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Could do with some tips on helping DD with her reading, if anyone could help please

25 replies

MyBatHasBiggerFangsThanYours · 29/10/2011 21:22

Hi there, DD is just 6 and in Yr1. She loves school, which is great, but is struggling with reading.

We read everynight (just one 8 - 12 page school book - Red Stage Kipper and his gang), then we read stories to her. I try to do more, but she doesn't want to and I think that is because she is finding it hard.

When she is reading her books, she often spells a word out, but then can't blend it together, or starts with the last letter first, so F R O M she try and guess at and say MORE or something similar because the last letter was M and she's hazzarding that it might be MORE (hope you see what I mean).

How can I help her with the blending? I don't seem to be able to explain it to her.

We are trying games with her, so when out and about we'll say 'what does ROAD begin with' and she'll say 'R' but when it comes to reading, she is struggling.

We have also played on the phonics play website, which has helped too.

I would be really grateful for any tips on helping her read.

OP posts:
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MrsB24 · 29/10/2011 21:30

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MyBatHasBiggerFangsThanYours · 29/10/2011 21:33

Thanks MrsB24. I'll have a look for that.

A good idea about sticking name cards on everything. Not sure it will help her with the blending of words that she is struggling with, but definitately a way of getting her to learn more words.

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MrsB24 · 29/10/2011 21:34

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cat64 · 29/10/2011 21:43

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maizieD · 29/10/2011 23:05

It sounds to me as though she isn't gettting any good phonics teaching at all!

When you say 'she spells a word out' is she saying the sounds, or is she trying to use letter names? When you say that she tells you that 'road' begins with 'R' does she say the letter 'name' or its sound?

Can she blend orally? If you said the sounds of a word individually would she be able to tell you what the word is?

No, she isn't reading words from L to R. Does she understand that that is how a word should be read? Has she been taught 'sight words' as 'wholes' rather than always being expected to sound out and blend (though if she is getting the 'old' ORT books, rather than the new ORT decodables I suspect I know the answer already) That can be very confusing as a child does not always know which 'strategy' they are meant to use with unfamiliar words (and guessing is so much easier [hsad]), nor does it embed the idea of reading words from L to R.

Try blending the sounds progressively rather than all together. So, for 'from' start with the 'fr', when that is secure add the 'o' and when that is secure add the 'm' on the end. If she still cannot 'get' the L to R movement through the word use a small piece of card to expose one sound at a time as she blends.

You could also try using plastic letters to 'build' a word, asking her to say the sound as you place each letter, blending them progressively as you build the word. Or you could place a simple word with the letters spaced apart, get her to sound each letter, then push them together to demonstrate visually how the sounds are 'pushed together' to produce a word. You could model it with a word, finger tracking from L to R as you blend the word, then alter a letter for her to have a try ('sat' to 'pat' or 'pat' to 'pan', for example)

If you feel you could make some cards with a simple word on one side and a picture of the object on the other (or you may be able to find some on a phonics site somewhere) you can play a game where she has to sound out and blend the word, then check with the picture to see if she is correct - if she is, she keeps the card, with a reward for acquiring a specified number of them... You could also do this in reverse, looking at the picture, saying the word, then asking her to tell you the sounds in the word. She can then look at and sound out the word to check if she is correct.
How about a toy or puppet joining in the game who sometimes 'misreads' the words and she has to correct it or just confirm that it is correct? Get her to 'prove' it is right or wrong by sounding out and blending the word herself.

Of course pitch the words you use at a level you know she can cope with. I've suggested simple CVC words, but she may, for all I know, find this too easy...

I would forget about the -vile ORT- school reading books for a while, or only ask her to read the words in them that you know she is capable of sounding out and blending. You read the rest! Find some good decodable books from somewhere like The Reading Chest, which I have seen highly recommended here on Mumsnet Primary...

rather than thinking "what word might that be?"
Hmmm. In my book that sounds amazingly like guessing (which she does already, anyway) and guessing is most definitely not reading. As the OP, with the very long name, very wisely recognises!

Rational · 29/10/2011 23:11

My wee girl's just coming up for 5 and started school in August. Her school uses Jolly Phonics which I love. She's having no trouble at all with sounding out the words and blending them. It might be worth looking on youtube, they have little songs and characters to go with each sound which the little one loves.

I reckon the best thing to do is talk to her teacher, bringing in new teaching methods might confuse her, the best way forward is to get some instruction from her teacher on how to help at home with the method used at school..

