Learn The Initial Phonic Sounds 's, i, k, h, b' (3 years +) - Teacher Notes

Guinea Pig Education presents an engaging approach to teaching young children, as young as three years old, the foundational phonics skills necessary for reading. The programme is designed to efficiently teach children to read within six months to a year. Starting with pre-reading materials, the focus is on phonics—the sounds that make up words. The children are introduced to initial sounds such as 's', 'i', 'k', 'h', and 'b', and vowel sounds, which together enable them to decode approximately 80% of English words. The remaining 20% are learned through recognition and repetition.

The Pre Reader Work Packs are user-friendly, with explicit instructions for adults to facilitate learning for an individual child or a group. By engaging with the packs, children practice blending sounds to form words and constructing sentences, laying the groundwork for reading fluency. The inclusion of enjoyable word games like snap and bingo ensures the learning process is fun and interactive. Children are encouraged to personalize their learning experience by adding their own creative touches to the drawings, and through repeated play and exercises, they become familiar with the words. The course is structured so that each new sound introduced builds upon the previous ones, fostering a solid foundation for reading development.