What is Visual Phonics?

 This is quite a long read, but PLEASE take the time to read it as it is something we will be doing in our classroom for awhile!

What is Visual Phonics?

It is a system that associates each sound in our language with a hand signal and a graphic symbol. It is similar to sign language in a way that any word can be communicated with hand motions. The difference is that Visual Phonics practices the motions represented by sounds, not letters or words. It is like phonetic code in a dictionary except that the symbols are in simple pictures of the hand motions rather than in written form.

Who can Benefit from Visual Phonics?

The system of sound-gesture-symbol relations was invented by a mother to help teach her deaf children to speak, so its first application was for those who could not hear the sounds of our language. Its use extends to people learning English as a second language, to individuals with speech or auditory discrimination problems, and to those developing basic reading and writing skills. It is a powerful too for anyone struggling with literacy.

How Does Visual Phonics Work?

 Visual Phonics links speech sounds to our other senses in a natural progression, beginning with awareness of how the mouth moves to form sounds. The mouth movements for each phoneme are then mirrored in a hand gesture. The gesture in turn is reflected in a written symbol. This linkage is important because sounds by themselves are short lived. Visual Phonics fixes the brief sounds of our language, grounding them kinesthetically in hand motions and visually written code.

Kinesthetic sensations can be strong triggers for memory. Most of us have experienced such "motor memory". Perhaps you took a typing class years ago, but now do not remember where the "h" is on the keyboard, until your index finger reaches for it. Similarly, a child exposed to Visual Phonics who forgets the sound of "h" may only have to move his/her hand in for of their 

mouth to remember /h/.

Visual Phonics is a simple, flexible technique that will be used in our classroom. The sign and symbol will be taught right along with the letter of the week, giving the children the opportunity to listen for and remember the letter sounds and how it feels when we say them. Visual Phonics works so well because it uses a child's auditory and visual senses, plus kinesthetics, or movement. The children enjoy the material because it involves so much movement!

If you have any questions and would like to check out the flip book we use when we sing our song please feel free to ask!! I will be more than happy to share what we are doing in our classroom! :) We started it last week, but have been doing it at least once a day and the kids love it! We are able to get the whole alphabet sound song in which is great movement for the kids! Can't wait to see them starting to pick up on the different letter sounds!