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

Chill out.

That's what I used for ds - I think it was Katie and Tom. He is ND and he struggled so much with phonics.

Wow, don’t know whether the internet algorithms have been stalking me but I got suggested a podcast and now understanding the arguments on here about phonics vs whole word reading.

Its also helped explain about DS grandad story about being not really able to read but somehow got to grammar school entrance exam with good grades before they figured out he couldn’t actually read… because that made no sense to me.

It’s called ‘Sold a story’ if anyone is interested. Thank god we don’t live in America!

Again, yes, they might - initially. However, relying on this method to the exclusion of phonics would only take them so far, and without phonics they would be unable to decode any unfamiliar words - ever.

This is from Christopher Such’s blog - he is hugely knowledgable, would highly recommend looking him up:

However, trying to learn all words as whole units is a dead-end strategy for pupils. This strategy is all the more destructive because it seductively offers initial success before leaving pupils stranded as the texts they read become more challenging. For example, a pupil might be able to learn a few hundred of the most common words. This, combined with a little alphabetic code knowledge, can initially allow pupils to recognise many words in simple books and take sensible guesses at words they don’t know, without having to decode throughout unfamiliar words. If the pupil’s spoken vocabulary is strong, this can even look like particularly fluent reading for a considerable period of time. But this merely stores up problems for the pupil because the development of eventual reading expertise relies on the ability to decode unfamiliar words.
The purpose of phonics is teach pupils to decode words by paying attention to every letter and considering the relationships between letters and sounds. Imagine a pupil encountering the word ‘wasp’ for the first time. Their initial decoding attempt might lead to them saying the word aloud in a way that rhymes with ‘clasp’ (i.e. an incorrect pronunciation). It’s tempting to see this as an example of the failure of phonics. However, it merely shows that the decoding learned in phonics is an essential step towards recognising this unfamiliar word, and that the pupil needs to apply their vocabulary knowledge to take the final step of accurately recognising the word (or alternatively receive support from an adult to guide them to the correct pronunciation). Crucially, when this happens, the pupil has not only begun to learn the spelling of the word ‘wasp’; they have also begun to learn a new part of the complex alphabetic code of English (i.e. that ‘a’ can represent the sound /o/, as seen in words like ‘watch’, ‘squash’ and ‘quad’). Decoding throughout the entirety of words – and using mispronunciation correction via vocabulary knowledge where required – builds up pupils’ knowledge of how words are spelled, and it builds up their understanding of the statistical regularities of the English alphabetic code, both of which are essential parts of becoming a capable, confident reader.

https://primarycolourhome.wpcomstaging.com/2026/09/05/phonics-faq/

Have you told him to sound out each individual letter?

According to your description he knows the sound- letter correspondence. So if you put out the word dog with individual letters and then have him say d o g, can he do it?

Sometimes introducing a bit of movement helps. So tap the side of your arm for each sound d(tap) o (tap) g (tap). Repeat sounding out until he gets the word. I wouldn’t assume at his age and stage he could just look at the word and get it without going through this process.

Look up Read Write Inc blending videos in you tube for ideas.

Just regarding the dyslexia thing. The fact he can recognise the sound each letter makes is a really good start. I’ve seen children much older who are very dyslexic not be able to do this.

Fully fledged adult here, educated to masters level, running her own business.

Phonetics and blending are like double dutch via russian and mandarin to me - totally incapable. Couldn't do it at school myself and still couldn't when my DD was learning to read.

I love reading - currently have 2 books on the go. I'm not the best speller admittedly so I do rely on spell checkers.

Saying this to re-assure you one can be a successful adult and still not have a clue with phonetics. But at 4 your DS is only at the start of his reading journey - he will be fine

Can you read this, @DPotter?

Trogglehumper

Hi OP,
Feels like you are getting a hard time from some who think you are expecting too much from your child/over-preparing or whatever.
its great that you want the best start for your child, and have time to support them at home.
it’s natural to worry about your child, and if they are developing /progressing at a “normal” pace.

part of the problem is that for this age group, what is “normal” is a wide range, and some that seem behind then catch up/overtake, others stay in the middle, and some that might seem ahead sort of plateau/fall behind - it can take a few years before things like dyslexia can be accurately screened for.

in the meantime, it sounds like you have taken on board the different experiences we’ve shared.
this is what we are here for - to share worries and experiences.

Carry on supporting your child, work with their teachers to ensure you are using the same methods for now, but don’t be afraid to try different things. And there is no harm on reading up on dyslexia and what can be helpful - many schools have implemented dyslexia-friendly classrooms, because the changes benefit all pupils, not just those with dyslexia.

equally, my child is now in secondary school, and despite her progress with reading being primarily linked to changing to “sight” reading, she still has additional support on phonics because whilst she hates it, it has also proven useful in helping her to decode unfamiliar words (of which there are many at secondary)!

so these skills are always useful, even if some children take a lot longer to grasp them than others

I can identifiy the word just fine - I can see a T, an O, 2 GG's etc, but would have problems saying it out loud.

“However, relying on this method to the exclusion of phonics would only take them so far, and without phonics they would be unable to decode any unfamiliar words - ever.”

I agree that sounding out some words can be helpful, but this doesn’t address the issue that relying exclusively on phonics doesn’t work for every child. Equally, I wouldn’t argue that introducing the whole word method would be appropriate for every child. I accept that research shows that using phonics is best for most children and I understand why we teach to the majority. However, solely using phonics did not work for my daughter. My other two children were fine with it!

Teachers understand the building blocks to learn to read, you don't, so leave it to teachers.

I disagree with this. Your child can learn to read if they are developmentally ready.
Op, just play about with different things. My kids loved books with rhymes and patterns that they could learn by heart. Cat in the hat , each peach pear plum, giant jam sandwich and so on.

One of my kids was much better with sight reading and in particular words with a shape were easier to decipher. He could read words like chapter and elephant much more easily that cat and big. The other two got on better with phonics but there was no method to it and no teachers and really no teaching, just playing with words and books.