Helping your child learn to read

[Millers4]

Hello, I'm a former primary Headteacher and mother of 2 daughters (7 and 9). When they were toddlers, I was constantly asked by other Mums for advice on how to teach their child(ren) to read. I happily gave my opinion, hints and tips etc but also made a mental note of the fact that this seemed like a 'hot' topic and filed the thought away. It re-emerged almost a year and a half ago when I was diagnosed with a serious illness and, to distract myself from my health issues, I began to work on my dormant project. Looking back, I realised that I was so obsessed with 'getting it right' when they were young, that I made mistakes and felt that it was important to devise something simple, fun and effective. I was lucky enough to work with an extremely talented illustrator and I'm really excited about what has been produced so far. Although not complete, I'm approaching the final stages and need to find out from parents what they want from a resource like this.

I'd be grateful if anyone could let me know what, if any, issues, anxieties etc they have when it comes to this topic so that I can try to cover them. Also, it would be great to hear about things that you've done that have/haven't worked, materials that you've used successfully (or not) etc.

Many thanks for your time!

My son learnt to read well with Jolly Phonics although the suggested pace in the jolly phonics teacher's handbook was way too fast for him.

I think that starting simple is the best of teaching reading as it instill confidence. I think that pure sythetic phonics to start with works well. Complexity is best introduced gradually at a pace the child can cope with. Good quality and interesting decodable material is always good.

Some children have their confidence smashed by being pushed to read books before they are ready. Or being pushed to read books beyond their comprehension. Learning to assess and develop comprehension skills would be good. I think some parents struggle to understand the difference between barkiing at print and comprehension.

I got my son to practice blending before he attempted to read books. I also think a range of games to make this less dull would be good. I made a letter box and got my son to post the words he got right. I also put letters on pieces of paper on the floor and got him to play musical letters. Ie. dance to music and then someone calls out a letter sound and then you jump on the letter.

Thanks for your comments. I also used Jolly Phonics but overall I feel that 'reading scheme' materials like these are essentially designed for use in schools and that the 'add on' items can make it really expensive. The workbooks, again, are not suitable for toddlers/pre schoolers and I've known parents fret because their 2 year old can't work through them 'accurately'! I've made a point of steering away from recording outcomes with my materials and focused on emphasising fun and play. Love your letterbox idea and you reminded me about some alphabet play mats I bought at a jumble sale that I used with my children in a similar way to your musical letters!

My son drew letters in flour sprinked on a tray. I wrote short words that he practiced blending.

Young children are kinetic learners and I think that most reading materials miss out on this.

I also think that reading readiness is important. Two year olds aren't ready to learn reading or writing. It is more sense to work on speaking and listening skills at that age. I think that singing or reading to a two year old is more effective. Prehaps ideas on how to share books to good affect would be helpful. Ie. Using pictures to develop language skills.

There is a book called "It takes two talk" by the hanen project which might give you ideas of developing speech skills in NT children.

Thank you again. I'm so excited by what has been posted as my materials are based on much of what's being advocated and suggested. When my children were very young, I frequently referred to Babytalk by Dr Sally Ward and was a member of What About the Children.org. Thanks for the Hanen project ref, I'll certainly check it out.

I think that Debbie Hepplewhite's Early Years materials are very good
www.phonicsinternational.com/Early-Years-Starter-Pack-Intro.html
I like the Jolly Phonics materials too.
Both are excellent for the under-5's.

I like Ruth miskin's materials that you can get from amazon. Her material is well written and the books give guidence on how to develop comprehension and good decoding skills.

I think you have to think where your niche is. There is loads of good stuff good synthetic phonics. It would be really sad to go to all the work of developing a programme that never got used.

It would be good look at ways of developing good comprehension skills without using mixed methods.

Ruth Miskin's stuff is great, I agree but there is quite a structure to it which slightly erodes the play element which is so important. Thank you for your advice and I have defined my target/niche market alongside doing a lot of research. There is nothing like my materials on the market at present as far as I can see. Thanks again for your comments.

