Reception child reading

[Frustratedsenmummy]

DD is 5 (November born) and in reception. She has a speech disorder and social communication issues.

She isn't reading at all, she can't blend or segment even simple CVC words. She cant yet write her name apart from 4 letters which she remembers let alone write any other words.

School keep drilling in that reading is the most crucial thing for them in current circumstances so I'm panicking the gap is widening.

What's the best way to go back to basics with this?

Does she know her sounds? Read Write Inc are doing online lessons at the moment. And I’ve always liked CBeebies Alphablocks as well. She needs to be secure in her sounds before she can start to blend but yes, CVC words are the place to start.

She can identify the very early single sounds. She can't identify any where two letters make one sound etc

The MOST important thing is that you read to her as much as possible, and make it fun/enjoyable for her. That will really help her language development.

Also, do you have phonics sound flash cards (our school does the Read Write Inc scheme)? Keep practising the sounds with her, and when she knows the sounds really well, show her how to blend CVC words over and over again with no pressure for her to do it. Just ask her to try every now and then to get an idea of progress.

Also, get her watching Alphablocks a lot. You could also try the Reading Eggs app (30 day free trial). it has lots of fun games for helping phonics learning.

I don't know if you have used twinkl they have free access at the moment but on their facebook page there is access to a phonics lesson. They are live daily at 10am I think. You might be able to watch the back catalogue from the beginning. She does a letter a day and some blending. X

If she has a speech disorder, then it is likely that her phonological awareness is poor. Phonological awareness is an essential pre-cursor to blending and segmenting, and therefore to reading.
There are lots of things you can do to build phonological awareness - have a look at Phase 1 of Letters and Sounds. But IME (and backed by the neurological research into dyslexia and early reading) the most effective strategy is to sing, and learn things like rhymes, poems and tongue twisters. (n.b. watching nursery rhymes on youtube is NOT the same thing). 'Traditional', nursery rhymes and songs are incredibly effective.
Best of luck!

I also have a reception child although he is may born so not quite 5.

I firmly believe that some children just aren’t ready for blending during the reception year. We were in a similar situation to you in January - knew the individual sounds and recognised many words, but blending was a non-starter. However I have to say it “clicked” overnight and he’s progressed rapidly since then

Keep doing what you’re doing in the meantime though.

Not for blending but the Geraldine giraffe videos (you tube) are great for teaching the individual sounds. Big hit in our house.

I have just seen this on Ruth Miskin.com. May be worth contacting them for advice?

You igh the find this free course for parents who want to help their child with reading and spelling https://www.udemy.com/course/help-your-child-to-read-and-write/

Please don't try Read, Write Inc at home, it's soul destroying for both adults and children. I second @Pigletpoglet's advice

I have two sons with language disorders. One cant reader wrote.

But with the older one it was all about memory of the word shapes. Phonics didn't work. He was still failing his phonics screening in year 2! He has a IQ of 150.....

Get her to sound out a word, then model the correct sounding out back. Dont correct her! V important not to say "no, it's not cuz, its abc"

So she could s-w-g and you just say back s-w-ing ( bad example ) then get her to write it down, they you show her the proper spelling, she copies you then you underlying as you spell the sounds.

Plus just read lots. Point at key words.

Get a old paper or magazine. Ask them to highlight every AND in one colour, then every THE in another etc. Just focus on key words and boost her confidence.

It's ok to try. It's ok to get it wrong. Once they know it's safe to get it wrong they get more daring. Language problems and normall education dont make a good fit sometimes

We've found the app 'teach your monster to read' really good. It starts from really basic sounds. And combines playing games with learning.

Also another one for alphablocks! My 5 year old loves that show.

Thank you. I feel so out of my depth as she can't even hear the sounds in words let alone sound them out or anything else and the gap is widening a lot because of lockdown. When she says a word wrong and you model back she can't recognise the difference, if that makes sense.

I'm going to work on her phonological awareness and try teaching her some from sight.