Mashabell · 30/10/2011 11:40

One problem two of my grandchildren had for a while was oversounding. They sounded out nearly every word before reading it as a word.

After a year of phonics in reception, it might be worthwhile to begin encouraging her to learn to read at least the 100 most used English words by sight, as all fluent readers eventually do.

The following are easy to sound out, but perhaps u can encourage her to do so silently and to say them out loud as words?

a, and, as, at, had, has, that, an, back, can,
in, is, it, if, did, him, his, with, big, little, this, will, first,

get, them, then, well, went, her
not, on, from, off, so, go, no, or, for,
but, much, must, up, just,
they,
been, here, see, came, made, make, I, like,
our, out, about,

new, over, old.

These are not completely decodable anyway:
he, of, the, to, was,
all, be, are, have, one, said, we, you, by, my, call, before, come, could, do, down, into, look, me, more, now, only, other, right, she, some, their, there, two, when, want, were, what, where, which, who, your.

Rational · 30/10/2011 12:01

I should have added last night but it was very late, our school held a meeting for all the P1 parents which was effectively a Jolly Phonics training session. This enabled us to be consistent with the teaching method being used. We found it really useful. My granddaughter who is in P2 at the same school is a pretty fluent reader, amazingly so for a six year old.

Is this something you could request?

Smudged · 30/10/2011 12:09

How fluent is she when she speaks? Some children find it difficult to distinguish between sounds e.g., 'th' and 'f'. You could try reading rhyming poetry to/with her. Poems can help children to realise which words sound like each other. They can also be more satisfying because they are short and so even if it takes effort to work it out in the first place you can then say it again.

It's important that she enjoys reading because if she enjoys it and wants to do it she will work at it. From that point of view, reading her stories and poems or making up stories and poems to tell each other or the games that others have suggested will help her to think of it as fun.

kistigger · 31/10/2011 19:36

Both my kids (DS in year 4, DD in year 1) are very different when it comes to reading.
DS has real trouble with phonics, he can say all the letters phonetically but rarely remembers the paired vowel sounds or anything like that, he has trouble blending even when you sound out the word for him, so don't beat yourself up if your child is struggling, phonics is not the be-all-end-all!!! We have found with him that telling him what the word is after him having one attempt at sounding it out himself is the only method that doesn't end in tears!
DD an early reader at home has progressed quickly through reading I think in part because we took a more broad approach with her. While she can and does use phonics we add to these skills. So from my experience I would recommend:

  • flashcards of the high frequency words which if you print off two of each you can then play pairs or similar type games with them
  • phonic sounds on pictures that appeal to you child
  • magnetic letters on the fridge and encourage them to sound out and spell words for themselves, go for directly phonetical words!
  • encourage them to read some of the small words such as 'on', 'the' etc in the books you read to her (easier if the books are picture book types rather than things like Rainbow fairies!!)

I would recommend the Literacy section of Sparklebox.
I personally printed a set of butterflies with a capital letter on one wing and a lowercase letter on the other, which helps with recognition of the capitals (a turquoise colour)!! I also printed the phonemes on butterflies (a pinky-purple colour). You can set the printer to run off 4 sheets per page cos I think they are set to print one butterfly per page which is enormous!! Both found under the 'Alphabet and sounds' section then 'themed phonics sets' section.
I also have (though not from this site) a set of key words printed up. Found under the 'Words and vocabulary' section, which will give you a choice of the words recommended for reception or the top 100 or 200 words depending on how many you want etc. Just do a few at at time to get their confidence up, rather than inundate them with a sea of cards all at once!!!! I recommend maybe 5 words at a time!!

And above all don't forget the English language is a beast for words that do not follow the phonetic rules especially the earlier stages of the phonetic process. So I added to my daughter's learning some other rules such as an 'e' after 'g' usually sounds 'j', an 'e' after 'c' usually becomes 's' sound, and 'a' after 'w' usually sounds 'o'. I also help her when she is sounding out by telling her when a letter is silent or if the word is not phonetic so she doesn't beat herself up that she can't work it out. Plus we use magic 'e' eg pin becomes pine with magic e, one of the ones I remember from my childhood but that seems to have disappeared in modern phonics and replaced with something many children have trouble remembering - the rule for that is the phonic sounds for the five vowels become the five names of the letters that an adult would use, I guess you know what I mean.

I hope that all helps!!! Sorry the post is long!!

MyBatHasBiggerFangsThanYours · 31/10/2011 20:18

WOw, thank you everyone for your replies. Sorry I haven't been back sooner (DH was away for the weekend and came back Sunday night, I thought it was a tad rude to MN when he'd just come back Grin).

