School teaching "sight memorisation" rather than teaching phonics...what to do?

[Greythorne]

We live in France and are a bilingual family (English - French).

DD1 is 5.9 and in Year 1 in a French school. Last year, in what would have been her Reception year had we been in the UK, I taught her to read using phonics. Thanks to lots of advice on here (waves to mrz and others) it worked really well. It seems to me like DD made the two big leaps in learning to read: she has "got" the concept of sounding out sounds (not letter names) then blending them AND she has learnt a lot of the sounds, so she is reading pretty well. Still a long way to go and we have not covered all sounds yet, but we are getting there very surely.

So, in French school, this is the year they start to teach reading. They are supposed to use phonics, according to government guidelines, but I have heard that many teachers are wedded to older methods, esp the sight reading / "méthode globale" / look and say approach.

It is only day 3 and DD has already been given three lists of words to memorise, not read, just memorise. She has memorised them, but as soon as they are in a different context or even a different font, she is struggling, as she has obviously just memorised the shape.

I keep suggesting that she sounds and blends, but she has never been taught the French sounds, only letter names so far. I have avoided teaching her much in French as I am not French and to be honest, I have got enough on my plate teaching her to read in English! I really thought I could rely on the school to teach her to read in French, esp as she already has the concept of reading down pat.

Any advice?

euphemia how did you cope? go along with it, quietly do your own thing or have a few heated discussions?

Indeed, if you want your French-schooled child to develop an imagination and creative skills, it's 100% up to you! The upside of the system is that you can buy really quite good art/music/drama classes for even young children, with better pupil:teacher ratios and facilities than in a normal primary school.

It seems a shame about the private thing though Bonsoir. What about those spontaneous bands that are formed at lunchtimes, that put on little 'gigs' at assemblies? I think that a ponderous approach to things like music is pretty depressing. Great for developing concert pianists and developing hand/eye coordination. Perhaps this explains why french pop music is a pile of crock?

yes, the middle route is probably the one to take I agree.

French schools don't have the infrastructure to support spontaneous bands at lunchtime. It's just a whole other world of education, very bare bones and highly academic. I don't like it but don't have a lot of choice and so make the best of what is available by buying really good extra-curricular (and holiday) experiences for our children.

I wish my DD's future school taught memorisation - I really cant take to phonics and by the look of it, neither can she

mindosa - how do you know your DD cannot "take to phonics"? No child can learn phonics from a parent (or other adult) who does not master phonics teaching themselves.

She seems to prefer memorisation. I have studied how to teach it but appreciate that the teachers in her school will be better equipped to do this.

How old is she, mindosa?

She has just turned 4 - maybe I am jumping the gun !

Yes, you are jumping the gun!

and she would have to memorise the sounds and the way they are written with phonics