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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

reception teacher says my lo knows none of the phonics letter sounds...

25 replies

bumbly · 27/09/2011 10:29

but am very! confused as nursery teacher told me he could read words..how do i tell the teacher that nursery teacher praised him loads saying is extremely bright and knew many words without seeming pushy...i would have thought he had read nursery report...and now this reception teacher seems to have just labelled him as thick and shy...my lo seems to be pushed to the sides and teacher noticing the more brash outgoing kids...

very disappointed and worried

any attempt to talk to teacher and he thinks i am pushy mum...

also only had one entry in his reading diary since start and everyone else in class has had four....is my lo getting left behind/forgotten on the sideline?...really looks like it

anyone else having similar experience??

OP posts:

IndigoBell · 27/09/2011 10:41

Knowing words is different to knowing phonic letter sounds.

Sounds like he's learnt a few words as 'wholes'. Ie he can read 'cat', but wouldn't be able to read 'hat' or 'sat' or 'can' or 'cap'

And he doesn't know that 'c' makes a 'k' sound.......

But I don't know why you're worried. He's been in school 2 weeks. That's what school is there for - to teach him.

Not knowing his phonic sounds is nothing to do with his intelligence - it's just due to what he's been taught so far.

I think it's extremely unlikely the teacher thinks he's thick. But she may be very disappointed with the nursery he has come from....

lovingthecoast · 27/09/2011 10:45

Don't worry, it's very early in the year. I agree with Indigo that your DS may well have learned a few whole words as sight words but when he is asked to segment, say, hat into 3 sounds, he is struggling to hear each individual sound.

I'm sure the teacher doesn't see you as pushy. Reception teachers are very well aware that at this time of year parents are often quite anxious and have lots of queries and question on a whole range of things. Do you have the autumn parents' evening coming up? If not then ask if you can make an appointment just to clarify a few things. I'm sure he will make time for you and help put your mind at rest.

UniS · 27/09/2011 10:47

Reading words and knowing letter sounds are two differnt skills.
Possible to do some of the first with out knowing any of the second.

Why not ask Teacher if you can stop after school one day and have a chat about how he's getting on and how best to support his learning phonics at home..

Rollergirl1 · 27/09/2011 10:59

I think you are being very paranoid. You seemed to have come up with this "worst case" scenario all on your own just because the reception teacher said that your child doesn't know the phonic letter sounds. This might very well be possible. And as someone else says it doesn't mean that your child is thick, just that he hasn't been taught them.

DD's Reception teacher told me that DD knew all her letter names right from the start of Reception. But she wasn't as good on the letter sounds. For example if asked what a particular letter was, she would state 'c' or 'p' rather than 'cuh' and 'puh'. DD was quite perplexed about this for a bit, she clearly hadn't been taught the phonic sounds in her previous nursery. The teacher told me about it and said that she would focus on this in lessons and could we do the same at home. By the first half-term she had totally cracked it.

Don't assume that the teacher telling you something is doing so in a negative way. I am sure your child is not being side-lined. One other thing to consider is that they may be staggering what children do what within the class. They did this at DD's school. So Autumn born children started getting books much earlier than summer born ones.

acebaby · 27/09/2011 12:08

The teacher will be very happy for you to go in and have a short meeting to discuss how well your DS has settled and how he is getting on. I would give her a copy of his nursery reports then. As others have said, phonics are somewhat different to reading whole words (both valid and useful skills!) and in reception they may initially be focusing on phonics.

Also, it is possible that your DS is not showing what he can do in class yet. There is no problem with this - he won't be sidelined. He just needs a little more time to adjust. The teacher may well have decided not to push him forward with reading until he has got used to being at school. Certainly, at DS1's school, none of the summer born children got any reading books until half-term.

MagicFingerGoesPop · 27/09/2011 12:12

What does he do at home with you?

Original poster

bumbly · 27/09/2011 12:18

thanks tons for messages..

nursery is only down the corridor of building in same school and nursery teacher had told me he also knew all or at least o big majority of the phonics sounds...sorry did not make that clear...and he can read small sentences to me by sounding out ...so am very perplexed with teachers comments that he does not know sounds

maybe I think the worst but then he has been labelled shy right from start when he isn't and speaking to my teacher friends...labelling is something teachers should not do...so was speaking from gut feeling and experience so far

will see how term progresses

OP posts:

Original poster

bumbly · 27/09/2011 12:18

at home reads and practices sounds with me few minutes a day

OP posts:

jade80 · 27/09/2011 12:26

I wouldn't worry too much, it will all sort itself out over the next term or two.

To the poster above who said c sounds like cuh and p sounds like puh- no!!!! Please don't pronounce letters cuh, muh, puh! It is wrong, you need to use the pure sound.

E.g. sound out cat, it isn't cuh/ah/tuh!

scrappydappydoo · 27/09/2011 12:40

Jade - I assume the poster was using cuh and puh to show the difference between the letters phonic sound and the letters name - how else would you write the phonic sound?

Op - please try not to worry it could be that your dc is just setting in at school and hasn't yet demonstrated his knowledge. It may take awhile to get going. I'm sure she doesn't think your dc is 'thick' my dd didn't know any phonic sounds at all before starting reception and is doing just fine - the amount she learned in reception astounded me!
Personally I would take a step back and then properly discuss it at parents evening if its a still an issue. It is hard though as you want them to be happy and get the most out of school :)

Original poster

bumbly · 27/09/2011 12:45

thanks everyone!!!!

