What the hell is this?! -Homework yr1-

[SmellySphinx]

Ok it's not hell but what the buggery is all this wiffle waffle??!! Just looking through the homework for my year1 daughter. I've looked on the homework sheet and can't see anything about this

I am referring to the 'words' on the right hand side by the way... I know what you lot are like!!
I mean...pate...yeah, French innit or patè rather. Regardless, what is all this jibber jabber, this flim flam, this fuckery?!?!
I know I can just ask the teacher but I'm at home now and want to know!
Yes, I'm bored :) x

Doh!!

I mean this >

That ^ even

Is it practice for the phonics screening?

It's the test that they all have to take, where they have to read words using phonics. Some are real and some are made up.

Massive waste of time and completely ridiculous imo.

Isn't it made up words to ensure that the phonics teaching is working?

The phonics test (end of year 1?) uses 'novel' words to ensure that the children aren't sight reading/relying on memory alone. I guess this is practice for that?

I was thinking it may be something to do with phonics, how does it help though?

@froomeonthebroom agreed, seems a bit silly doesn't it!

The phonics screening test will have made up words in it to ensure the child understands phonics, and hasn't just memorised words.

It is practice for the phonics screening at the end of the year (I taught year1 a few years ago).
The words that you don't recognise are often referred to as alien words or something similar. The idea is that the children have to use their phonics knowledge to decode and sound it out. They can't just sound out the first few letters then be able to read it as it isn't an English word.
Does that make any sense?! It is a bit odd but it is effective.

is this the 40 words thing they have to do? where there are nonsense words they have to read in amongst ordinary ones to make sure they can read properly?

Cheers! Yes it does make sense
@pinkgeek was just curious really, didn't look at it until now and thought I was going loopy(er) and was scrap paper she'd brought home or something haha

What the hell? I am so pleased I have teenagers who can read now, and they learned with proper words, not made up shit.

At first I thought maybe your dd was taking a second language....

I am no help sorry, but wtf!

(not in uk but I am pretty sure they just learn to read actual words in the younger years...)

Nonsense words ready for phonics screening I assume

Haha @murphys all this is fairly new to me I have to say. I have an almost 12 year old who went to the same primary school and I don't remember her getting the same intense amount of homework when she was there. My youngest doesn't seem any worse off for all of it, she really enjoys it. I'm 34 and did nothing like this at all when I went to skool!!

They'll come up with more new fangle stuff over the years, partly why I left teaching. There is always some new initiative that is imposed on the kids. Teachers aren't trusted to teach phonics hence the screening!

Look up the phonics test on google and it looks like you have to read the monsters names for the test.

I just see 'Quade' and think Total Recall. Pate and think of paste (which I love but can't have because I'm pregnant!) 'Shate' and think of plopping!

Good job it's not my homework!

murphys also glad mine are ast the primary stage. How bizarre

I'm guessing they want hades to be pronounced hayds, what if they know about Hades, i.e. 'haydees'?

I think in certain accents 'shate' would sound like 'shite'

@pinkgeek so many teachers seem SO very stressed and fed up at the moment :/ my eldest said some teachers at high school in pastoral were in tears just before christmas and a lot of teachers were off sick, probably also stress.

@faffalotty I was also thinking of the confusion of the recognisable words such as Hades and such in all seriousness. Is that not confusing?! I suppose it's age related

I see pate and think of 'They stung Lord Swell on his fat bald pate'

How can it be confusing for a child to read a word?

In the real test, they are prompted that they are the names of species of aliens. Just about any childhood fiction contains names the child will not be aware of and will just have to process into a reasonable sound when reading aloud.

I'm guessing they want hades to be pronounced hayds

No, any phonetically reasonable pronounciation is fine.

Oh, and if you're going to assume the perfectly reasonable english word pate is the french, it would be pâté

Yeah, I already wrote patè once and couldn't be arsed to write it again!

Sir

Fucks sake, look I have spelt it wrong again! I'm not French anyway

It's evidence that the school don't know how yo teach phonics!