ fog   /g/ got    /h/ hat    /j/ jump  /k/ kid    /l/ lid

/m/ man    /n/ not

/p/ pan     /r/ rat     /s/ sun     /t/ top     /v/ van     /w/ win     /z/ zip    /ng/ bring 

/sh/ shop     /th/ thin

/th/ then    /ks/(x) fix     /ch/ chip     /kw/(q) quit

 An interesting and enlightening activity is to make each consonant sound and notice how you make each sound.

Two  examples:

How the sounds /f/ and /r/ are made

/f/ – is pronounced by contact between the upper teeth and lip.

/r/ – is pronounced with the blade of the tongue against the ridge above the teeth.

Vowel Sounds

A vowel sound is one where there is no stoppage of breath or no audible friction blocking it on exhaling.

The English Vowel Sounds are shown on a table at the end of this article. 

Most English vowel sounds have multiple spellings. This makes English spelling less than straight forward. 

 Vowels differ from one another by the position the tongue takes when each one is produced. The tongue is either thrust forward or backward in the mouth. A vowel sound is ‘closed’ or ‘open’ depending on the arching of the tongue when it is spoken.

A dipthong is a double vowel sound. It happens when a speaker starts to pronounce 1 vowel and then proceeds immediately in the direction of another.

The chief dipthongs in English can be seen in the following words.

time    tame    boy    boil    now    house    yawn    know    here    air  

Listen to the sounds as you say them. The spelling sometimes contradicts. 

The lips are rounded in various positions when vowel sounds are spoken. 

Summary:

The term phonetics is used for the scientific representation of speech sounds by means of written symbols. There is a phonetic alphabet and to the lay person it can seem very complicated. Phonetic spelling is much more complicated than everyday spelling.

A way to ensure your child gets systematic phonics training is to look for programs that can be studIed at home. This will supplement the work done at school.

ClickN Kids Phonics is an online phonics program. It contains a three year phonics course. It is scientifically based and produced by a language professor.The lessons build upon one another and a child can work through each lesson at their own pace. The program has graphics that children relate to but the emphais is on serious learning. Children sense this. All work done can be reviewed and practiced until mastery.  

For more information click on the ClickN Read icon on this page. Some excellent testimonials are also published.

Phonics for Kids is a great way to ensure a child will become a fluent reader and speller.

The English Vowel Sounds

Is Your Child Ready to Start Reading & Spelling?
  
All children are alike in that they all want to become readers and spellers, eager to open that important door to independent learning. Children are different when it comes to the when, why, how, and what works best when it comes to reading and spelling. By understanding and knowing how to work with these differences, parents can prepare the proper and most direct road to reading and spelling proficiency and ensure that your child has a lifelong enjoyment of the skills.

Is It Time?

Your six month-old baby didn’t show any signs of possessing the preliminary skills necessary to put on their shoes, so you didn’t waste time and energy trying to teach them how. Instead, you patiently helped them gain the coordination and waited until they had a good chance to succeed before showing them how to do this themselves, right?

Well, the same principle applies when determining if your child is ready to start learning to read and spell. The age at which a child is ready to read and spell can vary dramatically. Children can start from the age of three years old on up to eleven years old and beyond, but generally reading and spelling occurs between the age of four and ten years old.

The age of readiness or desire to read and spell can be easily determined by paying attention to the clues that children freely provide. Here are some signs of reading and spelling readiness:

1. Your child pretends to read

1. Your child maintains phonemic awareness or knows the sounds that letters make.

1. You notice your child takes interest in the environments written words on street signs, cereal boxes, TV, magazines, flyers, books, etc.

1. Your child looks at pictures and tells a story or repeats a known story in her own words

1. If your child can add the missing word to an incomplete sentence presented orally

1. If they can define or give the meaning of simple words

1. If they use left to-right progression

1. If they can pronounce their own first and last names

1. If they can print their name  

Why Would a Child Want to Read and Spell?

As an adult, you most likely would not spend hours trying to learn something that you have no interest in simply because someone told you that you “have to” learn it, right? Children are no different. This is why it is very important that we help children find reasons why they should learn to read and spell.

Most children will quickly learn how to read and spell once they find a good reason to do so. Maybe your child desires to hear more stories than you could possibly find time to read to them. Or maybe they want to learn how to play a game, or use the computer. What ever it is, helping your child find reasons to read and spell is just as important as the reading and spelling itself.

Be sure to provide daily examples of the many motivations to begin reading and spelling. Talk with your child about why its important and explain to them the opportunities that await them when they can read and spell. Give them examples:

• To understand how to play a new game (learning how-to)
• To learn more about the ocean (a way to get information and news)
• To write a letter to Grandma (personal communication)
• To be able to read great stories (enjoyment)

How Can You Help Them to Read and Spell?

It has long been debated which approach is best to use when teaching a child to read and spell. Some educator’s stand strongly by the Phonics approach and others use the language approach. This “Battle” can be put to rest with the results of two decades of research on the “Best Way to Learn How to Read”, funded by the National Institute of Health.

Researchers at the National Institute of Health discovered that there are three important aspects of reading.

• Part 1: Phonemic awareness, or learning the individual sounds that constitute a language, for example, “buh” as the sound of “b”

• Part 2: Phonics, or the letter-sound relationships available in the language

• Part 3: Exposure to the meaning of the written word by reading to the child as well as having the child begin to read independently

All three of these parts are very important building blocks when teaching a child to read and spell as each piece is necessary to support the next. With phonemic awareness as the first building block (Part 1), a child can begin to piece together words in books. Add a helpful person by their side and they will begin to ask questions, which lets you know that they are at the “phonics phase” (Part 1). Now is the time to point out important clues, such as how letter sounds blend, how an “e” at the end of a word changes a vowel sound from short to long, or how some consonants have more than one sound. You can also show them upper and lower case letters. It is also important at this time to show them the eighteen frequently used words best learned by sight. Remember, through it all keep reading to your child to include exposure to meaning, the equally important (Part 3).

