Is "photo" a split diagraph? Yr 1 homework!

[hidinginthenightgarden]

DS does the phonics test this year.
His homework is a list of words and he has to put the "sound buttons" under the letters.
Only one he is not sure of is PHOTO. He thinks the OTO is a split diagraph but isn't sure. The OO sound isn't mentioned on any sound lists I have seen online.
Is he correct?

No. There are 4 separate sounds....
Ph-o-t-o

No
It’s separate sounds
There are five split digraphs; a-e, e-e, i-e, o-e and u-e.

That was his first answer! Then he was unsure and put the split diagraph in.
Thank you.

No
It should be
Ph. O. T. O

The splits are vowel plus e

not according to this website:

www.edplace.com/blog/what-is-a-split-digraph

which seems to explain that a split diagraph has a silent e after a consonant to change the vowel sound before that consonant?

No, split digraphs are the old ‘magic e’ thing. In the case of photo both of the letter ‘o’s make the ‘oh’ sound.

What is this thread, do year 1 students really have to know this much technical language about language? I'm going to be lost when my child starts school (and I'm a secondary teacher!).

Oh I see! No wonder I couldn't remember it! The magic E thing makes so much more sense!!!

My god.

'How to put children completely off reading' in one easy lesson.

Dermymc - I am also a teacher (college) and DH has a first class degree. Both of us were sat her wodering what the hell he meant!
I get it now though, magic E!

I agree with Dermymc, is this a five year old's homework?

Horizonatilis - luckily he is excellent at this and loves reading.
If he struggled at all I would be so concerned. This stuff seems complex for what is essentially a reading trick!

Horizontalis teaching phonics does not put children off reading when it is done well.

Sparkling, yes. DS is 6 but many kids will be 5 still.

Yes, DD is in yr 1 and starting talking to us about split digraph and I didn't have a clue what she was talking about!! Magic e makes so much more sense!!!

My two are 17 and 19 and I don't remember this at all.

Rainbowmum11 - I honestly worry when I don't understand what he is on about. Usually they have just changed the bloody name of it!

My son starts school next year and I am now scared of the homework thanks to this thread! It's like you're talking a foreign language - do the school provide a parental pamphlet with this homework?!

I was amazed at the knowledge my yr1 has. I was trying to do some phonics with him. As soon as I said it was a split diagraph, he knew exactly what it was an how to do it. He's got autism and adhd and still fully grasps the language used in phonics.
Don't worry!

Mary- the stuff sounds hard because they use fancy words. Someone has just said "magic E" to me and all of a sudden - it is easy peasy!
And if not, Google and mumsnet are here to help!

My son started talking about digraphs and trigraphs not very far into reception, he is 4. (and loves phonics!) Fortunately they put on a meeting to explain to parents what the hell it meant.

DIGRAPH! We might as well spell it right 😂

Our school did parent workshops so we could understand the terminology and teaching methods. I'd have been lost without that.

And don't knock it as a method. I've been amazed at how quickly my kids have managed to decipher words and start reading. They've enjoyed it.

Magic E was so much simpler, wasn’t it?

Well thank the lord for parent workshops! Let's hope they are a thing at whichever school DS goes to.

Great website called Phonics Play. Some of the games are free, subscription is about £12pa and many schools use it a lot. With the subscription, you get access to the teaching plans as well as a huge number of resources. Children love the games, they cover the whole of EYFS/KS1