If your child started reception in September do they know the phonic alphabet yet?

[mummyinred]

My DD (4.7) started reception this year. Recently had parents evening and was told that DD struggles to concentrate when doing phonics work. DD knows about half the alphabet and the other half despite repeatedly going over with her she's just not getting. I can show her a letter, get her to repeat it and 10 seconds later she won't have a clue what it is. She also only recognises half of her numbers 1 to 10. She otherwise seems to be a bright child. It seems that the vast majority at her school even those a few months younger know the alphabet and are either reading or about to. I hate to compare and keep thinking she's so young still but I am concerned that others her age are picking it up and she's still struggling despite lots of extra help at home.

carbonel very good point...

Don't worry mummyinred. I'm proud to say that when ds started reception in January (4.7) he didn't know any letter. He was a monument to ignorance . By june he had learnt all his alphabet and 30 key words.
I think it's unrealistic to expect that all 4.5 children have an interest in alphabet/reading etc. They are little.

dd knows some but not all her letters. she's better with numbers which may have something to do with numberjacks i also wonder whether it's because she has a tray of wooden numbers which is out on the windowsill which she's played with almost daily for the last year. her letter toys are more tucked away but she has started digging them out to play with.

we have magnetic letters on the fridge which she's starting to arrange into random 'words' and asking us what they say. from that we can show her how to rearrange them to make a real word. these kinds of incidental toys that she can go to whenever they feel like it suit us better than a 'sit down and practice' kind of approach. she does have a blackboard and a little portable slate type thing which are great for 'writing' on whenever she feels like. she was upset a couple of days ago that she didn't know the "now i know my abc..." song and i realised she didn't have an alphabet anywhere so i wrote it all on her blackboard for her and she's been reading it at meal times

if i were you i wouldn't be at all worried, dd barely knew half of what she does now at the start of term and it seems to be starting to click all of a sudden, i'm sure you'll find the same soon enough.

Oh I wouldn't worry too much at this stage. Do extra with her home if you wish. I like the finger phonic books. When you are out - can you find me a l (carefully not to say luh though - make the sounds short). Play eye-spy. Little and often is the key!

Make sure you read with her too (you read books to her) and make sure she sees you read and write (important for motivation)

The songs are hideous and just go around and around your head. based on traditional songs so - to the tune of 'she'll be coming 'round the mountain' you have to sing "kites are fying in the sky k k k ".
Drive you nuts !
My mother bought DD the songs on CD ( she hates me) , I put them in the car for a car journey with just DD and DH ( now he hates me too).
Bad and hideous. Be happy you don't have them

Havent read rest of posts just your first one.
DD started in sept and knows her abc's well and numbers 1-100. She can read aswell.
However, her teacher said this isnt true of many of the new starters, and ther eis a wide range of skills in her class, so seems to be the norm that some pick it up eaiser than other. They will all catch up in the end, Ims sure
HTH

Lisa

Ours have done 12 letters so far.
I know (from things people have said) that at least a handful of the 21 kids knew most, if not all, of the letter sounds (although probably not the other phonemes) before they started school and I really do not see the point of doing the action to help them remember the letters when they already know the letters.
They did 3 letters a week for the last 3 weeks of half term, revision of those 9 letters the first week of this half term and another 3 letters this week.
It will be Feb half-term before they have all the phonemes at this rate.

my dd started in September also, and has been doing half days. She does know all of her letters and has started doing blending. She is just starting on simple words. She is really interested in it though and loves to try and read and write at home.

I think that some but not many children in her class can read already (they are mostly the older ones). Her teacher isn't concerned about it - the children all learn at different rates. I remember my ds didn't pick up on how to sound out words until Easter in reception year. It does just click for them - at different times/rates. ds was about middle of the class. He is now (y4) an avid reader.

PLEEEEEASE don't worry They all learn at different rates and in different ways.
Your dd might not be a 'phonic' child and will learn whole words better. She may still be a little blown away by the whole 'school' thing and still be settling. This is completely normal and she will almost definitely be fine. If you are worried though, keep talking to the teacher, ask for ways you can help, keep reading to your dd, etc etc.
HTH

DS1 who was 4 in June has learned nearly all the phonics and is now blending sounds and knows at least 10 of the high-frequency words. He knows his numbers up to about 30 and can tell the time on the hour & half-past. He can't draw a thing though and has absolutely no common-sense.

DD1 who is just 6 & in Year 1, still struggles with sounds such as ie, ou, ough, etc. And she still has trouble with numbers 11-20. On the other hand, if you want to know what a baleen whale is or who was the last Queen of Egypt, she's your girl! Her art is fantastic and she swims like a fish. Her teacher is happy with her and I'm learning not to worry so much, despite having DS1 catching-up with her so fast, at least academically.

I think like walking & talking, they can't do everything at once but they always get there in the end.

Thanks everyone. It's good to hear from you all, particularly those with older children who are now excelling at reading. I do think way too much pressure is put on children and thinking about it she's actually quite stubborn and won't do things until she's ready and I guess she's just not ready yet. Like someone said on this post it can seem in the playground that everyone's child but yours is on War and Peace! It's great that the parents of those that can read are proud but I'm sure there's a lot of boasting and some exageration going on too!

The children have only been doing letters for two weeks, so they have done 10. They are introducing one a day, plus revising all the ones they know every day through play and word games.
The school has just changed from using Jolly Phonics to using the ReadWriteInc Scheme, which is the one which was featured on tv a few weeks ago. The idea is that they learn to write each letter from the start so, instead of the action we have a write it rhyme.
So, "a" is "around the apple and down the leaf"

havent read the whole thread, just scanned it however what comes across from many posts here is that the schools are simply not adopting a true phonics approach. My understanding of for example, Jolly Phonics, is that the whole point is that they teach the sound, the action and the associate song. OK so the songs and actions are a bit annoying however for some children this is how they learn. I can, for example, do the cracking an egg action with my hands and my DD will know it is 'e'. 'So what' you may think but thats the point we may not like it but the children love and can learn by it without you telling them 'e'. It is all about children learning in a way that suits them. It seems to be that many schools are adopting phonics however in reality all that means is just doing the sound and not supporting it with all the other teaching aids that are available, including reading schemes (I won't even start on that one)!

So mummyinred if you are worried go and by the Jolly Phonics CD and play it the car, I bet you'll find your DD will love it and learn the sounds very quickly!