CHIOMA ERUOTOR

Raising Literacy Standards with Phonics

Decodingalphabeticallettersisanimportantpartofliteracy development,thefundamentalswhichwilleventuallymake a good reader or writer is the phonetic foundation which must be set by the teacher, children can sound, blend and decodewordswhengivenagoodliteracyfoundationwhich includes phonics and word blending, as it stand today “A is for apple” does not apply anymore. Intherealsensetheletternamecannotstandforthesounds, so it’s of utmost important that sound is first introduced to children in the ECCD classes as a firm foundation for reading. Not too long ago, I was asked to observe a primary class writing an essay about a fight they had witnessed and why it was not appealing to fight, as I sat back and read the essay a familiar pattern became obvious to me as in most of the narratives I read, the children were mixing both upper case and lower case letters in their sentence construction, an example “Mr tunDe came to stop tHe tWo boYs from FighTing.” In this case the child in question must have being introducedtouppercaseandlowercaselettersatthesame time, he would have being asked to write them together. e.g Aa Bc Cc etc. I have nothing against the introduction of both uppercase and lower case but in my opinion I feel it confuses children at a younger age, they will be able to absorb it but eventually when the time comes to transcribe the acquired knowledge the above will most likely be the case. We randomly use uppercase letters in our ever day writing, evenaMicrosoftofficeapplicationonMicrosoftwordgives the option of lowercase first; it is only when requested that an individual uses a cap lock as the page opens. Your first typed words will be in lower case except the first letter which starts the sentence. For children in their early years of writing it is extremely beneficial for their gross motor skills that they start with lower case formation as it is quit tasking to the wrist and elbow, as a lot of turns and twists are involved. When children are given a firm phonic foundation, they are equipped with the foundation of being good readers and writersinthenewfeature,theythenseereadingandwriting as a joy and not a burden. Families can also help by having a read at home time where families can read aloud to their children. All children who are learning to read will make mistakes and be nervous in the beginning of the learning process, but it’s important that our reactions as teachers and family members is one of positive encouragement. It can be helpful to regard mistakes as useful clues to what sort of help is needed. Here are a few pointers that will help:

will help the child understand it better.

first letter of the unknown word. literacy development. Weallareresponsibleformakingourchildrenbetterreaders and writers.