Phonics and blending

[prou]

I have a 4.5 year old who is in the nursery of a school. She will move into reception in September.

the nursery she went to prior to this one (age 1-3) was quite pushy with phonics and trying to teach blending to the 3 year olds. The nursery of the school she is at is also v academic with most of the children able to read basic books.

my reason for saying this is to highlight that she has been exposed to phonics and blending for 18 months now.

she is a mature child who is well behaved and very aware of things.

however - she is finding blending really tricky. She is just about blending 3 letter simple works like cat and dog however her gut is to blend backwards. So she would read top as pot and nap as pan.

is this anything to worry about?

No - it’s developmentally normal. I don’t think phonics should be pushed in nursery.

I wouldn’t worry but I would keep an eye on it as it could be an early sign of dyslexia. It could also be a sign of nothing. Does dyslexia run in your family?

Yes, keep an eye out for dyslexia as the sooner she gets support the better. Does she know left from right (show her that her left thumb and index finger make a capital L)? Does she know that words, sentences and pages go from left to right? If you say the sounds can she blend then?

The British Dyslexia Association don’t recommend assessment until age 7. I was absolutely not worried when my DC was 3. My DC isn’t dyslexic.

Thanks everyone. We don’t have any dyslexia in the family although my son is suspected ASD. He actually could read chapter books by the age of 4 so my daughter seems v behind in comparison. I wasn’t at all concerned as I do understand they all go at their own pace but the reading backwards has thrown me a bit. I know there’s nothing wrong with being dyslexic but my son needs a lot of social help and so was hoping for a more ‘straightforward’ second child especially as up until the reading, she appears very very neurotypical.

Have a look at Phase 1 phonics activities, OP. It really focuses on children understanding sounds and listening skills. Oral blending is a big part of this. If you say “t-o-p” would she blend them to say top, or would she still invert them and say pot?

It really does sound developmentally normal, and I wouldn’t be worried, but phase 1 activities are where you should be looking if you want extra support for her, rather than just plodding on with reading. You could also watch Alphablocks together.

Thank you! So if I say P O T she will also say top. However - her writing skills are pretty good and if I said write POT she would write pot!

I used Jolly Phonics with my DC, it’s still on the Government-approved phonics list.

Definitely nothing to worry about whilst in nursery!!

As I said I wouldn’t be worried if she just wasn’t blending. It’s more because she’s reading backwards?

Have you tried reading eggs? It has a 2 week free trial and is currently 1/2 price £60 a year. It's a great phonics learning tool with fun games. If it's not in your budget teach your monsters how to read is free on laptops and is also very good. Everything your child is doing is developmentally normal.

Thank you! So do you think reading backwards is developmmmentally normal?

Also wouldn’t worry at this point but understand your point as your little one is ready/wanting to read.

I teach reception and had a small group of children doing this recently, i.e could sound out pat but then blend to say tap. With lots of practise, games ans modelling they left this phase pretty quickly.

If you haven’t already, look at putting the words into phoneme frames so the children can distinctly see what sound is first, second and third as each sound (phoneme) goes in one box.

Play games like read and match the word to give more context and build up confidence.
Websites such as Twinkl and PhonicsPlay have games similar for a small subscription price.

https://www.twinkl.co.uk/teaching-wiki/phoneme-frame more info on using phoneme frames. Usually they are used to support spellings but if the adult writes the word and then a number under each box it makes it much easier. E.g if your child sounds out pot as top, you can reference it and say “good try! You’ve got all the right sounds but they’ve got a bit muddles up. Look, the first sound is /p/ so that comes at the beginning.

Successive blending might also be beneficial 😊

@prou I used to give dyslexia training in schools and would show a sample of my DC’s writing on the PowerPoint - from Reception year. Everyone would spot ‘signs of dyslexia’ immediately and I would tell them this is normal for Reception. In Scandinavian countries they don’t even teach phonics until 6 or 7 years. We are pushing young children to do things they aren’t developmentally ready to do, in my opinion.

Yes, if you think she is sounding out t-o-p the most recent sound she heard is p, then o then t, when she is spelling the first sound she says is the t, so she does it in that order.

@prou

The hothouse environment you've described is shocking and ludicrous.

I'd take your child out of the nursery and rethink the Reception year plans too.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with your lovely child. There is everything wrong with the academic approach the nursery and the school are following.

The business of a school or classroom setting up to age 5 is social and emotional development.

Find a school environment whose approach is rooted in science, not the ego of whoever runs it.

I’m a phonics lead and this is great advice. We follow the Little Wandle Phonics scheme and if you go on their website to the Parents section there are lots of songs and rhymes and activities for pre school children.

I do - teacher since 1994, dyslexia specialist since the late 1990s. Edit: developmentally normal for EYFS, including Reception. That’s why the phonics screening is at the end of Y1.

Nothing about reading at age 3 is developmentally normal.

Even though there are children who can do it (two of my own DCs), most children are not ready for reading at this age, and it is pointless and even damaging to children's self esteem to try teaching it.

Stop trying to teach your child something she is not ready for. Tell the nursery to stop it too. They should not be focusing on this or even introducing this.

Read to her. Have fun with her. Encourage her to scribble and create art, and do not sway her toward writing.

Move her to a school that understands normal intellectual development.

It's really common at 3 and 4. My 4 year old does it. She also sometimes writes her letters backwards as well. It's not a concern until they are about 7.

My oldest is 6 and has been reading fluently for a few years. They have recently raised concerns about autism/ asperges. Try not to compare. They both have different skills and challenges.

You have no reason to be worried. There has been research done on specifically this and no correlation with dyslexia has been found. There is no clear answer as to why some children do this but suggestions have been made that if things in their world are right to left (left handed, picture on right hand page, street entrance meaning driving in right to left, then their brain thinks that right to left it how they should be interpreting things. It is quite common and considered completely developmentally normal. If it’s still happening she 6/7 then you can start getting concerned. Hope that puts your mind at rest!

Thank you all so much for responding. It’s v reassuring especially the comments from the teachers.

I do agree that the school are being OTT re phonics. It’s crazy that her whole class in nursery can read! And DD is one of the older ones too. I’m going to relax and also let school know to let her take it at your own pace