I'd go for a whole word approach if she has a reasonable visual memory. It's viewed as old fashioned but it can be a good kick start for confidence. Make a set of flash cards with about five to ten key words, e,g, I like can see go to the. Make a set of two of each word and play matching games etc with them. Then make a very simple four page book (just fold a piece of A4 paper in half and use a folded piece of coloured A4 to make a cover. On each page write the same simple sentence with the final word as the variation on the theme of the book. So you could do a book about the family which is I like Mummy/ I like Granny/ I like Uncle Bob/ I like Aunty Jo etc. On each page draw a picture of the person as a memory prompt. Then do an I like book about pets or zoo animals or toys etc so that you have about four I like books. Then do the same with I see books, then I can see books, I see the books and I go to the, then I like to see etc. If you build up a core vocabulary of words then it gives children more confidence that they can read successfully. I think the total dominance of phonics is ridiculous, it doesn't work for every child and a range of strategies is needed.

And keep reading practice sessions short, little and often (a ten minute max session) is much better than a longer session when it's a new skill. And lots and lots of reading favourite books to her so that she sees reading as fun. (Can you tell I used to be a reception/nursery teacher?)

Hi op, what does the speech therapist advise? They are usual good on this stuff

@Sewingbea thank you, that's really helpful!

@onceuponatimethen well she went into school September to set up a programme which the TA delivers daily except it isn't at all developmentally suitable for her. It's based on her age rather than where she is actually at. The SALT was due to be in to see her april/May time where school were going to address the issue. The school have a private SALT who is focusing on her other communication issues.

I would focus on her listening and discriminating sounds first - find lots of things that start with a 'sss' sound. Have a few pairs of objects/instruments that make a sound. Hide one set behind your back and make the noise. Can she find the matching sound,

If you look at stage 1 of the governments letters and sounds programme it is all on the pre phonics stage.

Alongside this share books together. My eldest has a speech disorder and is dyslexic. He could only pronounce a few sounds when he started school and could not speak well enough to be understood. He found phonics exceptionally difficult and so read very little and certainly never for pleasure. However I read to him (and he listened to audiobooks). This has meant he still has a good understanding of stories and story structures and it exposed him to a wide range of vocabulary.

Ds2 also found phonics exceptionally hard and it wasn't until he was year 2 when it 'clicked', he is now in year 7 and has a reading age of 16year.

No problem. Don't do all the books at once though! Do one a day and give her time to draw or stick in the pictures so that they are meaningful to her. And let her take the lead on the theme. If she loves "Frozen" do a book about that, the theme doesn't matter it's getting the interest and the key word practice that matters. Reread the books that you've done on previous days, it may need lots of repetition. Another supplementary idea is to cut a strip of paper and on it write the from one of the pages. Cut the strip of paper up so that there is one word on each part. Make a game of rearranging the words into the correct order, she can use the sentence in the book to help her. This will help her to really look at the words.

The department of education is doing a daily phonics lessons as well, on YouTube, search for Letters and Sounds. They do one for year 1, one got reception and one for those who are struggling called 'Learning to Blend'. The old lessons are still available so you could start at lesson 1, it might be worth a go?

Another one to say look at 'Letters and Sounds'.just learning to listen to different sounds and lots of ideas around that. It lays the foundations and makes it easier to achieve. It's better for her to achieve below her age range than fail at her age range if that makes sense.

I would recommend Reading eggs. You get a free thirty day trial when you sign up. This is not to replace reading with/to her.

I have no affiliations with the company.

We use Reading eggs with our 4.5 year old. He loves doing it and has progressed really quickly. They offer a 30 day free trial.

Listening walks are cool. Play I spy but with sounds, or just ask her to discriminate sounds that she can hear, leaves underfoot, traffic, dogs, birds etc.

I’d advocate for improving her phonological awareness via singing songs and reading rhyming stories.

Typically she should be able to identify words that start with the same sound and words that rhyme as a critical pre-reading skill. Teaching phonics would seem really tough without having mastered these skills first.