Tips for practicing letter sounds

[KitandPup]

Hi, I'm hoping to get some tips from you about how to help my DD.

She is 4 and has just started reception. School have sent home some word sounds this week and have asked me practice every night for a couple of minutes. DD is super resistant and I cannot get her to do it. For context, she is under investigation for ASD/Asperger's and is very rigid in her thinking. I think she has just decided she can't do it and that's that

Any tips for making it fun? I've tried turning it into a game and done a sticker chart but so far, no joy. Should I be pushing more? I haven't got stern about it because..well she's 4! But perhaps that isn't the right attitude? Would appreciate your views on this. Should I speak to her teacher or will they just think I'm a flake (I probably am )?

It might be easier at the weekend when she is less tired.

So when you say she recognises the shapes but not the sounds, am I to infer that pre-school unhelpfully taught her letter names as well as or in preference to sounds?

What scheme is your school using?

Ours used ReadWriteInc and I bought the flashcard packs which had e.g an S made from a snake on one side and a plain S on the other. You start with the ssssss-snake and go from there. We made a postbox and posted in the cards she knew, only adding to the practice pile when she was confident on earlier ones.

Sorry I'm a bit sleep deprived and didn't explain very well. She refers to a for example as the sound ah but but when we try to play games to recognise that sound in a word like apple, she hasn't got it yet. And for a new sound (she knows 4 or 5 atm) if I say it aloud she repeats a completely different sound. She wouldn't recognise the ah as the beginning of a word, say apple.

I think her school is ReadWriteInc too. I will take a look, thank you.

I've not read the whole thread, but I remember my DS did songs at school to learn phonics.

Like this ...

Thanks Hellohah

My dd sounds the exact same as your dd, my dd got an asd diagnosis in December. I actually think she knew them and couldn’t be bothered doing it. She told me when she started back school in August that she liked P2 (we are in Scotland) because they didn’t ask her stupid sound questions. That been said I spent a fortune on different apps and games to help her but she refused to use them all apart from teach your monster to read so would recommend that if you have an iPad or tablet.

My niece, who has ASD and a hearing issue, did the same thing, OP. Despite the fact that she knew the sounds of the individual letters she didn’t really get the blending/hearing sounds in words thing until the end of reception/start of year 1. But she did get there.

There are 2 things I would keep an eye on

1. school restricting the number of sounds they teach based on how well she can blend
2. being written off as a child who doesn’t need phonics if she develops a large sight Vocab early on. Hopefully that shouldn’t happen in an RWI school.

Following

My number one tip is to read. I also came across this website www.teachreadingearly.com. It has lots of good tips and advice on how to effectively help children learn how to read properly. Also I recommend repeating as much as possible especially when starting to teach reading skills.

Try tracing letters in the sandpit or with your fingers. Remember practice makes perfect. My 2 year old boy loves audiobooks so I have some in the car while my 2 year old girl prefers to look at picture books instead.

Thanks everyone. We read all the time. She loves books although she prefers factual ones.

Will keep plugging way. Thanks again