Reading in reception

[Mumofsend]

I was wondering where abouts other DC are reading wise at this point in reception?

And what classes as meeting the ELG in real terms?

"Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs;

Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending;

Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words."

Is the ELG. Is the sound one just phase 2 or is it phase 2 and 3?

How many Is "some" for common exception words?

Trying to work out if DS is on track or not

I’ve had a quick look at what my (reception) son is doing now.

He knows 24 di/trigraphs and 49 tricky words. This is what is expected by the “Little Wandle” scheme by the end of reception.

I would imagine the ELG would definitely include everything in phase 3, as phase 4 is also taught in reception (although this looks very consolidatory in our scheme at least).

Has your class teacher not gave you any indication about whether progress is as expected or not?

My son has been shouting "I'M NOT DOING IT!" and throwing his book across the room all term, so I have no idea what stage he's at. :-(

It’s hugely varied, OP, depending on whether the parents taught the child to read before starting school.
DD started reception with a reading age of 12, but was an outlier with an IQ of 160 and read fluently from the age of 2. She was writing her own stories at 3.
At the other end of the scale, there was a child in her reception class who struggled with the alphabet. Most of the rest were in between, reading simple “reading scheme” starter books.
I wouldn’t worry, unless the class teacher expresses concern at your child’s progress. Just read lots of stories with them at home, to inculcate a love of books.

In theory they should be powering through phase 3 at this stage in reception, but I teach year 1 and I can’t remember a year I haven’t done some of phase 3. We still use book band and there is a huge variety of colours that come up to me. I only really worry if they are still not blending by now in year 1. I’m sure your child is doing well for a quite disrupted year.

My son is in reception, we didn't do any reading before he started school. He has learnt to read common and easy words on sight such as in/ out/ and/ the/ her/ him/ dog/ cat/ book/ mop/ road/ car... he's a bit lazy with sounding words out he doesn't know using his phonics.

We bought these two packs of flashcards from Amazon to help support what he was learning and they have been a surprising hit.

www.amazon.co.uk/New-High-Frequency-Words-Flashcards-Ages/dp/1789086183/ref=pd_bxgy_img_sccl_1/262-3766254-9687742?psc=1&pf_rd_p=424ee22f-2317-49a5-9cbb-bc8836ac7d96&pf_rd_r=AB4YDKKGTMD2B8J71G32&pd_rd_wg=9rXtC&pd_rd_i=1789086183&pd_rd_w=QEUPi&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&pd_rd_r=55392994-9afe-4408-8992-d8d10920784a

www.amazon.co.uk/New-Phonics-Flashcards-Ages-3-5/dp/1789086175/ref=pd_bxgy_img_sccl_1/262-3766254-9687742?psc=1&pf_rd_p=424ee22f-2317-49a5-9cbb-bc8836ac7d96&pf_rd_r=MVWSBSN6W5FZGD3A7877&pd_rd_wg=ReWVJ&pd_rd_i=1789086175&pd_rd_w=UuR9f&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&pd_rd_r=0e9c3b00-8040-4e4a-839b-e84757b032c6

They can really leap unexpectedly. DS (just 5) went from refusing point blank to read anything at all in the start of November - combined with a speech disorder and hearing loss I was quite concerned - to moving to yellow book band level and being marked as secure for reading.

If he gets any screen time put the subtitles on.

Thank you. I think he's phase 2, which is absolutely fine in terms of I'm not overly worried. However, the school are absolutely powering through with words such as "children", "little", "there", "their" (20+ this week) coming home for them to learn by sight for their homework this week.

I'm finding it really stressful and if the other 30 are keeping up with the pace I can't work out where that leaves him.

'Children' is on the year 2 common exception list, so sounds like the school are pushing ahead. DD doesn't bring sight words home but was doing home learning last year in Reception. The sight words they were doing were more along the lines of: the, I, my.

Those aren't typically reception high frequency words. There are about 45 high frequency words that should be mastered by the end of reception but many are decodable and quite simple.

Asking what others are doing isn't always helpful as there is a wide range of abilities in every class. However, it seems like your school is ahead of the national curriculum at least in some ways. Is it a private school?

Dd4 in reception has covered phase 3 tricky words and is now on phase 4 with a few of the year 1 exception words thrown in. They do regular spellings of these too (practice at home with a relaxed test at the end of the week). Reading she is on red band with school, just moved up. Reading lots at home independently. Phonic knowledge is good, gets blending. I had dd6 in reception last year and despite lockdown was slightly more ahead than her younger sister. I also had Ds7 in reception 2019/20 and at the start of lockdown 1 (midway through the year) could not blend the word cat, tricky words were not recognised and he could tell you the phonic sound & action but could not see it in words or blend it. In yr2 now and catching up quickly with reading. I didn’t teach any of them to read at home but dd4 in reception has benefited from homeschooling with her siblings in reception these last two years. They all vary wildly at this age and going into yr1 & 2.

@piratehugs ds7 was very much like that in reception. Went from loving reading stories with me to hating the sight of a book and the mention of phonics he would have either a tearful of angry meltdown. I hope the school are supportive and it gets better.

My daughter is in reception and came home with her first phase 4 word list last week. It had words like "Children" "little" "so"

Personally I still think she has some mastering of phase 3 to do, but she has starting refusing to read at home.

They will recap phase 3 and 4 in Year 1 so don’t panic. As long as he can identify individual sounds in words and blend them together he will get there. The concern is children who cannot do either of these skills.
The best thing to do is ask the teacher. You should have been told at some point this year whether your child is on track, above or below to reach the expected standard by the end of the year and if you haven’t this is quite poor parental communication and I would flag it up anyway!

I’m surprised so many schools are still pushing sight words.

@SherryPalmer

I’m surprised so many schools are still pushing sight words.

If you work with a literacy co-ordinator who wants us to teach children to read via searchlights, it probably still comes up.

Not that I do, mind…

My son is a very good reader. I'm. Not bragging teacher said. They use the Oxford Reading tree and he is in book 4. The teacher said he knows his year one phonics all ready.

I don't know what ElG is.

Do you know if they use a book set like Oxford reading tree. They have a list on there website about which book is for which age. Ours has a coloured splat on the cover. He is 5 and Jan born.

My school don't believe in homework for reception (I agree). My son could read before he started reception so it was no surprise when they said he could read fluently. It's not just about the mechanics of being able to read though, it's also about comprehension. The best thing you can do no matter where they are falling in terms of book bands at present is to ask questions and see what they understand about the story. All kids develop at different rates and have strengths in different areas. For instance, my son (reception spring born) has only recently become interested in writing so the gap between his reading and his writing at present is quite large. I'm not worried though. A big part of reception is learning social skills, learning new routines, developing independence etc. Learning to read is only a small part of the whole reception experience.

Thank you. I asked school and they've sent home a more realistic list in line with his actual abilities.