Description

Classical Phonics is an integral part of the Memoria Press (i.e. Highlands Latin School) approach to reading. Both an underlying foundation to First Start Reading and a comprehensive “next step,” this little book puts a complete series of phonics instruction in the hands of your child. Both the student and the teacher have the advantage of seeing the whole scope of phonics as well as each part in its relation to the whole. And it’s all in one small, well-organized, attractive, concise book – a thorough update of a pint-sized, turn-of-the-(20th) century gem, Word Mastery, by Florence Akin.

Newly revised, the 2nd edition Classical Phonics offers even more teaching support with phonetic introductions for each unit written by Cheryl Lowe. Other revisions include updated word lists, reorganized content to align with the Traditional Spelling program from Memoria Press and fewer words per page.

Classical Phonics has been incorporated with the First Start Reading and Traditional Spelling programs. As each FSR workbook is completed (and put away), Classical Phonics provides word lists for continuing practice. With the recently developed Traditional Spelling, families who finish FSR and continue in the Memoria Press scope and sequence will find that all the page number references within Traditional Spelling align with the 2nd edition of Classical Phonics. An excellent compendium of all the phonics that a child learns in K-2, this handy little review book could be used with any phonics program. While it is not a complete language program (there are no sentences – only words – for reading and no printing practice), a resourceful teacher could add those elements.

Classical Phonics has eight units in four parts. Part One starts with the alphabet and CVC words, plurals, possessives, consonant teams (ck, ng, nk, ch, sh, th, wh), double consonants (Double f, l, s, z), consonant teams with silent letters (kn, wr, mb) and consonant blends including final and initial blends, and three letter blends. Part Two focuses on long-vowels and covers silent e words, long i & o, soft c and g, and the three sounds of y. Long vowel teams are then covered including oa, oe, ow, ee, ie, igh, y, ai, ay, ei, eigh, ey, ea, ey, and the three sounds of ea. Part Three covers special vowel sounds including the special sounds for oi, ou, oo, and o plus the r-controlled vowels. Part Four, Advanced Phonics, teaches advanced phonograms, suffixes and prefixes, spelling rules, syllables and variable endings. At the end of the book is a short but insightful section, Suggestions to Teachers, which carries the admonishment “do not put this book into the hands of your pupils until you have carefully studied these suggestions.” Developed by the original author, this section presents a simple four-part plan for teaching phonics – ear training, tongue training, eye training, and word building. A summary of taught Phonics and Spelling Rules are listed along with the Most Common Words. Spiralbound 139 pgs, pb. ~ Janice/Deanne