Here Are Some Helpful Tips To Get Your Child Interested in Reading and Spelling:

1. Read aloud to your child from books, but also mail, instruction booklets, grocery lists, etc. (and don’t stop even when your child can read independently!)

1. Take turns “drawing” a letter on each other’s back with your fingers; guess what it is, tell them what sound it makes

1. Encourage hands-on play with magnetic letters and sponge letters in bath; sound out the nonsense words your child creates with them

1. Show them how fun it is to trace letters with crayons or colored pencils

1. Cut out letters from different types of paper; make some “ABC” craft projects

1. Play word games like Hangman, Junior Scrabble, Boggle, ABC Bingo, word searches, or make up you own game asking them: “What begins with ‘buh?” or “What ends with ‘guh?”

1. Write a single letter on some Post-It notes and make it into a game having your child stick them on everything beginning with that letter

1. Pick a “sight word of the day,” then have your child call it out every time you find it in a story

1. Leave fun engaging looking books around the house and car for your child to find and pick up

1. Provide a quiet period when you both get you favorite book and go off to read alone

1. Get cozy! Or make it an adventure for them. Read to them at night under a blanket with a flashlight, or read them a adventure story outside in a play tent.

      
What Are Some Great Products To Get Started With?

Maintaining interest and encouraging practice is very important, as your child needs plenty of opportunity to read whatever captures their attention, be it comic books, Dr. Seuss, or the newspaper’s sports page. Get your child their very own library card and visit the library weekly, allowing them to choose their own books, supplemented by others you pick out. Order a kids magazine subscription or get them a reading game. Make sure whatever they are reading is at the appropriate reading level to ensure success and reduce frustration. Continue to read aloud to them, reading more difficult things as this will help to progressively stretch their vocabulary.

Sustained practice allows your child to hone their reading skills, and your interest in what they independently read provides encouragement. Ask them about what’s happening in the story or ask them to tell you about their favorite part in the story. Not only will this allow you to gauge comprehension and answer questions that they may have, it gives the child confidence knowing that you are interested and excited about their newfound skill.

Two truly amazing programs that we have found that incorporate all aspects necessary to get your child reading and spelling are ClickN READ Phonics and ClickN SPELL. These online beginning reading and spelling programs are designed for children as young as 4 years old. ClickN READ Phonics teaches the complete K-3rd grade phonics curriculum taught at USA public schools and ClickN SPELL teaches 800 of the most commonly used words in the English language. They are great for children who are learning to read and spell for the first time, those who are struggling with reading as well as children with learning disabilities.

These programs actually simulate live classroom instruction. The onscreen cartoon instructor speaks to the child exactly like an expert teacher would in a classroom setting. The lessons are taught in colorful interactive space themed classrooms lovable fun cartoon characters, which keep the kids entertained as they learn, making learning to read and spell so much fun that they think it’s a game.

This program is also extremely easy to use, so easy that children can use the program all by themselves. This helps build your child’s confidence through self-achievement. It is also easy for us parents as everything needed is built into the program and it is the only product you will need to teach your kids to read and spell. The program is used online just like viewing standard web pages your child can use it at home, at Grandma’s, at the office or while on vacation. There is no software to install and no waiting for shipping. You just complete your purchase and immediately begin using the products.

The results are proven and the testimonies are so incredible that the company offers a 60-day guaranteed refund if you’re not satisfied with the results simply get your money back!

Here’s just one more incentive: Save 5% off With Coupon Code: CNK Click on the ClickN Kids icon on this Blog and learn how lots of people feelm about this program.

Phonics (the relationship between letters and sounds) is the key to unlocking the over 500,000 words in the English Language. 

Modern scientific reading research overwhelmingly proves the superiority of systematic phonics instruction for beginning readers and for the first three or so years of formal schooling. However this does not work if done in isolation.

There are many strategies used when teaching young children to read and write and phonics is only one of them.

Thirty five years teaching experience has taught me that people who struggle with reading and writing were not taught how the English Alphabetical Writing System works. They were left to work out the system when learning to read – and didn’t.

I cannot stress the importance of teaching phonics in the early years of school so children can learn to read fluently.

If decoding skills are not mastered in the beginning emotional factors often inhibit later learning.

Whole word and phonics instruction if not done carefully and systematically causes confusion and may be the reason for dyslexia in many students.

I have tutored several students who were having difficulty reading because they had memorized too many words by sight. They experienced a lot of discomfit when phonics was introduced.

Going back to reading simple, easily decodable texts often helped poor readers gain confidence and belief that they could learn to read.

Many teachers are not taught all the phonics principles and rules needed to teach students to read.

I certainly wasn’t. It took me a long time to figure it out.

I am not trained in phonetics. This is a different area.

Teaching a student to read with phonics is simple if you are taught all the rules. Trying to teach reading without the knowledge of these rules is like teaching basic mathematics without knowing the rules for borrowing and carrying.

No matter how we look at it effort is needed to learn to read.

It involves practice. Learning to read is a challenge for over 40 percent of children.

This doesn’t mean they cannot be taught.

Fortunately teaching methods today are being continually reviewed.

IT IS NEVER TO LATE TO LEARN TO READ

If you would like to see an outline of the letter sound relationships I have written an ebook explaining this.

If you are interested to learn more please go to www.superlearner.com.au