Jolly Phonics is one of those things that seems to have been around for EVER! I remember using it when I was on teaching practice way back in the early 90's. If like me you thought it was a programme just for initial sound recognition and not much else you might want to read on...
Thanks to Sara for writing this post that explains what Jolly Phonics is really all about.
Guest Blog, by Sara Wernham, Co-Author of the Jolly Phonics programme
I became involved with Jolly Phonics when I arrived, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, at my first teaching job. Jolly Phonicsitself was at a fairly early stage of its development; indeed, at that point it wasn't yet called 'Jolly Phonics'!
Sue Lloyd, the originator of Jolly Phonics, had been developing her ideas over a number of years, while working at the school. The school had opened in the ‘60s and had been through a number changes in teaching styles over the years. However, the then Head of Infants, Joan Dorr, found that there was always a group of children who never seemed to 'do'. They never managed to learn the set of words they needed to, to get their first reading book. So being very determined and formidable ladies, they decided they would find out why and do something about it! This is how what was to become Jolly Phonics began to develop.
They realized that the children who did not learn to read had no understanding of words, letters or sounds and how they related to each other. So the solution was simple - teach them how to do it! Over time, Sue experimented and discovered that they needed to teach the letter sounds separately; how to put them together to read; and how to listen for the sounds in a word to spell. She also realized that by doing 'silly' actions that linked to the sound being learnt, the children remembered them more easily.
I had applied for, and got my first teaching job in the school after going for an interview in the summer term for a junior class teacher. When I arrived the following September I was told there had been a bit of a reshuffle and in fact I would be teaching in reception. Being too naive to know better I smiled, said fine, and stayed - one of the best decisions of my life, as I then became involved in developing Jolly Phonics.
Youth is a wonderful thing. I should have said no thanks and left, as I had no idea at all how to teach a) young children or b) reading and writing, as I had done a middle school teaching course. We knew we didn't know how to teach reading and writing but had been told not to worry as children who couldn't read and write weren't our responsibility. They were obviously special needs.
So there I was with a class of 24 and no idea what to do; no long, medium or short-term plans, as these were the days before such things were common practice. I was also renowned in my family as being an avid reader but an appalling speller. How to spell words was always a bit of a mystery, and no one could understand why. I often used to get told off for not trying, although I was obviously bright and managed to navigate myself through school, O and A levels, a degree and a PGCE. So obviously I just didn't apply myself to spelling properly.
I always say I really learnt to read and spell with my first reception class.
It sounds ridiculous to say this now, but I had absolutely no idea that the letters in a word had anything to do with how the word sounded. It was a complete revelation when I discovered this. It explained why I couldn't spell, as I was looking at each word as a separate thing and learning each word as a separate unit. However I realized that it also explained why, despite being a good reader, I had problems with unusual words I had not come across before, such as names or places.
My first reaction on realizing that letters and sounds were linked was anger – anger that I had spent all those years struggling when I needn't have done.
Despite the handicap of having me as a teacher, and owing to the generous and experienced support I received, as well as being able to use the forerunner to the Jolly Phonics scheme, we all not only survived but thrived. I always say that if I could use it successfully that year then anyone would be able to!
My own experience also makes me very passionate that no one (teacher or child) should be left to struggle for the same reasons I did.
The philosophy behind Jolly Phonics is simple: Words are made up from sounds.
The linguists argue as to how many sounds, but for the purposes of teaching very young children, 42 is quite enough and works. So, first teach the children the sounds, making it as fun and easy for them to remember as possible. They also need to know how to write each letter. Insist on the correct pencil hold and correct formation right from the beginning and the rest of the teachers should thank you. It is far easier to get it right initially than to try and correct it later.
The next steps are actually more important, but often get omitted. I am often told children or teachers have 'done' Jolly Phonics, and then find out they have only used Jolly Phonics to learn/teach the letter sounds.
This is not 'doing' Jolly Phonics! I REPEAT THIS IS NOT DOING JOLLY PHONICS!
As you can probably tell, this is a bit of bugbear of mine!
Learning the letter sounds is merely the first step. The really important bit is to teach the children what to do with them. How to blend them together for reading and how to listen for them in a word to spell it. Start simply with cvc words and gradually introduce longer and more complex words.
To begin with only one way of representing each sound is taught. Unfortunately for us the vowel sounds in English tend to have alternative ways of being spelt, e.g. the sound /ai/ can be spelt as <ai>, <a-e>, <ay> or <a> as well as other more unusual ways e.g. <ey> in 'they'.
These alternative spellings need to be introduced to the children. They need to be able to cope with these alternatives for both reading and spelling. This is not the case in many other languages, for example in Finnish there is only one way of writing each sound in the language. It is therefore easier and quicker to learn.
Yes, English is a complex language and yes, lots of words and their spellings from other languages have been absorbed into it, but the majority of them are regular if you understand how the language works and have been taught the alternative spellings and how to cope with the complexities. The basic knowledge is taught in the Early Years but that is not the end of the story. It needs to be refined, certainly throughout Key Stage 1, but also beyond that as the children's abilities and knowledge develop.
Using the Jolly Phonics programme, the skills they need for reading and writing are built up in a carefully structured way. Some children find learning to read and write easy, others find it more difficult, and some have problems and have to work harder, but all need to know how the language works and how to apply the knowledge and skills they have to enable them to become independent readers and writers.
You can find out lots more info about Jolly Phonics(and get your hands on some free resources) by visiting www.jollylearning.co.uk
Thanks again Sara
Alistair
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