Disclosure: I have kindly been gifted a year's subscription to the Time for Phonics website, in exchange for mentions in my blog and on social media. All other resources have been paid for myself. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I used to be scared of reception children... yes really! I LOVED working in Key Stage 1, but my only experience teaching in reception was one incredibly exhausting half term covering for a teacher who had been seconded to another school. I just didn't 'get' reception. Fast forward 7 years, I became a Mum and just like that, it all made sense. I saw why it was so tiring and I saw why it was absolutely, 100% worth it! One of the most amazing things about the early years and key stage 1, in my opinion, is phonics. Watching them unlock the magic of reading is like nothing else. I've rounded up a few of my favourite phonics resources that are perfect for home schooling and that you can carry on using in fun and engaging ways once the children are back at school...
1. Phonics Dice
This Cheltenham based, small business is still fairly new, but they're doing great things already. They started with dice and moved on to discs, puzzles and they even have a board game out now! We have the phase 2-5 dice and we use them to introduce new sounds, as well as to revise those Ace has already learnt. There are lots of games you can play with the dice. Ace likes using them for I spy, but we also use them to initiate scavenger hunts (find something beginning with /sh/, bring me something that has the /oo/ sound in it) and play phonics Jenga!
2. Play Makes Sense Phonics Activity Cards
The activities on these cards have been buying me time recently! I tend to set one up in the living room and then when Ace has finished his main home learning jobs, he can go off and occupy himself while revising previously learnt sounds. This leaves me free to help Honey if she needs me. Each card has an activity idea, a short list of what you will need, easy to follow instructions and a word bank. A little bird tells me that phase 4 cards are coming soon, which we are very excited about!
Time for Phonics is a new website offering fun phonics games, it's the sister site of well established educational blog and website Mrs Mactivity. The games have been designed by a teacher, who found that her daughter didn't want to engage with some other phonics games on the market.
Ace loves the fun settings and characters and really enjoys playing the games. Once he had been on the website a couple of times, he found it easy to select the correct phase and pick a set of sounds to work on. You can access the site on a mobile, tablet or computer, we have tried all three and haven't had any isses. Currently, you can sign up for a 30 day free trial and it's £10 per year after that.
I've used these ever since I started teaching and have recently bought a pack to use at home with Ace. He responds so much more enthusiastically to 'real' phonics lessons, compared with watching videos (although Mr Thorne and Geraldine do give me a run for my money). The cards have a grapheme on one side, eg /aw/ and a short, easy to remember rhyme (eg /aw/, yawn at dawn) on the other side. They can be used for speed sound practise, putting sounds in groups, introducing new sounds and we also use them in conjunction with our phonics dice and magnetic letters to build words and captions.
5. Blackboard or Mega Sketcher
Our blackboard is in the garden, so the kids get a bonus shot of fresh air whenever they use it! Using chalk is great for building fine motor skills too. It's fun for children to practise their writing in a range of ways, especially when the stakes are low and they can easily rub out or change what they have written.
These are great for letter recognition, understanding the difference between upper and lower case and matching upper and lower case pairs. You could ask your child to point to a letter and say the sound it makes, build a word or sentence, create a caption or practise their spellings. Children love that these letters are portable, they can build words on the radiator or fridge and don't have to be chained to the home school table (metaphorically speaking of course)!
