Learning Phonics in Small Easy Steps

Some children with learning difficulties learn letter sounds easily and can readily blend those sounds into words. Others progress well by learning individual letter sounds but struggle to blend the individual letter sounds together to form words. Often the concept is difficult to grasp, or the child may be hampered by a hearing impairment making it harder to differentiate sounds (e.g. “p” and “t” can sound very similar to a child with low normal hearing and/or a speech and language impairment).

Teaching a sight vocabulary and teaching phonics should happen together. In this way the child will be able to use all the tools at their disposal to become a proficient reader.

POPS Phonics can be used to teach initial letter sounds, as well as to help children learn decoding skills. Often this is more challenging than learning sight words, and understandably so, as it involves learning:

  • letter sounds
  • letter–sound combinations
  • the rules governing their use
  • the problem-solving skills to determine what rules to use

The POPS approach to this challenge is to break the decoding process into small easy steps, so that a child can be successful in decoding simple CVC words. Characters from the POPS Family feature throughout the pack with Bella and Sam making guest appearances when appropriate. The packs are also designed to stand alone so that they can be used independently of the reading scheme.

Each word family is supported by comprehensive instructions, Word Cards (Flash Cards), Large Illustrated Word and Picture Cards, Combination Strip Sentences and Consolidation Strip Sentences.