As a tutor for children with Special Educational Needs (www.cheshiresentutor.com) teaching phonics is an important part of my job. So I was thrilled to discover this box of Wild Life Phonic Friezes by Oak Tree Designs.  

Inside the box are a collection of three Frieze sets with beautiful pictures of wild animals.

 Each card has the name of the animal at the top, followed by the picture then the animal’s name again but this time split into the phonemes (different sounds of the word). By having the animals name split into phonemes it allows parents or teachers to help the child to ‘sound out’ the word. A vital part of learning to read using phonics. 

What did I like about them? 

• It caters for a very wide range of abilities. Different ages and abilities can learn different things from the same display. This is great if your teaching a mixed ability class or if you’ve got a couple of different aged children at home. Children can use it at first to simply recognise and name the animals- as they are starting to talk and say their first words.And at the other end of the ability range, children can sound out and read the more complex animal names.

• The pictures are beautiful and make a stunning display at home or in a classroom. 

• They pictures develop children’s language skills- as there is so much to talk about! We’ve found ourselves chatting about new animals they haven’t come across before, the habitats we think the animals live in and the interesting colours and patterns of the animals.

• High quality. Meaning it can withstand being a display, being taken down to look at, being put back up again…and we can report it withstands being wiped after getting a few toddler sticky finger marks!