Ways to help 5 year old DD learn 'tricky' words

[yawningbear]

We have a big sheet of tricky words to learn and weshe is really struggling. After much time and effort she has now learnt most of her sounds, the jolly phonics rhymes were the key to this I think. She is still struggling to blend and now she has to learn a load of words by sight. It is not coming easily to her. They include words such as 'everyone' and 'pulled' and all have to be learnt by sight. We have been advised they are to be 'assessed' again next week so the pressure is on.

I don't expect many 5 - 6y olds will encounter 'cello' in their daily reading.

There are actually very few truly bizarre spellings in English though it is a bit awkward that some very odd ones, like 'one', 'two' and 'eye' are words that are useful for early texts. Most of the so called 'tricky words' just have a piece of code in them that children wouldn't normally have learnt at that stage in a systematic phonics programme. Let me re-iterate. These words are only taught when they are because they are thought to be useful for writing 'naturalistic' text. They don't have to be introduced so early.

Personally I think they cause so much bother and misunderstanding that I wish they'd just put up with a bit of 'unnaturalistic' text for a few months!

Maizie: I wish they'd just put up with a bit of 'unnaturalistic' text for a few months!
They do! The early phonics texts are all excruciatingly boring and repetitive because they strenuously avoid natural language which invariably includes some high frequency words with irregular spellings.

The number of relatively common words which have letters with variable sounds (e.g. an - any, on - only, once) is around 2 000.

The ones which impede reading progress most seriously are the 37 among the 100 most used English words:
he, of, the, to, was, all, be, are, have, one, said, we, you, call, come, could, do, down, into, me, now, only, other, right, she, some, their, there, two, when, want, were, what, where, which, who, your.

And the following in the next 200 most HF:
another, any, many, water, small, laughed, bear, great, head, ready, each, eat, sea, tea, please, eyes, find, friends, giant, I’ll, I’m, key, live, people, pulled, put, thought, through, work, would, coming, everyone, gone, most, mother, oh, once, grow, how, know, snow, town, window, book, food, good, room, school, soon, too, took, door, Mr Mrs

Their irregular spellings ensure that children can't learn to read those (let alone write) with just simple phonic sounding out and blending. That's why they keep being sent home for learning by heart.

"The ones which impede reading progress most seriously are the 37 among 100 most used English words:
he, of, the, to, was, all, be, are, have, one, said, we, you, call, come, could, do, down, into, me, now, only, other, right, she, some, their, there, two, when, want, were, what, where, which, who, your."

NO!

Phonics works beautifully with the following:
a am an and as at back bad began can cat dad gran granddad
had has hat magic man ran sat than that that’s

baby came gave made make place take
away day may play say way

car dark garden hard park -
air - because – saw

the bed best end get help her let let’s new next red them then went when yes -
better eggs fell tell well

been feet green keep need queen see sleep three tree trees -

big children did didn’t different fish him his if in is it it’s its king little miss still thing things think this which will wind wish with
birds first girl
inside like liked cried time while, I’ve - by fly my why -
night right

across along box dog floppy fox from got hot
long lots not of off on stop stopped top -
or for horse morning
but duck fun jumped just much mum must run sun under up us
use
about around found house mouse our out round shouted
boy suddenly

Just imagine for a second that the spanners in the works which I posted above did not exist and how much easier learning to read English would then be.

yawningbear I am in the exact same position as you. Dd is 5 and just started primary school in August, we are also in Scotland. The school doesn't seem to do phonics, dd just came home with words to learn and a book. It was the whole Biff, Kipper, series. But she just can't seem to get it, taking her ages to learn words at all.

Last week she came from school with a much simpler book as teacher told her that she was struggling! But even with the simpler book, she still can't/won't learn the words.

cheesy - I really recommend Songbirds. Very simple text - the first story only has the words I, am, top, cat - but the story (conveyed in the pictures) is funny. Because the words are so straightforward, DS is able to read it fluidly rather than sounding out every time. And the story uses question marks and exclamation marks, so he is also reading with expression. It's given him so much more confidence, and he is enjoying reading.

