Unlearning to write

[OhHoHoOhNo]

I feel lost. DS is 4 and is due to start reception in September. Its a flexi school.

He has already shown an interest in wanting to read and write. As a result, I have bought some wipe clean books to practise letters etc.

Today another mum - in a nutshell - said that her DS's future teacher had said this sort of thing is detrimental because they have to "unlearn" it so that they can learn properly at school.

I have previously mentioned to my DS's future teacher that DS already has notions of reading and writing and asked if it would cause a problem and she said no - but could she just be trying to be nice? It was at an open day type setting.

I can't seem to find concensus on this. There are thousands of home schooled children who can read and write, surely? The only information I can seem to find is a note about holding the pencil wrong, but I checked and DS holds it in a tripod, which supposedly is the right way.

Any advice welcomed.

Some letter names are used in reading - magic e makes a letter say its name or its long sound - cake, ice, tube, mere, code/cold for example. But you can get letters and sounds or look at nat curric for stages of learning how to code/decode words in writing/reading.

Mr Thorne does phonics is a good one on youtube. Fun with a silly giraffe :)

My youngest missed the whole of reception as he was home educated and he's now in year one. Just got his report and he got top marks for everything. He's extremely bright and exceeds expectations in all areas.
Nothing wrong with teaching them to read and write before starting school.

My children were taught how to write in nursery. Then they started reception at a school that teaches pre cursive. They survived.

re phonics I agree watch jolly phonics as the sounds are not what many of us were taught ourselves as kids. Again not a big deal though, the current way is drummed into kids. It does make blending easier, imo.

Many years ago I taught a very bright child who was so keen to learn before he started school at 4.5 years.We used the Ladybird series and he finished it before he was 5.he attended an awful school were I had a battle for him to progress with his reading they didn’t believe he could read so well.He moved schools where they pushed him not held him back.Carry on with what you are doing there are lots of reading series out there.We also did lots of maths from work books which he loved.If he wants to learn and enjoys it great This child has always done well and starts his Masters this year.

Thank you very much all of you for sharing your experiences. It does really mean a lot to read what you have to say, and I feel much better.

I agree with others. If he’s learning synthetic phonics it won’t be an issue and it’s not uncommon for a few children in a reception class to be able to read from the start.

If you are using a handwriting book for his practice you will also be fine. They may make some adjustments but it’s not detrimental at all.