Are these odd words to learn in Reception

[Schnullerbacke]

Had things like: it, at, up, dog, and, I, in, am etc last week. This week its look, you, away, to, the. It just seems like an odd jump to me.

Thanks, mrz. Maybe I'm just getting confused because when they were sent home they were in a separate folder called 'tricky words' rather than the one with her phonemes and corresponding words. So she had one folder with words like, the and said and one with sound cards with phonemes such as 'oi' and 'ai' and words that matched such as boil and tail.

So it seemed she had a three pronged approach last year. Phonemes, what her teacher called, tricky words and books to read.

With DD2 in mind I was just curious to know whether this approach was now frowned upon and whether they should be learning all 44 phonemes before being introduced to 'tricky words'. Things have moved on so much since I taught little ones and I wouldn't really know where to begin when judging current best practice.

Thank you for the explanations, they are helpful. I am feeling very cross about my free and easy education which didn't bother with such details!

I've had some success with the flashcards this evening. DS, motivated by the promise of chocolate, has learnt 14 of his words. I've laminated giant A4 size cards and I am getting him to jump onto the right word, which usually ends up with him skidding across the floor, which he enjoys. I've also added "poo" and "bogey" to the pile which really tickles him.