He also really likes Run Run - the story of the gingerbread man, but again the story is all in the pictures and the words are very simple.

I also bought two of the songbirds books- really excellent. We do one in bed every night and I have seem my daughter come on lots in quite a short space of time. I got them for half price on amazon.

Maizie: I wish they'd just put up with a bit of 'unnaturalistic' text for a few months!

They do! The early phonics texts are all excruciatingly boring and repetitive because they strenuously avoid natural language which invariably includes some high frequency words with irregular spellings.

I think I would back a decodeable text against a Look & Guess text any day.
Firstly, the pupil can actually read all the words in them and secondly the number of words available to the authors is far greater than Look & Guess text where the words are supposed to be memorised so are kept to very few in number. Thirdly, the children reading them don't actually care that they are not deathless prose (it's their mummies who are bothered by that); it's jolly exciting just to be able to read the words completely independently.

And would you kindly stop trying to lecture me about the structure of English words. I already know it. If I didn't know it I wouldn't be able to teach phonics successfully.

maizie - I actually quite like the stories that DS2 is reading at the moment - it helps that they are very short and have good pictures, and that DS2 enjoys reading them . (I would pay good money to never have to see a Magic Key book again though - it's 4 years since I last endured them, and I am still filled with loathing!)

I too would pay the school a monthly retainer not to send scheme books home.

Obviously Masha hasn't had to endure early Ginn 360 or 1,2,3 & Away or Sunshine Spirals or ORT books if she thinks modern phonics books avoid natural language

Look
Look
Look
Look
Look
Look
Look
Look
[nightmare]

Haven't we just heard from the Pisa tests that Scotland is above England in reading? Maybe we should all go home and learn our books after all!

Perhaps you should read www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/02/20682/52383

I feel you pain OP. Ds is in p1 (scotland) and we now have about 20 tricky words to learn, along with a reminder that they must practise these every night, along with their reading and writing. It does seem a lot in such a short space of time. I have spent an excruciating 15 minutes doing these with ds. I have exams myself this week, am stressed out and quite frankly I just don't have the patience at the moment. Have decided I'm just going to leave it until after my final exam next week when I'll have more time.
I have also got ds a word bingo game for Christmas, I think making a game of it is the way forward.

Dr Rhona S. Johnston and Joyce Watson are researchers at the School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. The teaching of phonics is now a prescribed element of the Government’s strategy for raising literacy standards. But how should phonics be taught and when? Dr Rhona Johnston and Joyce Watson report on the findings of a five-year study into the teaching of phonics in Scottish schools.

Since the publication of Adams’ (1990) book, there has been a growing consensus that phonics teaching should form a part of the reading curriculum. Phonics is taught in most schools in Scotland

What do you find shocking euphemia? Genuine question, I am new to all this and aware the English system is different. I'm confused as to whether the way p1 is taught here is good or not.

I'm probably going to sound thick now. From what I understand they learn their sounds phonetically, sounding them out, how does phonics work for words that can't be sounded out? Ds just seems to be memorizing them. The books also have words like birthday which are not on their list of words. I agree with OP, my main concern is it will put him off books which he's always enjoyed.

Which words can't be sounded out HedgehogsRevenge ... I know we keep hearing that some words can't be sounded out ... but it should be some words are more difficult to sound out.

For words which can't be sounded out like one, two, eye, yacht and Wymondham, phonics says, these are tricky, you'd better remember the word, just don't learn it. Um, I mean learn it, but don't er, well, do, but don't.

Just as long as you know what it says.

As maizieD said above, there are very few words that are tricky to sound out ( two, once, eye etc) All the rest can be sounded out once you know the alternatives that are available. As an example, if you look at the letter /e/. Children begin by learning the "simpler" sounds- so that /e/ makes the sound in the middle of "bed". But after a while they will also learn that /e/ can make the sound at the end of "we". Once you know this fact you can then read a range of words ( he, she, be, me, ) that previously might have seemed "tricky".

Children are very happy with the concept that letters can represent more than one sound, it is SOME adults that seem to find this difficult