Cat64 - I will go back over some of the old books and will talk to her after each sentence to make sure she understands. I do read it to her after she has read it but maybe I should get her to do that instead, just to make sure she has understood. At the end of the book we talk about what has happened in the book, and she does understand the story. I think you are right that she is not linking the 'task' and the 'pleasure' of reading.

MaizeD - sorry, it is my explanation that hasn't helped there. She is making the phonics sound and yes, we have lots of sight words that she knows. She did seem to have more support in reception on reading than she is in Y1. I have spoken with her teacher about that. That is a good point about knowing that words are left to right, I will check that out with her.

I will start breaking down the longer words with her, that makes good sense, thanks and have a look at the reading chest too. I think I will have to carry on with the school books too as we get 5 a week and if we don't record that she has read them, they just send them back the following week.

Rational - I'll have a look at Jolly Phonics, thank you. I have spoken to the teacher and she did seem to have my DD down to a tee in that she realised that she tends to panic when she has to do something so gueses rather than thinking abou it. I will ask about the training for me as well. I do like the school and she is happy there, but I feel they aren't doing all they can to help her with the reading.

Mashabel - Thank you for the list of words. I will practice these with her.

Smudged - she's a pretty fluent speaker but wasn't clear in her speech til nearly 4 1/2 so that could be something to do with it. FUnnily enough we were playing rhyming games in the bath tonight, which she instigated and did enjoiy.

kistigger - That is great thank you. I think you are right that I do need to get flash cards and start using these. I will look at the link thank you, she loves butterflies so that would be pretty good for her. Like your DS she struggles with the paired vowels, just doesn't get it really, so I will use flash cards for that too. We do use the magic e too, and I will continue with that.

Thank you all for your excellent advise, it is really helpful and I will put it into practice. She does love stories and I think once she cottons on to the joy of reading stories to herself she will fly.

OP posts:
kistigger · 31/10/2011 20:31

Plus I forgot to mention in the last post... Oxford Owl which has loads of books online which kids can listen to and/or read, done by Oxford Reading Tree levels/age. Sometimes it's nice for them to have a listen before they try reading it themselves or vice versa!! Helps with comprehension when they read slowly!! My DS was a late talker, only using half words when starting nursery!! Perhaps there is some sort of link between the two, late talking/understandability and phonics understanding?!!!

Just don't beat yourself us, she'll get the hang of reading soon!!

MWB22 · 31/10/2011 21:02

Some great ideas.... but NOT SPARKLEBOX please!
For those who missed other threads. The site owner is a twice convicted paedophile and we don't support his site.

kistigger · 31/10/2011 21:11

Clearly I missed all the other threads, so please enlighten me. How exactly do we know this information re: convicted paedophile?

kistigger · 31/10/2011 21:19

Never mind I searched it... it's not something I knew! Despite completely not agreeing with the owner's lifestyle choices, it is unfortunately still one of the best places to get certain free resources and most of them were posted by other parents/teachers rather than the owner! I will look carefully for others but what proof do we have that they are not also owned by similar people?!!

kistigger · 31/10/2011 21:24

MWB22 - Thank you

MWB22 · 31/10/2011 21:26

When people visit the site, even if they don't download a free resource it generates income for the website owner. That's what many feel very uncomfortable with. I agree there is no knowing what other site owners are up to, but I (and many here) do not feel we can visit a known offender's site with a clear conscience.
Clearly it is everyone's own personal decision to use Sparklebox or not, but do read the complaints on here if teachers use it when making up your mind whether to use it at home.

MyBatHasBiggerFangsThanYours · 31/10/2011 21:38

MWB22 - Bloody hell, shant be visiting that website then.

Kistigger - Will look at Oxford Owl.

Thank you

OP posts:
MWB22 · 31/10/2011 22:03

I've found the following sites useful instead:
communication4all - www.communication4all.co.uk/
teachers pet - www.tpet.co.uk/
twinkl - www.twinkl.co.uk/
Lancashire Education Dept - www.lancsngfl.ac.uk/nationalstrategy/literacy/index.php?category_id=-1

maizieD · 31/10/2011 22:19

I think you are right that I do need to get flash cards and start using these.

Flash cards for learning sound to letter(s) correspondences but no, no, no for 'learning' words. ALL words should be sounded out and blended. If you don't understand how the alphabetic code works, find out, don't believe anyone who tells you that words are 'non-phonetic' or 'irregular' or anything which makes it look as though learning to read with phonics alone is impossible and that some words have to be learned as 'wholes'. The ones with unusual correspondences are 'decodable with a tricky bit'..

