What can I buy/print/do to help my Yr1's reading?

[clare40]

Hi - I have my credit card on the ready! I would like some materials on what I can do at home that is fun (so play like rather than school work) with my yr1. Probably a bit on literacy and maths. Any ideas please?

I don't think you need to buy anything

Stuff like playing Hangman, doing wordsearches together, playing word 'Snap'

That will make it more fun-like I should think, rather than school-like. And cheaper

"Literacy" hits here:
Junior scrabble
Puppet shows
Blackboards and whiteboards for playing schools (aka "writing")
Books, books and more books for you to read to your child

"Maths" hits:
Shut the box
Card games
Switch 16
Tell the time lotto
Coins/pretend till for playing shops

Yr1s I'm working with at the moment have just hit that 'hump' where the thrill of getting sounds has worn off a bit and the grind of making words seems terrible. By the end of the year they'll be enthusiastic as their skills develop.

You can develop that enthusiasm by making the schoolwork relevant-look at what (s)he's reading and draw links with their life even when books aren't around, talk about writing when you are using it (signs, supermarkets), maths likewise, think about size, shapes, weights and comparisons as well as just numeracy.

More (s)he sees the point the more energetically they'll work, the better they'll be, and the more they will bring to their own learning and to their teacher's classroom.

readingeggs.co.uk/home

GO FOR THIS!It seems super for my 2 kids (5,7)
i will register too, only need some spare cash,

Good luck.

Sorry, but Reading Eggs is not evidence-based (I've just had a look) -it includes sight words and onset-rime (word families) which will not help your child learn to read.

Try this instead: some free, some to purchase
I especially recommend the Jolly Phonics DVD
www.dyslexics.org.uk/resources_and_further_5.htm

That should be Jolly Phonics CD-ROM with interactive games.

We just got some magnetic words and we are having LOADS of fun with them

Things like this from amazon

I wish i could remember which mumsnetter mentioned Starfall to me first. Although it's a US/Canadian? site (so you have to cope with 'zees'), it's a brilliant phonic based interactive free site.

The makers seem very passionate about what they do and my ds is making speedy progress with it and loves it!

I can leave ds to it happily, whilst getting some housework done.

I really rate The Butterfly Book by Irina Tyk. It's traditional (not games or anything) but it covers all the ground and children make huge progress with it. I used it to teach my dc to read and never looked back.

clare40 - can your child read at all yet? Are you wanting first reading help or are you looking for inspiration to more them on from their current stage to the next stage?

Firstly I would like to point out that if your child's school reading scheme is Oxford Reading Tree with Kipper, Biff and Chip... I'm not surprised they are bored with it and/or struggling. My son(now 7, just moved to Juniors where he can pick his own books and is thrilled about it) got bored of the sheer volume of repetitiveness from those books! My daughter(only 4 can read already because I taught her at home) has just started Biff and Chip at school and already looks bored by them!

I would recommend your local library. The books are free. They have several different schemes you can try with various different levels. You just need to have a look inside and see if you think they might be able to have a go! Most libraries have a Young Readers section which is the best place to start. There is a series of books which have a black spine with 1,2 or 3 yellow, blue or pink dashes on(sorry not sure the series name) which are 9 graded levels (explains which level is which on the back cover), some are a phonics version, some aren't. They are worth looking at. There is a set which have a tadpole on the spine too.

I's second the Starfall website for phonic materials, though you do have to cope with the American accent. I wouldn't use it if I felt a child had any problems with hearing or distinguishing sounds, but otherwise it's great. They do printouts too of all the stories plus worksheets.

I also like the Braintastic maths and reading success where the child has to answer a set number of questions before being allowed a few minutes on a reward game. I like the way you can be quite precise about setting the level of the questions and how you can adjust the number of questions and the time on each game. The questions start on a level that would be fine for Year 1 but I find some younger children are not really "into" the games until they are older.

My yr1 has been off sick today with a tummy bug and she requested playing "Pop to the Shops" - It's an Orchard maths game and good for them to get to grips with money, which is what they've been doing at school. We also tried Hangman today for the first time, which was fine when I chose the word, interesting when she chose the word with her "alternative" spelling!

The bbc schools website is worth looking at, my DCs love the Magic Key games.

They also have the mini whiteboards and magnetic high-frequency words, I think I got them from the Letterbox website