If your child has done well with learning their phonics and reading…

[RedRobyn24]

Please can I have some tips on how I can support my reception age DD with learning phonics?

We read a lot together and we’ve just been doing whatever the teacher has sent home, the first two weeks it was books with just pictures which we were told to read together at least 4 times. This week she was given a book with some words in it, like 3 words. But I was also given a sheet with sounds she should know now and I’m not sure she does know them well there’s about 12 letters.

I don’t really know where she should be up to so I’m a bit lost and keep worrying I’m not doing enough to help

I made a letterbox from a cereal packet.
Then I bought the RWInc cards (but could have made similar). She got to post the ones she knew, ones she didn't went back on the pack for a second go. We didn't have all the sounds in the pack to start with. Then we opened the box and counted how many she could do.

Try to bring reading into everything you do. So if you're in town, for example do a game to spot letters or sounds. We also had phonics magnets on the fridge- the fridge would have a password thay we needed to sound out to get in!

When they start getting slightly longer books, make sure you read it three times in the timw you have them- once for decoding, second time for recognition, their time for understanding.

The phonics books are incredibly boring, so make sure you also try to read fun things together sometimes- DD is 6, and we often read things like the Rainbow Fairy books or Isadora Moon together to remind her that there is more to reading than the dull phonics books!

That sounds like fun thank you 🙏

We’ve been reading the Rainbow Fairy books! And the Unicorn Magic ones too! She loves them. Fortunately the library seems to have an endless supply 🤣

I taught my son how to read using these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Read-Write-Inc-Home-Flashcards/dp/B01FGIHY4A/ref=asc_df_B01FGIHY4A?mcid=39a060352a1339f79c0a413fa09743d3&hvocijid=1009403398607953845-B01FGIHY4A-&hvexpln=74&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=696285193871&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1009403398607953845&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046009&hvtargid=pla-2281435177338&psc=1&gad_source=1

@imisscashmere Yes those are the ones we used (well less fancy packaging 15 years ago). But only if using RWInc at school, as the rhymes like maisie mountain mountain would be different in other schemes.

If she doesn’t know her phonic sounds definitely do more to support that. Most children come in to reception already knowing the basic phonic sound/ letters so the class is probably moving at a faster pace than ideal for your DD.

Make phonic cards with your daughter. Then scatter them on the floor and play musical cards. Dance and when the music stops call out a sound for her to run too.

Hide the phonic cards around the room and ask her find them and shout out the sounds.

Paint letters in the shower. Chalk outside. Bath crayons.

Can she write her name? That’s a good thing to practice - draw a picture and add her signature - and helps with letter recognition.

Charity shops too! There are 3848478890 awfully written ones in the series. Isadora Moon is much better written!

Ah, interesting! I love the game you made up with the cereal box. They come now with a set of instructions and steps to follow - these worked perfectly with my DS (pre reception). He is very bright and a pleaser, though. A more creative or fun approach would work wonders I think. I need to bear this in mind for when I come to try the same thing with my daughter 😅

I’m skeptical that most children know phonics before they even start reception. That comment has got my back up a bit because I have been told repeatedly not to try to teach her phonics before starting school because I may do it incorrectly or I might use the wrong scheme, I was told we should focus on reading plenty together and making sure she plays plenty, which is what we’ve done.

She went to a preschool too, don’t most children go to nursery?

Thank you for the suggestions they sound fun.

Yes she can write and recognise her own name

She can also dress and undress herself, put on her own shoes (on the right feet), take herself to the toilet, confidently use all toilet locks, put on her own coat, brush her own hair, feed herself and has been able to do all of these since the age of 2

Additionally she can sit and do a 100 piece puzzle by herself (aimed at age 6 and above), sit and listen to a chapter book with no pictures and I’ve been told repeatedly that she has an exceptional vocabulary for her age.

So she may not know phonics (perhaps those other children have watched a lot of alphablocs?? we do very little screen time) but she is very confident intelligent and capable. So I guess I’ve done an excellent job so far despite your presuming she is being left behind 🙄

Thank you! I am getting quite tired of the same story line repeated

Some children get on really well with reading eggs games on an iPad, some are fine with flash cards, you can play hide and seek with the cards eg can you find the S, then the a and so on. Writing them in sand/paint/rice etc in trays is fun too. The best way is little and often and make it into a game.
Certainly, most children starting school do not know all the phase 2 sounds!
Youre doing great!

Flash cards worked well for when he was in Reception. The reading scheme his school used also had an app which he loved too. I will say that phonics just suddenly clicked for him around Christmas. Up to that point, he was doing fine but he pretty much started reading overnight. His teacher said it wasn’t unusual for it to happen like that.

Did she know the alphabet/ recognise letters before starting school? Most of the phonics sounds are the same/ similar to the alphabet so I do think most children start school already knowing this.

It sounds like she’s clever and should pick it up quickly, our school recommended flash cards that follow the same scheme as the school.