OP posts:

jade80 · 27/09/2011 12:46

That's my point though, cuh and puh are totally wrong for phonic sounds, and shouldn't be written like that because it gives the wrong impression. They are not the pure sounds and if you put them together they don't blend into the word. Put muh, ah and tuh together- it certainly doesn't sound like mat! Lots of people say them like that and it is wrong and makes it harder for children.

Rollergirl1 · 27/09/2011 12:50

I was doing exactly that. I was trying to distinguish between the letter names, ie 'P' as in saying 'pee' and the sound, as in puh. And that is how 'P' sounds. I am not a teacher so forgive me if I don't know the correct way to write it out. I understand where you're coming from, as in using the sound sss instead of suh. But P does sound like puh. And C does sound like cuh.

RedHelenB · 27/09/2011 13:41

If he knows them he knows them & the fact that the teacher hasn't yet cottoned onto that shouldn't be a problem.

lifesamerrygoround · 27/09/2011 13:54

He is still very young and only started school, but if you want to help more at home, I find DS really enjoys the Jollyphonics CD and book. We play it in the car (arghhh) and he reads the songs and letter.

caughtinanet · 27/09/2011 13:59

This issue here surely isn't whether your child knows the sounds or not but the fact that the reception teacher is so unapproachable that you haven't even had a neutral conversation with him to try and resolve the matter.

If he's really so bad that you can't even raise the issue I'd be booking an appointment with the head as this would be a red flag for me.

Feenie · 27/09/2011 14:07

But P does sound like puh. And C does sound like cuh.

P is hard to clip short, I gratnt you - but we have to so that it helps with blending. Cuh is very different to the 'Cccc' sound needed for blending - take the uh off!

As a previous poster says, cuh-ah-tuh spells cuhahtuh, which makes no sense. Clip the sounds short, take the 'uh' off the end, and ccc-aa-tt makes cat.

ninani · 27/09/2011 15:18

When the teacher told you that your son doesn't know phonics why didn't you simply say that according to your experience and most importantly his nursery teacher he knows them? It certainly doesn't seem as pushy. When our son was at nursery during the 2nd term his teacher said that one of his goals was to continue with letters and phonics. I told her that he had actually started to read. She was shocked as she didn't know it but then I had evidence that they started giving him words to read so it helped them. If there is information that might help the teacher be happy to mention it :)

It doesn't sound as pushy at all! When our son started reception the teacher noticed him reading everything on the walls and she told me. I went a step further a few months later and told her that his nursery teacher had told us to make sure that he wouldn't fall back to the average because he was bright I wouldn't have dared to say such a thing unless the nursery teacher hadn't told me! I did say "the NURSERY teacher told us". I actually thought she would be but she was instead happy to reassure me that everything was fine and worked according to each child's level.

jade80 · 27/09/2011 18:46

Rollergirl, as Feenie says, it is not cuh and puh. Take the uh sound off the end, otherwise you aren't saying the sound right. It's easier to hear with 's', it sounds like sssss rather than suh.

DownbytheRiverside · 27/09/2011 18:52

Ask the class teacher if she's talked to his nursery teacher, he should have come up with a very detailed assessment folder to pass on to reception.

Original poster

bumbly · 28/09/2011 20:11

getting more and more confused...teacher said my lo cannot read but only knows words cuz he is remembering them but home i randomly tested him when reading bedtime book and he read and sounded out words

can i ask any mumsnet teachers opinion here..my little one says words i think because he knows them and therefore is too bored to sound them out! His teacher instead sees that as only memorising words..could that be it?
..but my boy sounds out all the phonics sounds at home..have tested last night..very confused and upset

also my little one said teacher making him nervous! he isnt very warm if you see what i mean wih little kids...just professional

OP posts:

UniS · 28/09/2011 20:14

Teacher can only assess what they have observed a child doing , they can't rely on hearsay or reports from parents that child can do X or Y . You might need to have a chat with your child and explain that they NEED to show Teacher they can do X and Y in order to get onto more interesting books.

Original poster

bumbly · 28/09/2011 20:17

but he should have an inkling of my boy being shyish and polite and simlly in awe of school..he should know kids get shy when asked to read instead no he told me my boy does not know his phonic sounds simple as that!

take your point though totally!

OP posts:

UniS · 28/09/2011 20:22

Good luck. 4 yr olds are not always teh easiest people to convince that they need to do something for themselves, but they do get it eventually. Mine took sometime to get it that he needed to eat his lunch rather than chat if he wanted to have more playtime. Also that he needed to do his reading at home ( rather than clamber over teh sofa, loll upside down and talk endlessly about the pictures) if he wanted to change book.

acebaby · 29/09/2011 18:42

I can understand your frustration - but your DS's ability will shine through eventually. You will probably find that he starts on extremely easy books, but then skips a few levels at some point when he is more established at school.

This happened with my DS1 (he skipped 3 levels at one point). Having him on simple books didn't worry me. He wasn't bored because he enjoyed the stories and pictures. Even now that he is year 2 and an independent reader, he still likes a sneaky peak at DS2's topsy and tim books

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