Jolly Phonics (銅鑼灣教學日記)

jollyking

Jolly Phonics vs. Letterland

Many parents recently called our Causeway Bay learning centre to inquire about different phonics programs. I believe it is good to share some of our teaching stories here so that more parents can expand their knowledge on early childhood bilingual education.

One of the most frequently asked questions is how to choose between the two main phonics programs, namely Jolly Phonics and Letterland. Actually, both phonics programs are very suitable for young children. However, they are designed for different learning purposes and we make adaptations accordingly.

Letterland is known for its colorful pictograms, or pictures-letters of personified animals, people, and objects. For example, the character for the letter "a" is called Annie Apple, which is a smiling apple. Children will learn to write the letter "a", which is very much like the letter "o" (Oscar Orange) but with a tail because it stops Annie Apple from rolling about. The program is into details and it helps kids to learn in a fun and easy way.

We find that the interesting characters of Letterland can prompt young kids to learn English letter names and their related sounds, and therefore we adopt this program for our 1.5-3 yrs old playgroup. However, Letterland is not as effective when it comes to phonics teaching, especially when blending (combining phonemes or sounds together) is concerned. For instance, children readily remember the character Annie Apple as the major reference for the letter "a", but they have difficulty in recalling Annie Apple as /a/, and many of them tend to say "Annie Apple" when asked to blend /a/. Therefore, to cater the needs of the little ones, we design our playgroup based on Letterland as well as Montessori methods.

When kids are about 3 to 4 years old and have already mastered some fundamental English skills, they are ready for more sophisticated and systematic phonics training. Jolly Phonics will best fit the purpose for it takes a phonics-centric approach – in another word, letter sounds and blending are the main focus of the program.

Jolly Phonics is a multi-sensory program that it has one specific "Jolly Action" for each phoneme to help kids to memorize letter sounds directly. For example, the Jolly Action of /s/ is weaving like a snake ("s" shape) while making the snake's hissing sound. As this program guides children to recall letter sounds as soon as they see the alphabets, students can eventually blend faster because they bypass the lengthy character names and story lines.

[ 本文章最後由 jollyking 於 07-12-5 16:05 編輯 ]

kklin

Hi jollyking,

My son is 2yr 10m old. Can he start to learn Jolly Phonics?

jollyking

Dear kklin,

The suitable age for phonics training varies with children. We do have guidelines to assess students' ability and help us decide though. Some children study phonics at our center before they turn 3 years old. For example, a current phonics student who will attend Kentville Kindergarten in coming September is now below 3 years old.  

When the little boy first came to our center for the trial class, he was a little timid at the beginning and shed a few tears. Yet, after he warmed up, he was able to read aloud all the alphabets and even some English words. Not only that, he was attentive and enjoyed the songs, games and stories throughout the entire class.   

After several phonics lessons, this little boy becomes an awesome learner. His mum helps revise new phonemes with him at home using our home practice phonics CD. As the CD follows the exact class schedule, he can remember all the sounds firmly. The boy gains much confidence from blending and reading new words after couple months. Today this boy is no longer a shy toddler, but a keen student who always wears a big smile after classes. His spelling capability is much better than most kids his age. I am certain that he will be among the top students in his new kindergarten.  

SandyMummy

Hi,

Can I know more about the course in CWB, is there any summer programme for p.3 students.?Thx

bbqueen

Hi jollyking

Pls pm me more info about this centre?  Is it near CWB MTR? Thanks!

jollyking

Bbqueen and SandyMummy,

Our centre is close to the Causeway Bay MTR station. Please check PM : )

Jollyking

kklin

kklin

jollyking,

Thanks a lot. Your training to the Kentville kid is really impressive. Please PM your course information to me.  

marskat

Hi, jollyking

我都想要些課程資料,可否也 pm 給我？
Thanks!
~~~marskat

samelsaho

Hi, jollyking

我都想要些課程資料,可否也 pm 給我？  
Thanks!

shsm

Hi,

can u also pm me the details?  my son is 2.5 yrs old.

[email protected]

Thx,
Sandy

AugSun

jolly king

Please PM me your details as I would like my daughter to join the Jolly Phonics course.

Many thanks

jollyking 寫道:
Bbqueen and SandyMummy,

Our centre is close to the Causeway Bay MTR station. Please check PM : )

Jollyking

jollyking

Phonics teaching is more than learning phonics rules. Instead, it is about developing and enhancing the overall English language proficiency in students.

Learning cannot be effective unless the children enjoy learning and are self-motivated. This can only be achieved by building up the confidence of the students. I’ll share about the learning journey of one La Salle student in our center.

When he first came to our center, this boy had taken a few phonics lessons before. His mom wanted him to go through systematic phonics training as his study was getting more and more challenging without knowing how to apply phonics skills.

This little boy was energetic and we had no problem making friends.

We understand how competitive La Salle is. This little boy can speak and read quite well for his age but his grammar and pronunciation need more improvement if he wants to survive in La Salle. Therefore, he joined our phonics and grammar courses. To us, finding which areas student need the most help is the first step towards academic success. We are sure that he will progress in English very soon.
(Cont’)

Jackielee

Hello jollyking,

Pls pm me the course info. Thx!

lovedorothy

kindly send the details of such Jolly phonics in Causeway Bay by way of PM into my account.

Thanks

加油

Causeway Bay is really convenient to me .  Please pm me more details.

Tks,

jollyking

Dear Jackielee, lovedorothy and 加油,

Please check your PM :)

原文章由 加油 於 07-6-30 19:47 發表
Causeway Bay is really convenient to me .  Please pm me more details.

Tks,

MamaDino

JollyKing,
Will you be teaching the level starting from Jolly Grammer Bk1? Please PM me the details.

thanks  
MamaDino

Yinba

Dear Jollyking,

Please pm me the details. Thank You!

jollyking

Dear MamaDino,

We will decide the starting level after our free trial with the student.

Jollyking

原文章由 MamaDino 於 07-7-3 20:56 發表
JollyKing,
Will you be teaching the level starting from Jolly Grammer Bk1? Please PM me the details.

thanks  
MamaDino