Reception and Phonics

[snowpebble]

I have been looking at some recent posts regarding phonics. our DD is starting reception this September and was wondering if...

1 - Is there a general list that explains what level they should be on / what they should be able to do in each year group (I know everyone progresses at a different speed - but I was just after an overview of what is taught / expected in reception...year 1...year 2....etc). TBH - I am just trying to get my head around what it involves. In my day it was ABC...

2 - By no means am I going to start giving her lessons each day, but does anyone recommend any good resources (free or paid) that we could use with her before/when she starts reception at home?. I have spotted on The Book People website many different sets of books - any recommendations as to which ones are best?. I was hoping to find something more interactive, like games / craft / dance etc.

Any websites / other posts people could direct me to would be excellent.

Thank you

I've found this website helpful for understanding book bands:

www.readingchest.co.uk/book-bands

It may be worth trying to find out which phonics scheme your DD's school is using as there are a few different ones. I've come across Jolly Phonics and Letterland with my DC. For both you can buy cd's with songs to listen to e.g. in the car which I found a good start. You could get some flash cards for letter recognition, and I recommend the Julia Donaldson songbird books for starting to read.

But of course there's no need to do very much / anything ahead of starting reception.

In terms of games, we find our easel with magnetic letters is used a lot. Also alphabet lotto or something like that from Orchard games.

Look up the Jolly Phonics songs on YouTube. My DD watched them a lot (her choice, I didn't force it upon her!) and it gave her a really good grounding in the songs and actions that go with it.

Other than that, I don't think you need to do much to prepare her.

I did spot the Julia Donaldson songbird books - they looked good, even as general reading books.

Didn't think of songs/stories for the car, great idea -thank you

Music in general is really good, as are nursery rhymes.

I wouldn't buy a 'reading scheme' like Songbirds because the school is likely to use them. Lots of lovely books at home and time to enjoy reading them is far more important.

It would also be extremely helpful for you to model and practise sounding words out- so, 'look, I see a c-a-t'.

The jolly phonics resources are really good (even if they do stay in your head for time immemorial!).

Could you ask around and find out what the school your daughter will be at uses?

As the pp said, I would speak to the teacher and see what they recommend & which phonics scheme the school uses. Also making sure that she really wants to learn more, I got the jolly phonics app before reception but my son had no interest in learning at all until he actually started school.

Another recommendation for Jolly Phonics. Lots of free resources on their website and NC stuff.
jollylearning.co.uk/gallery/
Sorry - can't do a clicky link as on my phone.

Oh - it did it automatically

Read development matters. That's what we use for our curriculum. Also find out what phonics scheme is used. Teaching varies massively. Could be Read, Write Inc, Jolly
Phonics, Bug Club, Letters and Sounds. Don't worry too much at this stage about doing things to help. As time goes on phonicsplay.co.uk is a good website I use with my children if we have a spare 5 minutes. I'm a reception class teacher btw.

I think the best think you can do is learn the pure phonic sounds yourself so that you can help him break words down when he gets to that stage.

c-r-ea-t-ure

If you watch 'Mr Thorne does phonics' on YouTube you can learn them.

We have some foam letters for use in the bath. We spell and sound out words on the wall tiles. It's quite a relaxed place to do it. And being in the bathroom means you can throw in words like bum and poo more easily 😄

I bought the pirate phonics apps after seeing them recommended on here. DD really liked them.

I found a copy of this book in a local charity shop and found it quite interesting as an overview of what is covered in each year. I don't think I'd spend £7 on it though - but maybe see if your local library has it www.amazon.co.uk/What-Every-Parent-Needs-Know/dp/0241004721/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494697905&sr=1-2&keywords=what+every+parent+needs+to+know&tag=mumsnetforum-21

Just make sure if you do use any apps etc that you look for English ones (not American) and that they are truly phonic - so the pronunciation of the letter sounds is correct.

Some good resources here, even if your school doesn't use Read Write inc www.ruthmiskin.com/en/parents/

Thank you everyone - So many great ideas and sites to look into. Thank you for the advice.

Personally I think phonics is something to avoid before school if you can, rather than something to seek out. So much of the first years are phonics, that if you know before, or pick it up quickly, all that time is wasted.

Reading to them, and things to increase vocabulary, creativity and stuff strikes me as more valuable, and there's still plenty of time to do extra phonics practice later if it is something that's more of a struggle.