DS1 Reception - pls help me to help him!

[planestrainsautomobiles]

DS1 is in reception and seems to be doing well with learning to read. I've been able to help him up until now but just wanted to check how you would sound out the following words which were in his book tonight.

minutes
please
right

TIA

I'd teach my own child minute (time) and minute (small) as sight/context words.

I help with reading in school. I've never been shown how to do it formally, so take my answer until someone who knows more comes along.

If a child was stuck on those words, I'd break the first word down into min-ut-es, the second word pl-ea-se and the third r-ight.

I tell the children that ight makes the sound (that you know) and whenever they see it in a word, then the ite sound is the one to make. So, light, flight sight etc.

Similarly when they get to ough and ought, I point out the similar spellings but the different sounds.

I also encourage them to look at the pictures for clues.

But I have to say your DS must be doing well if he's got books with those kind of words when he's only in year R!

minutes I would sound each letter out individually (apart from the 'eh' sound for the e)
please I would sound out individually with the exception of the digraph in the middle (two letters which make one sound - ea makes the 'eeeee' sound in this word)
right I would sound out the r individually, explain that the igh makes one sound 'eye' and the 't' sounded out individually.

In minutes (time) the u sounds like an i and in minute (small) it has a much more common sound but the spelling is exactly the same.

but the word was minutes (plural), so it couldn't have been the adjective.

It's not useful only to be able to read a word when it's plural.

Minutes- that's hard, I would do "Min" then I would tell them the rest
please- "Pl ee (for ea) s"
right " r igh t"

Sound them out as they actually sound (m-i-n-i-t-s), then tell your child 'in this word the sound * is spelt like this'. Then have a conversation about how sometimes letters and combinations of letters can make more than one sound like the s in please or the u in minutes (if your child seems interested). Maybe come up with some others where it's spelt the same way if you can.

learnandsay, the word was 'minutes'. Why would you teach your DD the word 'minute' as in small?

You haven't actually answered the OP's question.

OP, for 'please' you'd tell them that 'ea' makes an 'ee' sound, so 'p-l-ea-se'. Right = 'R-igh-t', so they'd learn what sound 'igh' makes.

You can feel free to teach you children whatever you like. The word minute is actually difficult to read. Possibly the word minutes is slightly less difficult because unlike the previous word it can only have one pronunciation, but you still need to know how to read it.

But also, as I said earlier, I would not allow my child to rely on waiting until the word was pluralised in order to recognise it. She's going to come across both words plenty of times and she will need to distinguish them.

Thanks for all the responses.

I think where 'we' are getting stuck is that he hasn't learnt that 'igh' is sounded out as 'eye' and 'ea' is eeee.

Thanks for who pointed out that two letters together can be a digraph. My DS1 came home yesterday and tried to tell me about three letters being a tri something, so guess he was telling me about a trigraph.

Does anyone know if I could find a complete list of all digraphs and trigraphs online?

This page has a couple of free sheets you can print out which show you the various ways you can spell each sound.

Or if you are feeling flush (well about £5) you can buy these, they are very useful for parents who don't know (most of us before our kids start these phonics lessons). DS actually requested, well nagged and nagged until I bought some as they use them at school. He loves "teaching" me and his sister .

www.amazon.co.uk/Read-Write-Inc-Home-Flashcards/dp/0198386710/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359461385&sr=8-1

I think it's this second set that have most of the "ea" "ow" "igh" etc.

It should be this, sorry
www.amazon.co.uk/Read-Write-Inc-Phonics-Flashcards/dp/0198386818/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359461666&sr=1-1

Thanks Hab and Tgger will definitely buy those flashcards today.