Sorry, another reading one... how to stop DD from guessing

[Pozzled]

DD1 is in reception. Her reading has really taken off recently - her school don't use bookbands but she's somewhere around green level. The problem is that she is starting to guess unfamiliar words from the context rather than sounding out. Whenever she makes a mistake, I get her to use her phonics, but how can I get her to do this automatically? More phonics practice? Reading words out of context? Harder books so that she has to 'sound out' more often?

(Don't suggest I ask her teacher- the school would be quite happy for her to use mixed methods. I'm not.)

In the example of 'Mum was cross' mum's facial expression was clearly cross. It could be 'mad' or 'angry', but a child reading as far as the first letter will figure out that the word is 'cross'.

Sorry, "mixed methods".

Somewhere though "trying" and "guessing" meet. There is an overlap.

If you have some skills/rules to guide your "guessing" then you are more likely to come to a correct conclusion. You might not though, DS, very well schooled in phonics (expert compared with me) assured me the other day that word x was pronounced y rather than z due to a particular phonics rule. Of course it was an exception. Can't remember the word, damn.

Why not just teach them to read 'cross'?

There's an educated guess and I can't be arsed so I'm going to read the word artificial as Friday.

If my daughter makes an educated guess and gets it wrong I'll discuss it with her. But if she just says some random nonsense she'll get in trouble.

Why teach them just to read as far as the first letter and look at the picture? That's not reading.

Don't be impressed chocoluvva most of the 5 and 6 year olds in my class could come up with a much longer lists in the same length of time.

An able child will be working out from the picture and the start of the word what it is - quicker than sounding out cr/oss. A less able child will need to sound it out. The more able child will remember the word after seeing it once.

My objection is to the one-size-fits-all approach.

Would you rather that early reading books have no pictures - just in case the children 'cheat'?

Why would an able child need pictures to read?

Nope. I would rather you taught them to read instead of guessing using initial letter and picture.

I can't believe you want to argue this point and say it's okay for any reader to just guess.

Chocoluvva you are behind the times. Pictures are not used for reading anymore. And neither is memory (well not officially).

I am impressed though MrZ - I've only just now come up with 'rough' and 'enough'.

I can't see how looking at cross and ignoring the final two sounds in favour of looking at the picture and trying to guess which bit fits the first part of the word is faster

Really? Do the little ones get reading books without pictures now?

I wouldn't teach a child to look at the first letter, then look at the picture and decide on that basis, but I think that's what many children will do and it's fine.

"An able child will be working out from the picture and the start of the word what it is - quicker than sounding out cr/oss. A less able child will need to sound it out. The more able child will remember the word after seeing it once."

Why do you think that children who use blending are stupid? Guessing from the picture is easier in the early stages. Some children never learn to blend. This really hits them when they start secondary school or possibly universtiy and cannot guess from context because the information is so complex.

My son blends automatically in his head. Blending is the first attack skill he uses when faced with an unknown word. His blending skills are so fast its unbelievable.

my reception child has just moved up a stage and there was a note in his reading diary today from his teacher advising me to encourage ds to guess any words he was stuck on by using the pictures as clues

No, it's not - because, as has already been explained by more than one poster who deals with older readers with problems, it is counter productive. We know from research that weaker readers over-rely on context or picture cues. It is damaging.

There aren't that many pictures in Alice in Wonderland to be honest

there was a note in his reading diary today from his teacher advising me to encourage ds to guess any words he was stuck on by using the pictures as clues

Yes, there are still (incredibly) teachers who are ignorant of the research and still dish out this rubbish to children and parents.

oh dear chocoholic, not much of a phonic approach in your school then...

By the way all you posters with chocolate names are very mean....luckily I have none in the house but am certainly craving it now!

the sad thing is, I would bet the teacher believes they are teaching phonics

they are taught phonics and ds does sound out and blend words very well so actually didn't need to follow the teachers advise. I think it may have been because he moved up a stage and she didn't know how he'd find it.

All valid in reading and literacy to use phonics backed up by context.

Not according to the research re weaker readers. Not valid at all. DAMAGING.

No, I can honestly say I don't use pictures when I read a new or familiar word.