Ds's first reading book has no words...

[Bagina]

Should I be worried? I'm not really a pushy parent, but this seems a bit crap. He's in reception. He's a bright child but more with numbers. Reading and writing hasn't clicked yet, but he uses his sounds and blending, and can read some words. It is like pulling teeth though. Do I just chill and up the "encouragement" slightly? What the hell do I do with a book with no words? I know we discuss the pictures, but that's going back 3 years surely???

Agree with mrz - poor, discredited advice.

"they can all be decided using phonics" should be decoded using phonics

That advice was part of the National Literacy Strategy, and teachers were obliged to follow it at that time, but it was changed in I believe 2007 with the move to phonics (mainly because there was never any proper evidence for it). Shall it would be interesting to know when you received that training?

The National Literacy Strategy was never statutory so although many schools believed they had to follow it ... they didn't!

Tricky is not a synonym for not decodable ...they can all be decoded using phonics

Are you sure? Maybe the kids were getting Featherstonehaugh, Magdalen and Marjoribanks which I don't think can be decoded using phonics can they?

Absolutely positive ...People who say some words can't be decoded seem to forget that all words are written representation of spoken words.

I would say:
eatherstone = ans
adg = aud
jori = sh

are not decodable.

ough = up is pushing it, and that isn't even a noun unlike the others.

I don't forget that all words are is a written representation, but so is 100, and that is not phonetically decodable, whilst English is almost universally decodable, it is not completely.

Certainly the "tricky words" some schools have are phonetically decodable, but that doesn't mean all words are, some you genuinely do need to know close to whole eatherstone sounding the same as ans is one.

To be fair English is a PITA compared to some others to learn as it is such a mishmash of other languages as we have changed invaders.

All words are phonetically decodable ...don't confuse alternative pronunciation with non phonetic ...if they were non phonetic they would be unpronounceable which they aren't.

Yes, we're doing lots more at home now. He's already been doing phonics for a year as he attended the school's nursery where he met, but didn't exceed, all his targets. I'll see what happens after half term. I'm not worried anymore, as long as we do some practise at home.

In the end DS had a book today but there had been words attached in it so a little confused.