We got the jolly phonics book for DD and used it again with ds. It taught them the first few sounds and we did flash cards at the breakfast table. From there we used Oxford reading biff chip and wanker books and just read a book a day, no excuses, I'd make time around work and the rest of it. Each day a new book and by the end of reception they were both reading fluently. Still working on expression and doing dramatic pauses but generally could read chapter books happily before going into year 1.

Hopefully your school will give some tips on how to support reading, but if not this is what I found useful (you might not need to do all of this - I had to do a lot as my DC weren’t natural readers):

1. Find a video of someone saying the phonics sounds so you know how to pronounce them - I found this really helpful as I tended to put an “uh” sound on the end of some sounds.
2. Find out if the phonics scheme your school uses has actions (RWInc & Jolly Phonics do)
3. Have a routine for when the child reads their reading book & you read a story book to the child so that they have lots of practice decoding and they are also enjoying listening to you read.
4. Have a plan for how to tackle unfamiliar words - I used to say something like “that’s a new word - let’s sound it out together c-a-t cat!” My DC’s school used actions so we would do the action for each sound which made it more fun. A good reading scheme should guide you through each new sound.
5. A good tip I got from school was to use the phonics sounds to talk in code eg “Can you find your h-a-t?”
6. I did have posters up of the sounds they were learning (I can’t remember what I did with them but I can remember visiting DC admiring the posters).
7. You can do a lot of games with flash cards / magnetic letters / whiteboards in finding sounds & building words. I found wordlists quite useful here to show what words can be made with which sounds.
8. Our library also had a phonics section which was useful for when DC could read a bit but were still learning phonics. Dr Seuss was also useful for this & you can also get box sets of some reading scheme books.

Good luck - I can remember how daunting it felt trying to help a beginner reader but it does get a lot easier once you work out routines to help them.

Oh and we also read the songbirds Julia Donaldson ones. I remember being particularly frustrated with both DC around the orange books, it seems like a hump that once they got over things improved very quickly.

We play a game where I write letters on a piece of card and have them scattered around the front room. When I call out a sound she has to jump on the letter that makes the sound and then repeat it. Helpful if they are getting a bit bored of sitting still and ‘learning’. I do the same for the tricky sight words like ‘the’ ‘her’ etc

@RedRobyn24 DD is in yr1, and would say that very few (if any) knew lots of phonics sounds before they started (for context: acadmically strong primary in a very middle class market town with more rhan irs fair share of pushy parents). Most knew to recognise their name, and to try to spell it, plus have a vague idea of the alphabet and some sounds. Same for my various nieces, nephews and other kids at different schools.

Keep doing what you are doing- promoting reading as a fun, desirable activity and integrating it into life and play- and support and engage your with child's learning. If you do that, you are doing excellently.

It's a Mumsnet trope that your kid reads before school, much like the everlasting chicken lasting 474849 meals, only eating a huge salad, and everyone earning six figures. Maybe for some, but not for 99% of the population. One of those cases oof'my/your kid is not all kids'.

The preschool curriculum changed some time ago that phonics sounds shouldn't be done before reception.

Wow that’s brilliant, sounds straight forward as well

Sorry, I honestly did not mean to imply that you had done a bad job! I was just surprised as all the pre-schools about me teach phonics everyday ( only for about for 10 mins) and so most children go into reception knowing this! But I’m in a very pushy grammar school area so that’s probably why as it does not seem to be the case for others on the thread.

The whole “don’t teach your child to read before Reception or you will mess their reading up for life” thing really annoys me and seems to be about de-skilling parents. I’ve never seen a parent teach a child wrong, other than add uh after some sounds but it can be very hard not too with b and d. But really teaching reading is not that hard, there is so much available to read online about how to do it/ how to say a particular sound. A reception teachers real skill is how to teach 30 4 year olds at once!

It sounds like your daughter is very bright and will pick reading up very easily. In which case, I would keep doing what you are doing and keep it fun.

Don't get me wrong. There were times when you want to scream about wtf they are blending d-o-g into 'tiger' but I think consistency is key.

I like the Teach Your Monster to Read app, have used it with three children now. Flashcards or very simple sentences that include her name may also help. I had ChatGPT write me a series of very short stories with Phase 2 sounds featuring my children and the neighbour’s dog, which they loved. That was a strong incentive to read.

There’s an usborne app called “Teach your monster how to read” that can be helpful. Otherwise find the phonics scheme the school uses and find resources for that - eg the little rhymes they use to teach the letters. Use things she is familiar with like playdoh to shape the letters, trace letters in sand etc - link it to her previous pre school play.
Honestly though OP you’re a few weeks in. I would just take the lead from your child and enjoy finding out how she learns and what she can do. If she’s not made progress be christmas then you can revisit/ discuss with school but lots of them just take a while to “get it”.

I bought the first set of biff chip and kipper books and read with them every day. One of my children took to it quickly and is advanced and one didn’t and is a bit behind for his age, I would just have lots of books available snd read every day. Have fun with it and don’t worry too much.