Do irish primary schools teach phonics or 'the Alphabet'

r3nu4l

Do Irish primary schools teach phonics? I ask because I know it's the way things are done in the UK and wondered if any teachers here could let me know how it works in Ireland but also their opinion of phonics in general.

I'm of an age where we learned the alphabet, not sounds and I'm sceptical that phonics is just the 'in vogue' way of doing things rather than it actually being in any way truly better.

Also, I've realised that my daughter's nursery are teaching in phonics while I've been teaching alphabet I don't want to confuse things for her but a general discussion and thoughts from people here might help me understand this a bit more.

byhookorbycrook

It depends on the school, though most schools I know now teach the letter names and the 42 sounds through Jolly Phonics.She will need to know letter names in any case so no harm will be done!

lazygal

Phonics make much more sense to children as you're spelling words the way they sound. I did phonics in Montessori and primary school's ABC 'normal' spelling made no sense. I like some elements of phonics teaching in the newer curriculum, it makes it easier for children to learn organically.

Queen-Mise

Phonics - is all my daughter has done.

In Wobbler, Toddler, Pre-School, Jnr Infants & Snr Infants. They learn how the letter sounds rather than the name of the letter.

So they say 'Kkk' rather than just saying 'K' - it sounds like they have a lisp or a frog in their throat a lot of the time

The pick words for each of the letter that has the most classic sound to the first letter like: k = kite, b = ball.

And when they learn to read - they sound out the words so 'kite' becomes 'kkkiiitttee.' I presume they do it quicker and then it begins to sound more like English language and not random noises

It works though - as my daughter will come across a new words and will sound it out and she will get the pronunciation right.

dambarude

From what I've seen I'd say no school would teach reading using the alphabet anymore. The name of a letter is not the sound it makes, and is of no help when trying to blend letters together to read.

I'd agree the Jolly Phonics, if used exclusively, will not children to learn letter names. But I'd rather the child being able to read at the expense of letter names. Reading is of more benefit.

I've met with a parent who was using letter names, and depending on the child it could be very confusing. For example the word 'cat' would sound like 'see ay tee', which is nothing like 'ssss- aaa - ttt' which is how the word actually sounds.

delthedriver

I learned the alphabet and to read using the phonics route.

That was 40 years ago in Ireland.

I find it amazing that it is only becoming the alternative route now.

My nieces in the Uk recently learned the phonics process on entering school.

It was amusing, as their parents were unfamiliar with phonics, for a while it appeared that the girls and I had our own language.

I am not sure which option is the better process, but I would say that it certainly did me not harm at all.

byhookorbycrook

It has generally acccepted that reading is taught both through phonolgical awareness and the "look,say" method, as some words cannot be sounded out= e.g word like could, night,walk.

Tombo2001

the gaeilscoils teach phonics in both irish and english

H3llR4iser

Out of curiosity, do you think the use of phonics might have something to do with more and more children (and young adults...) having atrocious spelling skills? Most of the times, the mistakes they make are tied to how a word sounds vs. how it is supposed to be written...for example, using the word "know" instead of "no" as they sound more or less the same, or the classic "break" vs. "brake".

Or maybe, it's just sheer ignorance/laziness and the obvious lack of any reading outside what's strictly required in school

lazygal

H3llR4iser wrote: »

Out of curiosity, do you think the use of phonics might have something to do with more and more children (and young adults...) having atrocious spelling skills? Most of the times, the mistakes they make are tied to how a word sounds vs. how it is supposed to be written...for example, using the word "know" instead of "no" as they sound more or less the same, or the classic "break" vs. "brake".

Or maybe, it's just sheer ignorance/laziness and the obvious lack of any reading outside what's strictly required in school

I think that's lazy teaching in later years as regards grammar and syntax. I learned to spell phonetically and I write for a living, so pedantry about word use is second nature to me.

byhookorbycrook

Phonological awareness is not the reason for poor spelling,it's to do with less rote learning, not enough work on the visual aspects of spelling and carelessness.