Fundations is supplemental to the core curriculum and provides a systematic program to comprehensively address.
- Foundational Word Study Skills, such as:
- Print concepts (a child's understanding of the nature and uses of print; the understanding that written language carries meaning)
- Phonological and phonemic awareness (phonological awareness is the ability to identify and manipulate units of oral language—parts such as words and syllables; phonemic awareness is the ability to focus on and manipulate individual sounds [phonemes] in spoken words)
- Phonics and word study, including high frequency sight words (the ability to recognize the relationship between letters [graphemes], sounds [phonemes], and letter patterns)
- Fluency (the ability to read a text accurately, quickly, and with expression)
- Spelling and Handwriting Skills
- Additionally, Fundations significantly reinforces comprehension and vocabulary in an integrated approach.
How can parents help at home?
Parents can reinforce the lessons their children learn in school by practicing related skills at home. I’ll be sending home letters and activities (from the Fundations Home Support Pack) to help them practice with their children. You can talk about the trick words (what they look like, what they mean, and how they can be used) and read together (for more than 20 minutes a day). According to research, reading or being read to for just 20 minutes per day results in children reading 1.8 million words per year! (Shaywitz, 106-107). Being exposed to that many words builds a greater vocabulary, which in turn leads to greater comprehension.
Click on the link below for the syllable types that your child will learn in Fundations.