Affordable basic phonics kit
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Thanks to the pandemic, many children seem to have done year or more of disrupted schooling without having learnt to read or spell much. A new batch of Australian five-year-olds start school soon, where many will (happily) be taught the systematic, explicit phonics that’s helpful for all, harmful for none and crucial for some*, but many won’t.
The download-and-print Spelfabet Level 1 kit aims to equip you to help beginners and strugglers of any age learn to read and spell one-syllable words with up to seven sounds. The kit follows this teaching sequence (the same as the Sounds-Write program):
The kit contents are a workbook, quizzes, moveable alphabet, word-building sequences, playing cards, reading journal and phonics picture book. The only difference between the parent/aide kit and the teacher/clinician kit is how many copies of the workbook you may print (5 or 30 copies).
All the items in this kit are available separately from the Spelfabet website, except the simplified Moveable Alphabet, which contains only the spellings needed for Level 1. However, it’s cheaper to get the kit than each item separately ($55 including GST for the parent/aide version and $65 for the teacher/clinician one).
Decodable books for reading practice which follow the same teaching sequence include the Units 1-10 Sounds Write books including free e-books, the Units 1-10 Dandelion and Moon Dogs books from Phonic Books, and the printable Drop In Series Levels 1 and 2.
If this kit is too basic for your learner(s), more difficult kits will be available soon.
* See article by Catherine Snow and Connie Juel (2005) at https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2005-06969-026
6 responses to “Affordable basic phonics kit”
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The Spelfabet shop has affordable, downloadable spelling teaching resources.
Sounds great. I couldn’t see a link or find this in the shop. How much and how can I purchase this?
OMG thankyou so much for pointing this out, I thought I had included links to the shop: http://www.spelfabet.com.au/product-category/kits. I think my brain is still in a bit of a holiday/COVID-19 fog. Have added the links now. Alison
What is the difference between the parent/aide bundle compared to the teacher one?
The number of workbooks you can print. The parent/aide one allows 5 copies of the workbook, and the teacher/clinician one allows 30 copies. Other than that, the kits are identical.
I hope parents realize 10 to 20 mins is all their kids should spend on these. Boredom is a killer. Sometimes parents need a reminder that young kids are better off enjoying piles of books, drawing, playing, riding their bikes or cooking with a parent at home. Unstructured time is precious too.
Yes, I hope so too. In the workbook introduction I say “These activities should be done for around ten or fifteen minutes a day”, and I always emphasise that little and often is the way to make lots of progress. When we sleep our brains ‘replay’ the events of the day and sort out what to put into long-term memory, so doing a little bit every day is the best way to make sure the brain can store everything well and doesn’t get overwhelmed. And also were on school holidays, and kids need lots of rest and play, like everyone.