Four-year-old can spell any 3 letter word but cannot blend any when reading

[Balalabab]

Not 100% sure where to post this.

Basically practicing 4 and a half year old phonics, words and blending to keep up over summer holidays.

He started at a school nursery last year so has already been taught this in school.

Please can someone tell me what they think about this…

• He can read every single letter phonic sounds individually

• When I put the cards down next to each other in simple CVC and he has to read and blend them he cannot do it. He can only do cat and that’s because I think he has sight learned it.

• If I reverse it and give him 3 cards of any 3 letter word and say make ‘dog’, make ‘hip’, make ‘fig’ he can instantly spell out all the sounds and place the, down in the correct order. Ie. ‘F…I…g… FIG’

Is this normal. It’s like he can do it backwards in all circumstances but not forwards for the simplest words. So he does know how words and sounds are working.

Does this mean he could be dyslexic? His dad is severely dyslexic and it something I have been worried about hence working on the reading so early for him.

If so what does that mean? Do we have to teach in a different way?

He starts reception next week and they are brilliant, but he’s in a state school and he’s quiet so I do want to support in anyway I can so he doesn’t slip between the cracks.

Thank you

Jesus he’s 4, calm down

It sounds like he understands the individual sounds, but blending them together is a separate skill that can take time to click. I wouldn’t jump to dyslexia from this alone, especially at 4½. Given his family history, though, it’s worth mentioning to his teacher and keeping an eye on his progress.

Thanks everyone, will just have to watch and wait.

Sad summer is over but glad he’s going back to school next week! Thank the lord we have professionals because it really is a skill in itself teaching/ helping someone learn to read. 😅

One is building the word from the sounds. The other is seeing a block and being expected to know that he needs to break them down into the sounds in his head and then combine them to make a word.

L - le
E - eh
G - ge

Leh
LehG

P - p
I - ih
G - ge

Pih
PihG

Is what he is doing reliably.

What he is seeing with a whole word is LEG and PIG and doesn't understand that he needs to start with Le--Leh-LehG and P--Pih--PihG.

That's why I suggested you visually show him by blocking the 2nd and 3rd letter to draw his eye across them to blend.

Some kids need to see it and do it, rather than be told it or be expected to just know. It's the same with Maths, some understand from talking, some need it more practically.

Teacher here. Maturity is another factor. Your son is doing well. Let him develop with the rest of the class . He’ll be fine. The finest thing you can do is read to him and talk about the pictures / story.

More than most dc can do. I’m in a class of 6/7 year olds and some can’t do that. Make sure he’s saying pi rather than puh etc though (varies with accent obviously) like the way the sound actually makes within a word. Look at jolly phonics on YouTube for examples

This is normal for phonics learning. My granddaughter was the same. As soon as she started reception she learned to read in about 2 months when it all started to make sense. Phonics gives them a good head start.

Not read the thred op he can read then ! Just can't learn via phonics like many many DC

Just teach him.sight reading and you read to him and point at the words as you read. Do 100 high frequency word flash cards.

Don't bother with phonics it's a complicated barrier for many DC.

Wish I'd done this. Everything I read said phonics the best way to learn. Not for all kids!!

3 years trying to get my DC to learn phonics and they never really got it. Horribly crushing for them and frustrating all round. They both learned to read by 7 and caught up quickly. Now they're older, dyslexic but very solid readers with an excellent understanding of language. Writing is more of a challenge.

OP however your DC is still v young. Take the pressure off yourself and them.

I cannot recommend highly enough a book called The butterfly book by Irina Tyk. Don't know how it works but it does! All three of my children learnt to read English using this ( we are English but lived abroad ).

Honestly he's 4. They'll start from the beginning again in reception. You'd be amazed the number of children that don't know any letters. DD was one of them smart arsed toddlers that was reading letters at 2 off road signs and car number plates, she naturally just 'gets it' and reads ahead of her age. Whereas DS same genetics really struggled, was in a support group when starting reception and we were worried as he still wasn't blending by November. Then around Christmas he just got it and is now exactly where he needs to be as be moves into year 1.

They are all so different, he won't be behind or left behind don't worry. Focus more on ensuring he is school ready for example able to share, listen to basic instructions and toileting.

@Ionlymakejokestodistractmyself passing it on here my DD failed phonics and struggled to read and people here told me what I've told the op

Just do it with initial letters. So play I-Spy. Then hand him the card of the initial sound- I spy with my little eye, something beginning with….. this one, sss (hand over the s card).

Then when it’s his turn, he picks a thing (book), says ‘B’ and you find the b together, then you guess.

To make it easier when you start, have a basket of items and cards to play the game. Animals, pencil, bug, peg etc. (a, b, p).

