Introducing phonics to Brunei

Phonics being used in a classroom in the UK.

A talk on introducing Phonics to parents will be held at the Mutiara Ballroom, Sheraton Utama at 7.30pm on Wednesday, October 8. Admission is free of charge.

Phonics expert, Chris Jolly started his career in this part of the world, teaching in a secondary school in Terengganu, Malaysia, for 2 years to 1970. After 15 years in consumer marketing, he started Jolly Learning in 1987 with the aim of helping to raise literacy standards. Some two years later he met Sue Lloyd, a UK teacher with similar ideas and a record of success, which led to the publication of Jolly Phonics.

This has now become an immensely popular programme used in schools in the UK and around the world from Toronto to Taiwan, and with a high record of achievement. The aim of the company continues to be the raising of early literacy in English, and to be a global leader in doing so.

Phonics is a thorough foundation for reading and writing.

It teaches letter sounds in an enjoyable, multisensory way, and enables children to use them to read and write words.

It is often thought that reading to a child is best for helping them learn to read. However, it is much more effective to teach children on saying the letters out loud and blending them together to form words.

Nowadays, schools in the UK spend the first few terms teaching phonics to the children. They would be encouraged to read books at home and through this, children's ability to read and write English progress faster.

To find out more, parents can come on Wednesday for the Introduction to Phonics talk or call British Council at 223 7742.

Courtesy of Sunday Bulletin