Thank you for the comment re Debbie Hepplewhite etc - really useful!

I found that I did not get on wiht the Debbie Hepplewhite materials. I found it too complex for me to understand.

I don't think that being structured is a bad thing for children. Play can be structured and enjoyable.

The reason behind the structure is to put in good foundations. Children enjoy the taste of sucess.

My ds has just turned 6, yr 1 in a mixed yr 1/2 class, and is really struggling despite being bright (great vocab and grasp of language, maths, how things work etc. He has always loved stories and books and we have a tonne of them but he just seems to see it as my job and gets cross with me if I ask him to read any words in a story! He is behind most of his peers now and always saying he's rubbish and can't do it. He has just been put on the SEN register and is having extra help at school. He loves the 'Nessie' games. Need some ideas how to help him enjoy reading. Dad is dyslexic, sister is a total bookworm and picked it up with no trouble at all by 5.

"I found that I did not get on wiht the Debbie Hepplewhite materials. I found it too complex for me to understand."

Me neither, nor Ruth Miskin's either (must remember to give it away to school). I found it overstructured and instruction-heavy. My DD learnt at age 2 via osmosis -- my ds much later (at 4) via the computer and trying to read his favourite stories.

Learning to love books is more important than anything. I often wonder how those parents who don't love them, have them or borrow them could ever manage to instill in their DCs anything positive regarding books.

I like Ruth Miskin's super phonics spelling and her reading scheme. My son's school has only started doing spelling tests in year 4 and I wanted something to improve spelling in year 1. Her strageries for learning to spell really helped my son.

However they are designed for school children not pre schoolers. They work really well with key stage 1 children or older children.

Re: 6 yr old in Yr 1. Try not to worry too much. He's only 6 - is he a summer born? Summer borns often lag behind in some areas but generally do catch up. I remember a child who wasn't reading fluently until she was 7 who eventually won a place at Oxford! Essentially, if he is not fluent with his phonemes (letter sounds), then he will prob continue to struggle. There are 44 of them and he needs to know all of them 'at speed'. Not just the alphabet sounds e.g. c-a-t cat but blends like 'er' as in her, 'ir' as in firm, ur as in turn, 'ai' as in main etc. Flash cards with these on take a few mins to practice each day. You could aim to 'beat the clock' in rel. to previous tries. Aim to hear him read each school day, teachers have very little time - 10 to 15 mins should be enough. Find a quiet time without distractions - no TV, music etc. Relax - your body language etc. can transmit tension which will affect the time you have together. His confidence prob. needs building so I would start with simpler texts - he might also like comics, mags, instructions, rules for games etc. Maintain the flow...encourage to use phonic knowledge but if he's really struggling with an unfamiliar word, read it to him. Be positive and use language that supports progress e.g. Shall we look at that again or Let's read it together....Use his school reading diary to make positive comments and let him know that you are writing something special for his teacher to let him/her know how well he read at home. Also, if you have any concerns, jot them down in the book too. Talk about what you read...characters, plot, predict the ending etc. If he really doesn't want to participate, don't force him (although there were time when I seemed to resort to bribery and corruption!!), let him do something else and come back to it later. Hope this helps.

reallytired - thats a good point re spelling - I had forotten that it focussed on spelling as well as reading. Might take another look pre-disposal as DS is making progress but I am not sure whether he will stall again soon.

Thanks for that Millers4, I will try the flashcards, have also been playing little puzzles with him to practice the blended phonemes. We did 'ow' this weekend as he had 'down' in his spellings and couldn't remember it. He is a Feb birthday, so no summer born excuses!

halfcaff try phonics

www.mrthorne.com/category/start/

thanks for the last link mrz - it's great for revision - I can't believe that I have never heard of this larger-than-life character!

Aww, thanks! I hope you find my videos useful ... theyre on Youtube too www.mrthornedoesphonics.tv :)

Mr T

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