Remove the confusion around phonological awareness and equip children with all the skills needed to conquer the world of words—spelling, reading and writing—with R.I.C.’s must-have new Phonological awareness skills.

This series of five comprehensive books covers all the basics for early childhood children (from four years of age) but also assists older students who are struggling with phonics and spelling. It incorporates skills that fit into any phonics or spelling program. The series emphasises oral language.

Twelve skills are presented in developmental order over the five books and include the following skills:

Book 1: Auditory discrimination, rhyming and alliteration
Book 2: Segmentation and syllabification, and blending
Book 3: Phoneme matching and phoneme isolation
Book 4: Phoneme completion, and phoneme addition and deletion
Book 5: Phoneme segmentation, phoneme substitution and phoneme reversal

The last 7 skills relate to phoneme manipulation.

The skills are presented as fun, hands-on games and activities for whole class, small group and pairs, with full instructions (including the actual words to say if required), all game/activity resources, supporting worksheets if applicable, differentiation suggestions, formative and summative assessments and answers. Literature links and suggested websites for games are also included where applicable.

The activities are predominantly oral activities for four-year-olds but are also appropriate for learners who struggle with letter-symbol correspondence, those beginning to read and older children who need support.

The games and activities are perfect for learning stations and easily managed by adult and parent helpers. They can also be used for early finishers to consolidate skills or to motivate young learners needing extension.

The activities link perfectly to the Early Years Learning Framework and the Phonics and word knowledge section of the Language areas of South African Curriculum English.

Age: 5-6 (Year 1/P2) Level: Key Stage 1 Subject: phonics In this fiction phonics book, Spike the dinosaur loves going to the woods with Laura. They build a great den, but then it is time to go home... Part of the Bug Club reading series used in over 3500 schools Helps your child develop reading fluency and confidence Suitable for children aged 5-6 (Year 1/P2) Phonics phase: 5 This book aligns with Letters and Sounds (2007) Phase 5. This title is part of Pearson's Bug Club, a reading programme used in over 3500 schools. Bug Club books are designed to help children enjoy learning to read. For more Bug Club books and learn at home resources, search for Bug Club.

This lively rhyming story with irresistible illustrations and phonic repetition is a delight to share with very young children. It can also be enjoyed by children who are starting to read for themselves. Simple rhyming text helps to develop early language and reading skills, and there are notes for parents about phonics and reading aloud together.

Dudu, a lively 15-year-old, lives with her mom in Alexandra township. “I’m not pale enough to be white, and not brown enough to be black. Call me difficult, everyone else does,” says Dudu. She and her best friend S’bu share an interest in astronomy, standing together against the teasing of their classmates. She persuades S’bu to help her search for her father, who disappeared back to Europe before she was born. Meanwhile, tensions are mounting in Alex. Foreignersare being targeted, and Dudu’s heritage makes her one of the scapegoats. Violence erupts. As Dudu, her mother and S’bu are forced to stand up for their beliefs, they realise the importance of the ties that bind them all.