Exactly. English is hardly a phonic language! In the end he'll need to learn many words just by repeatedly coming across them. 'Look and Say' it used to be called.

You don't need to “ keep up “ ? Jeeze they are 4 !!!

In September they will expect no reading or spelling whatsoever

relax snd have fun together

Sorry I haven’t read all the replies but I just wanted to say this is normal.

In the old letters and sounds scheme, there were 6 phases. Phase 1 was sound awareness, segmenting and blending. If a child can’t blend, they’re not secure in Phase 1. They will practise this A LOT as part of their phonics lessons in Reception, alongside learning the graphemes (letters.) They really do need to practise it a lot, which is why Alphablocks is so intolerable to watch as an adult.

If you want to do some extra you can google ‘Phase 1 games’ and lots of ideas for extra practice will come up. I like breaking random words up into sounds, eg ‘go and get your c-oa-t’ ‘put your hands on your ch-i-n’ when just talking throughout the day.

As for dyslexia, too early to say. If your child still can’t blend in Year 1 it may be an indication.

I see you’ve been doing sight words, which is ok and a legitimate way to learn to read (it’s how we all did), but it won’t help with the blending.

My opinion is that children need a varied diet- some natural language books with sight words, some proper ‘real’ books (eg Julia Donaldson), and some phonics. However, it has all become about phonics in recent years.

He's 4 and hasn't even started school for heavens sake!

He sounds like he’ll be ahead of the average pupil.

For those who used flash cards was there a particular set? I think that might be a good thing to try for my son.

Do remember that what we start at 4-5 in the UK they start at 5-6 in Scandinavia and there is no significant difference in literacy outcomes. There are many, many children in the UK, who, IMO, are disadvantaged by the UK approach. Small children need lots of time to play, particularly physical/movement based exploration of the world, including the outdoors. My son can distinctly remember finding it torturous to be made to sit at a desk doing phonics at 4 years old when he wanted to play. If your child enjoys reading practice, fine, but if he doesn't just leave it. Do not let the school pressure you into doing lots of reading homework in Reception. Assuming he has the capacity, he will be exactly where he should a few years later. My own son was placed in a 'catch up' group at 4 y.o. and had a reading age of 13 at 9 years old. It was nothing to do with the 'catch up' sessions either as his Reception teacher told us he'd made very little progress at the end of the year. This was delivered with absolutely none of the reassurance about his long term outcome that I subsequently discovered for myself. My son was Summer born and I will always regret not leaving him in nursery another year.

We are using the read write inc cards because that’s the one he uses at school. They are really good but I would ask the school which programme they will use so you can copy it.

To those saying it doesn’t matter, he’s 4, not at school etc…
Well he has been at a school nursery for a year. Very good private nursery before that. So technically in a way he has been at school already. Wears a uniform. Goes in. Eats at the canteen. Does his phonics. Shares a playground and many activities with reception Etc etc. So in my eyes he’s already at school and I am just trying to support and continue his learning at the pace he wants to do it.

He likes playing ‘letters’ as he calls it.

I was worried about my daughter because her dad is dyslexic and when she was 5 she kept writing letters backwards, sometimes she would write entire sentences backwards. I spoke to her teacher about it but she said they won’t test for dyslexia until they’re 7. Well she’s 7 now and we have no worries at all, she doesn’t do the backwards writing anymore and is great at reading and writing. I wouldn’t worry at age 4. Your son’s doing amazing, my son is 5 and can’t even hold a pencil correctly. Just keep an eye on him, and if your still worried by the time he reaches 7 ask for a referral

Even as it is. So?

my daughter is dyslexic. It’s not the end of the world at all

she didn’t properly read till she was 11. But so? It hasn’t held her back. She’s funny she’s brilliant! She just can’t read very well. Spellcheck works for her. And?

I don’t understand what on earth you think it does? It held her back slightly but in this day and age with technology it’s no issue at all

you seem to think it will hold her back massively and she won’t be able to live a normal life. But she’s confident! She’s happy and I am 100% confident she’ll have no issues with life at all.

it’s not the bee all and end all. It doesn’t hold them back for me at all.

Chill.

I think kids at that age are all over the place with reading. As a mum, its your job to worry, which you are (and we all do). It's also easy to compare children. My 6 year old struggles (really struggles) to read. She still confuses B and D and has only gotten sight words down in the few months with a reading tutor. It is really hard work for her. By comparison her younger brother is HFA and taught himself to read fluently at 2. Some are quick, some are slow. I found the reading.com app worked great. My older one loves the activities/games/mini books.

Private nursery isn't school, and he is only 4.

He's well ahead of the curve- probably because, as you say, they've been doing some stuff with him at preschool .

Blending takes time at first.