A little while ago My dad brought me a few Songbirds Phonics books off a carboot for the children and as you will know if you have read some of my other posts I wasn’t keen on phonics as a teaching form, Up until recently my children had learnt via repetition but I gave them a go and both thomas and Jessica loved them and their reading abilities improved a little using them the problem was I only had a few and not enough of them to actually make too much of a difference so when they had finished with the few we had we sort of forgot about them.

Then recently My mum said she had seen a whole phonics reading scheme in the book Peoples catalogue for £15 (they go into my mums work) and asked if I would like her to order them for me and i Thought what the hell worth a try well we picked them up the other day while at hers and low and behold it was the Songbirds Phonics books.

These books are fantastic as you can see from the two Photos below the whole set is devided into 6 different stages and come in a handy case to keep them in (and all for £15! the cheapest I have found online has been £35).

So then my son noticed the name of the author was Julia Donaldson one of his favourite authors so that was it I now can’t get their noses out of them (which is always a good sign)

The best thing about these books is you don’t really have to know how to teach as at the front and back of the book is information on how to make the most of the book.

With the Talk Together and read the Story Check hints in the front you can ensure your child gets the most out from the reading of the book and in the back there is the Check Comprehension and the Check Phonics hints that will enable you to take your child back through the book and ensure they understand the story think about what it means and also help them start to recognise Rhyming words and the use of Capital Letters. It also gives you example Phonic words and Context words on the back page which I have been adding to their normal spelling lists.

the Photos above are from the first book in the whole set (purple coloured) Called Top Cat. Not only are these books useful to my older children but also due to the bright colours and fantastic Illustrations in the books even my Two year old has enjoyed sitting down to read them and has learnt most of Top Cat after just a few days she heard he brother and sister reading it and took a shine to saying top cat and now brings the books over to be read over and over again so it looks like it won’t take her long before she is reading alongside her brother and sister.

Stage One (Purple):

Top Cat:

The Focus Phonics for this book are m, c, t, p, a, o.

Example Phonic Words: am top cat pop

Context Words: I

Sam’s Pot:

The Focus Phonics for this book are s, m, c, t, g, p, a, o.

Example Phonic Words: Tom, got, pot, Pam, Sam, pat, tap, mop.

Context Words: A

Bob Bug:

The Focus Phonics for this book are r, l, d, b, f, h, i, u, s, m, c, t, g, p, a, o.

Example Phonic Words: Bob is bug has mum His big dad fit cup It lid sip cot rug big bad rat hug.

Context Words: A

Dig, Dig, Dig:

The Focus Phonics for this book are r, l, d, b, f, h, i, u, s, m, t, g, p, a, o, n.

Example Phonic Words: Tim, dig, and, his, fun, dug, up, lot, mud, rag, bus, lid, tin, in, it, lots, bugs.

Context Words: A, of.

Zak and the Vet:

The Focus Phonics for this book are v, w, y, z, j, n, k, e, r, d, b, f, h, i, u, s, m, c, t, g, a, o.

Example Phonic Words: sit, Zac, did, not, ran, and, in, fog, red, van, hit, him, Jen, vet, had bad, cut, get, fab, yes, wag, went.

Context Words: A, better, He, the to, will.

Mum Bug’s Bag:

The Focus Phonics for this book are w, y, z, j, n, k, e, r, d, b, f, h, i, u, s, m, c, t, g, p, a, o.

Example Phonic Words:Mum, Bug, has, red, bag, zip, can, fit, pen, in, and, fan, bun, pot, jam, get, wet, Yuk, gets, big.

Context Words: A, her, hole, of, the.

Stage 2 (Green):

The Odd Pet:

The Focus Phonics for this book are s, m, c, t, g, p, a, p, r, l, d, b, f, h, i, u, v, y, z, j, n, k, e.

Example Phonic Words:Kim, has, cat, Jim, dog, but, Viv, an, pet, it, is, not, zog, fat, ten, red, legs, can, run, and, hop, sit, beg, lots, on, zogs, tap, yes, yet.

Context Words: A, eggs, have, now, odd, of, the.

Miss! miss!:

The Focus Phonics for this book are ll, ss, ff, zz.

Example Phonic Words:Bill, will, tell, Hill, doll, Miss, mess, Ross, off, Buzz.

Context Words: ball, I, my, the.

This and That:

The Focus Phonics for this book are sh, ch, th.

Example Phonic Words: chess, Chan, Chan’s, shop, shell, ship, ship’s, this, that, Thin, Thin’s.

Context Words: have, Mr, Mrs, some.

Fish and Chips:

The Focus Phonics for this book are sh, ch, th, wh.

Example Phonic Words: chip, much fish, shop, shut, whizz, when, which, with, this, thin.

Context Words: come, I’m, my, too.

Singing Dad:

The Focus Phonics for this book are ng, ll, ff, sh, ch, th.

Example Phonic Words: sings, long, song, fishing, digging, chopping, tells, off, shed, shops, with, that.

Context Words: after, all, day, he, I’m never, she, singer, the, to.

Doctor Duck:

The Focus Phonics for this book are: ng, ck, x, qu.

Example Phonic Words: ring, rang, hopping, singing, sick, quick, Duck, quack, back, luck, box, mix, six.

Context Words: came, come, days, Doctor, he, I, milk, of said, she, some, to, was.

Stage 3 (blue):

The Big Match:

The Focus Phonics for this book are: ng, ck, x, qu.

Example Phonic Words: sing, rings, duck, quack, kick, kicks, Rick, six, fox, foxes, Max.

Context Words: ball, begun, come, here, match, the.

The Shopping List:

The Focus Phonics for this book are: words with consonant clusters at the end.

Example Phonic Words: went, bank, Next, held, list, lift, pink, golf, best, lamp, cost, vest, milk, pump, and, Yasmin, unpack, let’s, that’s.

Context Words: ball, home, I, like, the, they, to.

Gran is Cross:

The Focus Phonics for this book are: words with consonant clusters at the beginning.

Example Phonic Words: twins, Gran, Flick, brings, pram, Fred, frog, steps, black, spot, snack, spills, cloth, drops, cross, glad, grabs, smash, clock, Stop, drink.

Context Words: are, day, go, her, Hello, home, of, the, to.

The Trunk and the Skunk:

The Focus Phonics for this book are: words with consonant clusters at the beginning and/or end.

Example Phonic Words: stamp, tramp, crash, trunk, lift, drink, slosh, stop, smell, sniff, skunk, stinks, Help, still, mammoth, thick, things, long, tusks, with, them, and, lots, pick, that, this, will,smells..

Context Words: bananas, good, have, I, my, no, of, Oh, the.

The Scrap Rocket:

will sort out a picture asap

The Focus Phonics for this book are: words with consonant clusters at the beginning and/or end.

Example Phonic Words: plug, pump, spring, strap, string, strap, spring, clink, prod, twist, crank, thrill, splash, collecting, collect, next, things, and, lots, bang, lift-off, this, then.

Context Words: submarine.

Splash and Squelch:

The Focus Phonics for this book are: words with consonant clusters at the beginning and/or end.

Example Phonic Words: swing, spin, splish, splosh,splash, sand, squelch, stamp, twigs, jump, stump, stick, frogs, spring, squirrels, flop, and, whiz, tunnels, off, with, when.

Context Words: home, like, to, we.

will add other 3 stages ASAP