phonics

Everyday

1. Phonics is a way of learning to read by matching letters and groups of letters to the sounds they make. tree →
2. Phonics also means the lessons and books that teach this. tree →

In the lessons

In early school reading (especially UK, Australia and New Zealand), children learn phonics: «sh» says /sh/, «igh» says /eye/. They blend sounds to read words (c-a-t, cat) and segment words to spell them. The UK has a «phonics screening check» in Year 1. Phrases: «phonics lesson», «sound it out», «blend the sounds».

Examples

• We have phonics every morning before break. tree →
• In phonics we learned that «ai» and «ay» make the same sound. tree →
• My little brother uses phonics to sound out new words. tree →
• Phonics helps you read words you have never seen before. tree →
• The teacher held up phonics cards with letters on them. tree →
• Not every word follows phonics rules, like «said» and «the». tree →

Note

Ends in -s but is singular: «Phonics is fun», not «are». Words that do not follow the rules are often called «tricky words» or «sight words». Phonics is about sounds, not about the meaning of words.