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The Funky Phonics Program

Our phonics program has been written specifically for preschool children, rather than being adapted from other programs originally aimed at primary children. We have developed it as a play-based, multi-sensory program for introducing preschoolers to the sounds of the alphabet in a fun and engaging way.

The Funky Phonics program was created in Sydney Australia in 2019 and has been actively used in a preschool setting since 2020. It was designed so that educators can pick up the teacher’s guide and teach a consistant phonics program without having to hunt around for ideas and resources - as we have done all that for you! We’ve seen such a difference in the children’s ability to recognise sounds in the preschools that have already enrolled in the program. They have so much fun that they don’t realise they are learning! The children really love it!

We know how important it is to give children the best start possible when starting their reading journey and we believe that our program will enable your preschool to introduce and teach the sounds of the alphabet in a fun and interactive way.

Please contact us via email at info@funkyphonics.com.au for further information on pricing or to enrol in the program.

How our program works

Funky Phonics is a program designed to be delivered by your educator team in the preschool.

When we introduce a new sound we start with the children sitting on the carpet. We focus on the letter on the flash card and show them how to pronounce the sound with their mouth e.g. “a ... a ... a” can you say this sound with me? We get the children to practice saying the sound and understanding how the shape of their mouth makes the sound by demonstrating ourselves.

There is a special Funky Phonics rhyme, which we sing with the children on the carpet, as we introduce each sound. (Note that all these rhymes are separately available on Apple Music, Spotify and other music platforms for you to be able to play to the children and sing along with. Search for ‘Funky Phonics Rhymes Volume 1’.) Each rhyme has an accompanying action to perform as you sing (you’ll find these actions at the top of each phonic page in the teacher's guide.)

We use ‘Felix our Phonics Fox’ to find things in the feely bag. As the children become confident Felix can trick them by putting other objects that have a different sound, and see if they can tell the difference.

The Funky Phonics story book is used to emphasise the sound and play 'I spy'; as the children to try and find objects beginning with that sound on the page.

There are lots of ideas in the teacher’s guide for different carpet time activities that can be used across the week; each time repeating the rhyme and action and showing them the letter so they can start to associate it with the sound.
There are extra activities in the teacher’s guide that can be completed in small groups. We have designed these activities so that they help develop fine and gross motor skill. We have also suggested books and other popular songs to go with the sound and action songs that the children can sing and dance to.

Felix the Phonics Fox

As part of the preschool learning pack, you receive our Felix the Fox puppet. The children adore seeing Felix and he is a great way to engage the children in learning about each sound.

Felix can be used to pull items from the feely bag (where he sleeps) or to choose children to come and pull an item out. Sometimes he slips an item in that doesn’t start with the same sound - this is a great extension for the children’s learning as you progress through the sounds.

Felix can also be involved in the carpet activities suggested in our teacher guide. He could be their opponent in tic tac toe games, bingo or picking children to have a turn in an activity. Felix can be quite cheeky so watch out!

There are lots of opportunities to include him and the children love it when he joins in, especially if they get to give him a high five at the end!

Course materials

Educator enrolement

When you enrol your pre-school in the Funky Phonics program we supply we supply 3 educator class packs which include the following:

A teacher's guide with a double page spread of carpet time activities, group work, song ideas, and story ideas for each sound
Downloadable PDFs of all the resources you need (to go along with the teacher's guide)
An A3 Funky Phonics story book with rhymes and items to spot that begin with each sound
Felix the Fox puppet - he is our phonics fox whom the children love.
Wall letter cards to put on display.
A pack of 25 phonics flash cards
A feely bag to use as part of carpet time activities

In addition, all our songs and rhymes are available to access separately via Spotify and Apple Music. We have created 25 different original short songs that can be used with the children during carpet time.

Teacher's guide

Each page in the teacher’s guide has the same format so it makes it easy to pick up the book, jump straight to the sound you are focusing on and find everything you need to teach.

Each sound has a double page spread which has been divided into sections. There are a range of carpet time activities, an illustration to explain the actions for our phonics rhyme, extension of learning activities, as well as suggestions for stories and songs that can be used to enhance and deepen the children’s awareness of the sound they are focusing on.

Accreditation

As an enrolled preschool in the Funky Phonics program you are automatically added to our updated accreditation list, which we maintain on our website. We provide a certificate of acceditation to display in your preschool and logos and graphics assets that can be included on your website or in other marketing; free of charge.

Please contact us via email at info@funkyphonics.com.au for further information on pricing or to enrol in the program.