Reading and Phonics

[MumPops34]

Hi,
I’m wondering if there are any teachers on here, who can give me some advice please. My daughter is 5 (summer born), she’s missed out on a lot of schooling due to the pandemic and also had quite a few sick days in reception before the pandemic. In her report she was below in reading, I want to support her more at home and have asked her teacher before lockdown on various occasions if she was able to suggest things to support her at home, I heard nothing more. Then lockdown happened and we have no suitable books to read and to be honest I don’t know where to start with everything. I have no idea on sound buttons and the different phases of phonics which have been provided for online learning, so I feel I am unable to teach her effectively, or even confident I am showing her the correct way. Can someone please tell me how to teach her to read and how the phonics work please, I don’t want to ask her teacher again, as I appreciate she’s very busy but feel my daughter is going to be held back further.

Hi, I'm not a teacher but here to help!

This YouTube channel is very good.

Also you can play games on this website - www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
They're offering it for free during the lockdown.

Sending lots of luck!

I'm a Reception teacher and have a reception aged child. I second the Letters and Sounds you tube channel.

Where is she with her reading and phonics? Does she know the single letter sounds? Can she blend letters together to read words? So, say c a t and blend that to read cat? I can happily give you a few more ideas if I know where she is.

Also, books are great, but there are lots of other ways to practice reading and phonics. For example, today I wrote some words on post it notes and stuck them on to the stairs. My ds had to read a word before he could go up to the next step.

Thank you! She knows the phase 2 and 3 sounds, it seems phase 4 have been introduced but unsure how to teach her to segment and blend what parts of a word, I’m a bit lost on the sound buttons too. I realised the word screw should have been segmented as scr ew and I’d taught it as (s c r ew,) so I’m particularly worried I’ll confuse her. She knows some sight words but not enough, do we write these on cards and ask her to read them as visual/sight words?

Also check out Five Minute mum on Facebook and Instagram. She's got a great book which uses games and play to learn phonics and numbers might be a different approach you could look at and integrate into some play time.

“ I realised the word screw should have been segmented as scr ew and I’d taught it as (s c r ew,) so I’m particularly worried I’ll confuse her.”

I don’t know about sound buttons but the system we are using would segment like you did into different sounds - so that looks right to me?! Hope you work it out and the resources mentioned help. I was a bit confused myself yesterday when watching a phonics video with my 4 year old...

Mumpops you were right Screw should be segmented into /s//k//r//oo/ (s c r ew) it's four sounds not scr ew.

Reading Eggs is a good site- it covers reading, comprehension, phonics and spelling. It used to cost about £40 a year but, because of covid, they may have an offer on. There is also a week's free trial to see if it suits you. The only thing to bear in mind is there is an assessment at the start which your child should complete alone so it starts her off at the right level; if you help, it'll provide texts and phonics based on your level!
Email your child's class teacher too. They will be pleased to know you want to be proactive and help and will be able to provide information on which phonics scheme they follow and where would be best for you to start.

Hey, have you tried flash cards? We loved reading unlocked perfect for this age and fun to do together :)

Flash cards are an ineffective strategy and not recommended

Do you know what scheme they use at school?

Arf at flash cards.

Some children don't get phonics and thrive with flash cards and some of dc do extremely well- with phonics but also hugely benefit from the flashcard.

I've had both types of dc. Flashcards are a fab way to learn the first 100 hfw and many dc find them fun and easy rather than plodding and sounding out.

No stragety should be ruled out.

Op I commented re Reading chest on your other thread.

PS 1⃣ dd was held back from the reading by teacher who didn't try other strategies, when I took matters into my own hand because she wasn't learning it was moving away from phonics that actually got her going!

From literally being stuck and struggling at level 5, moving away from phonics and starting again, we got her up 5 reading levels in a few months!!

No flash cards aren't a fab way to learn HFW

Since levels are based on the discredited "Look and Guess" method moving quickly through them isn't an indication of reading ability I'm afraid.

We find phonics play good

www.phonicsplay.co.uk

Arf, are you know claiming school reading schemes don't reflect an ability?

It's been very clear when dd was struggling to read words, to when she's nearly a free reader!

Look at the Oxford Reading Tree. The books are in levels and children love the stories. You can buy them through an app for a tablet. If you have a local WhatsAp or FB group someone on there might be able to lend them or give them to you.

Teach your monster to read is another cheap/ free app depending on platform.

Julia Donaldson's songbirds is available on Amazon.

Oxford Owl website is worth a look too. Has a good number of e books with levels.

Lickembysmiling are you aware of the criteria used to decide the reading levels? It is purely based on the number of words per line and number of lines per page not on difficulty

Have you got an iPad? If so I recommend

www.sounds-write.co.uk/page-82-app-for-ipad.aspx

The initial code is free but you’ll probably need the £4.99 version.

They do a Udemy too if you really want to get into it.

www.udemy.com/user/54e5c34e6b89b/

Great advice