The only way to successfully learn to read in English is to know the speech sound values of the letters. We call letters pictures of speech sounds or Speech Sound Pics.
The written code was created to represent speech sounds, not the other way around, so a Speech to Print approach is taken. Phonics is essential for ALL readers, but students will struggle to learn phonics without phonemic awareness proficiency.
Even when children are taught phonics they can struggle to know how to pronounce the graphemes they see in unfamiliar words. Many teachers would use phonetic symbols, but these are not very appealing to young children. As an alternative Miss Emma created Speech Sound Monsters. Miss Emma Code Maps and Monster Maps texts and books for children so that they can actually read without any help! Download the SSP Monster Sounds App to learn all the speech sounds of the English language and the friendly monsters who say them. Look for the SSP Monster Mapping App to see Code Mapped and Monster Mapped text or visit https://SpeechSoundPics.com for more info and to access resources.
Miss Emma is a highly successful teacher and former OFSTED Inspector. She has a Masters Degree in Special Educational Needs (Dyslexia focus) and is undertaking doctoral study in the UK (with a research focus on phonemic awareness and dyslexia).