4 year old’s reading ability

[SalA123]

Hi, I need a little guidance from experienced mums please. My DS, who is 4 yrs old, started reception in September. He confidently knows all of the phonic sounds since before the start of school and is learning to blend. He can read some cvc words ie cat, bat, rat, pin, bin etc and knows some sight words. My problem is we are 3 weeks into the second term and he is still only being given wordless books. His teacher has said his comprehension is good but his blending skills are not up to speed. I’m confused by this, how is he going to learn how to blend if he is not been given books with words. We have read Ort level 1+ books at home and he blended the sounds to make the words. Should I push for the teacher to start giving him word books? I feel he is not being pushed by the teacher and is therefore not progressing as well as other children.

No, leave the teacher to do her job. Your child is 4, calm down.

At our school there is a new scheme where books sent home are read 100% confidently (i.e below current level) to encourage a 'love of reading'. Maybe something similar at yours?

😬 calm down. The teacher knows best. They are a professional who will have spent at least 4 years studying for this.
Your kid is 4... catch a grip.

Why don't you get some Oxford Songbirds books or similar and use them at home? I agree with you, he can only learn to blend with practice, so practice at home. You don't even need books if cost is an issue, just practice with simple phonetic words.

My son was the same, now confidently reading brilliantly in year one, someone at school knew what they were doing because I'm certainly no good teacher.

Buy some books of your own linked you the school phonics scheme and do your own thing

During lockdown 2021 I wrote books for my year R child to read using the sounds they had been learning. You don’t need to rely on the school books. Use the ones you have at home (assuming you read stories to him at home).

Does he enjoy reading books with words or is it more that you're pushing him into it? If he actually enjoys it you could go to the library at weekends. They have 'reading books' there. You could make it something special you do with him for a half hour on Saturday mornings, and then he can choose some picture books to bring home for you to read to him. If he's not fussed about actually reading and you're just keen to encourage him I'd back off on the books but just have fun with letters out and about, spotting them on signs and car number plates and things, making it a game, and let reading books for fun follow in a year or 2.

I would definitely ask the teacher what the aim is with him bringing wordless books. If he is confident with phonics, he would definitely benefit from having words in his book. Hardly any children in my DC's class ever had wordless books. There might be a good reason, but I'd ask.

In Reception, I bought these books and got my children to read through them at home (as well as the school books). Even if your child is only getting wordless books from school, there isn’t any rule against you reading with him at home.

This was why I subscribed to Reading Chest. Your child's literacy is too important to hand over responsibility to the school.

@Bwix

This was why I subscribed to Reading Chest. Your child's literacy is too important to hand over responsibility to the school.

And your health is too important to hand over responsibility to doctors, right! Good grief.

No need to panic, OP. Most countries don't start reading until they are 7.

My DD started school in the USA, and came back here to join Y2, as a non-reader. She was on the top table by the October half-term.

It's possible that your DS isn't has proficient as you think. I remember being a bit miffed for DS1 (offended) when he had wordless books, but when explained to me, I appreciated the concept - ie looking at context from the pictures.

All my kids are good readers, despite the differences in their early education.

Just keep doing story time with him at home.

He's doing very well if he knows all his phonic sounds. Does he really? Like th, oi, sh, ph etc?

You can blend with him without books. You don't need them if he enjoys working with you. Get a little whiteboard and put up two letters (like at) with a box at the start. Talk about what letters could go in there and what words could be made & mat, rat etc. You can do this for digraphs like oy (which is usually at the end of the word - toy, boy) and oi (same sound but goes in the middle usually like coin, soil, boil). Consonant blends (eg br) can be left out too (eg write ush, ick, oom) and see what could go at the start (brush, brick, to broom). Nessy is really good for all this.

@multivac, no I’m quite happy to take the lead from healthcare professionals for health issues. MacDonalds is staffed by catering professionals but I choose not to rely on them to feed my family. The two things don’t quite compare, given the time dedicated to teaching reading in primary education degrees.

The most important thing for me was that my children learned using phonics, not mixed methods or look-and-say. All of them knew their phonemes before they started reception, all of them could blend, and when the school sent home look-and-say books and flashcards from a 1980s reading scheme, the children had had enough grounding in phonics not to be damaged by it.

Your child is 4. Is many countries they wouldn’t even be in school learning reading.

I also have a 4 yo ds. He enjoys a card game he got for Christmas called Blah Blah Blah. It is a bit like Uno but with phonics and blending instead of numbers and seems to have helped his reading.

I'm frankly surprised by all these responses.

School is teaching him to read but not sending home any books to practice with?
I'd at least be asking the teacher what he does need to practice and maybe to explain their 'no words in books' policy. I'd be interested to see studies that back it up too.

I view education as a partnership between home and school.

He will almost certainly be working on blending at school.

What they want you to do with him is the other aspect of reading (which is even more adult-intensive than the phonics programme so will continue to be Mostly Your Job throughout primary school). Decoding the symbols is only part of it. Get him to talk to you about the story.

Lots of parents don't like these books because they need the words, and (rightly or wrongly) believe that their children can't do what's being asked of them. This is the whole point of having the books. If your child can't work out what's going on from the pictures then their comprehension is not keeping pace with their reading ability. This will come back to bite you Big Time when you think they ought to be able to get into Grammar School or be Greater Depth in the SATs (because after all, they knew all their phonemes when they were 4...).

My younger son was on wordless books when he started Reception. He got almost all 9s in his GCSEs; so don't give up hope yet!

I would be grateful that there was minimal homework and use the time to read to your DS. It's not a competition and reading will happen in its own time.

Honestly, you have a long 13 years ahead if this is how you are now. Let the school do their thing. There is no need to rush it.

And your health is too important to hand over responsibility to doctors, right! Good grief

That's one of the worst comparisons I've ever seen.

If she's that good with reading then please please work on her comprehension. Talk about the story, talk about the characters are feeling and why. Talk about the setting, where are they? Talk about what the characters are going to do next.

What's the point of having a child who is good at deciding (reading) but they have little comprehension. That's where the problem starts.