Have a look at Phonics International I'm not suggesting that you buy the programme, I'm pointing you at the site because it has masses of extremely good, free information about the teaching of phonics, particularly in the early years.

P.S I really would just ignore those ORT books. What does it matter if they come back week after week? Forcing your child through them won't make her a better reader...

kistigger · 01/11/2011 00:07

maizieD - Whilst I don't doubt that you can learn to read with phonics alone, I am reluctant to say it is the only method or that it is necessarily the best one. I was simply pointing out that for some children including my own they find the phonic system unproductive for more difficult words and not for want of trying. DS gets so frustrated with the phonics, I just found for him that we needed to do other things too so he didn't get so painfully frustrated and yes we persisted with the phonics tirelessly. I know he is not the only one in this situation either. I just don't feel it is fair to push him to do something that he seems incapable to do, but that doesn't stop him reading or enjoying books (which would have happened if we pushed the phonics as hard as some people suggest). My DS understands the phonics but her reading ability far outstrips the speed at which she is progressing through the phonic stages at school, so therefore the words that in theory can be decoded at the later stages can't be decoded at the early stages.
We are all individuals who learn everything in different ways, at different speeds and using different methods, I don't see why learning to read would be any different!
I have found though that phonics doesn't, to my knowledge, help you to distinguish between letters that look the same but sound different ie though, through, thought, plough etc etc (though I'm up for correction on that). There has to be a level of just learning somewhere along the line! Also there is an element of speed, you use phonics to sound out words you do not know, but words you have seen/read before you begin to recognise the shape of the word and after a number of times of reading it you simply 'know' the word and can real it off just like that. I use the flashcards to help with recognition speed, to increase their fluency at reading, to play games with, to make sentences with - all much needed skills. And by doing those things I increase my child's enjoyment of reading, they no longer spell out each word on each and every page, they simply know the words. Yes they use their phonics to spell out the constant stream of new words, they just don't use those skills in the normal act of reading all the rest!

Mashabell · 01/11/2011 07:15

MyBatHasBiggerFangsThanYours
U can easily make flashcards yourself by copying and printing out the 100 most used English words in a bigger font, cutting them up and sticking them on postcards or smaller pieces of card.

My son learnt to read very slowly. His teacher used to write the words that he had difficulty decoding on little pieces of card, put them in an old tabacco tin and we then practised them with him at home.

We found that he needed very little practice with the regularly spelt words
a, and, as, at, had, has, that, an, back, can, in, is, it, if, did, him, his, with, big, little, this, will, first, get, them, then, well, went, her, not, on, from, off, so, go, no, or, for,...

What made him stumble were nearly always the tricky letters in
^he, of, the, to, was,
all, be, are, have, one, said, we, you, by, my, call, before, come, could, do, down, into, look, me, more, now, only, other, right, she, some, their, there, two, when, want, were, what, where, which, who, your^.

Once he could read all of those easily by sight, he was up and away,
especially after we had been through each one of the following one by one, with a mixture of decoding and helping out, as well:
after, another, any, asked, bear, book, can?t, coming, couldn?t, don?t, each, eat, ever, every, everyone, eyes, fast, find, four, friends, gone, good, great, grow, he?s, head, I, I?ll, I?m, key, know, last, laughed, live, lived, looked, looking, looks, magic, many, most, mother, Mr, Mrs, never, oh, once, people, plants, please, pulled, put, ready, river, small, snow, some, something, there?s, thought, through, took, town, very, wanted, water, work, would.

If inbetween u want to practise decoding with him, with phonically straightforward spellings, there are plenty of regularly spelt words on the Learning to Read page of my website. Masha Bell

kistigger · 01/11/2011 14:46

Twinkl has loads of similar flash cards (100 high frequency words) to sparklebox if you're still wanting ones with butterflies on and don't fancy typing all your own out!! You'll have to sign up with a username, email and password but the stuff, from the little I've glanced at, looks good!

Mashabell · 04/11/2011 08:24

If u
don't fancy typing all your own out, Kistigger.

Why type?
Why not use Ctrl + c for copying from here or my website
and Ctrl + v for pasting into Word and saving
and then adjusting the font to whatever size u want,
and then copying and pasting however many u want from that?

It's better to have nothing but word/s on the page or card so that your dc can look at the letters without distractions.

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