From Reception through to Year 2 we use Monster Phonics which is a complete systematic synthetic phonics programme that has been validated by the Isle of Man's Department for Education. Phonics is a method of teaching children to read by linking sounds (phonemes) and the letters that represent them (graphemes).
We teach phonics daily at the beginning of each day for around 30 minutes to teach and build up confidence in reading and spelling. Using the scheme, we teach the children to read by enabling them to identify the individual graphemes and blend the sounds together to read the word. The scheme facilitates learning by allowing children to learn new graphemes by using monsters to group graphemes for recall and to provide an easy and fun memory cue for children. We teach the children to use the colour-coding to be able to identify the grapheme when reading a word. You can see the graphemes in their character group in the below photos. The children then apply their phonic skills during Guided Reading sessions in which each child is read with at least once weekly in small focus groups while other groups of children work independently on practical activities to consolidate their grapheme knowledge. In focus groups, we read Monster Phonics' specialist Guided Reading books at school which include the colour coded graphemes but are slowly removed as the children move up through the book bands.
The following presentations and videos will give you a further insight into the scheme and how it works at HBN.
Here is a printable overview of the graphemes and high frequency words that your child will learn in each year group: Year Group Phonics Expectations
An Introduction to Monster Phonics:
Virtual Monster Phonics Parents Information Video:
