Do some children just not really get on with phonics?

[inthesamesea]

DS is reception, so I do know it’s early days, but he doesn’t seem to be ‘getting it.’

I’ve been taking the advice to sound out words ‘r e d and c a t and b e d’ for instance but he just doesn’t seem to get it. If I say b e d and ask what you think you said he will often say something random like chair but does know the letters, the problem is blending them together.

He knows some words by sight and I’m wondering if this might be a better approach for him. Would welcome any suggestions etc.

Most children can.
Some dyslexic children can't. But it could be hes not just ready yet.

If he isn't showing any other signs of dyslexia, use persevere for now as it does make things easier in the long run.

Well, how would he cope meeting a word he doesn’t know? Schools must use phonics to teach reading. It’s statutory. It’s very early. Children need so much practice orally blending. Don’t panic.

It’s very very early days for your ds. Neither of my dc even had reading books sent home until after Christmas of their reception year, presumably because it would have been pointless as they didn’t have the skills up until that point to actually sound out and blend even simple words. They’re both very good readers now at ages 12 and 8. I think it’s a case of go with the process and gradually the phonics sounds and the skills will take hold in your ds.

I was taught using a look and say method, which I’m not suggesting for a moment should be ‘mainstream’ - I know a lot of children didn’t get on with it, but ultimately if he can’t sound out a word then he won’t be able to read it anyway.

I won’t be doing anything hasty but it is in the back of my mind a bit.

Did he do any phonics in nursery or this new to him?

It's very early so don't worry yet. The aim is to get all children blending by Christmas in our school. Teach him to blend by playing games like can you touch your h-e-d, n-o-z, ch-i-n and things like that. What noise does this animal make, d-o-g, c-a-t, s-n-ai-k. Build it in to your day. Little and often daily practise

But if he’s reception he’s had one half term of teaching right?! So do some more oral blending practice with him. At this point in the year, children are expected to be able to know 16 odd single sounds. That’s it. Not orally blend yet.

It's very early days, ds knew his phonics before he started school but couldn't blend until after Christmas. He was one of the first free readers in his class though.

Instead of starting with three letter words maybe start with 2 - in, at, up, an, it - and maybe get some magnetic letters. Once he can sound out/remember some of the two letter words then you can use those to build 3 letter words - b-in, t-in, p-in, w-in etc It's just a bit easier than trying to blend 3 letter straight off IMO.

Alphablocks (CBeebies) helped DD a lot in the early days.

The app Teach a Monster to Read really helped my son understand the blending of sounds.

Can he recall three claps or three numbers etc? Ir may be working memory. There is a programme called launchpad I use this in my school alongside phonics x

My dyslexic DD couldn’t do phonics

Some children don’t get phonics. My DD never did, she learned to read by sight. If she didn’t know a word she’d ask. Phonics made no sense to her whatsoever, but we read together every night and she could read story books herself from 6. Her primary school teacher told us not to worry about the lack of phonics understanding as her reading was fine. She has never had any problems reading and is still an avid reader as a young adult. She’s not dyslexic but she is ASD. Your DS may get phonics, he may not. I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s just one way of learning to read. Just keep reading to him. He’s still very young.

Thanks. I’m not going to do anything hasty, just wondering. I don’t know what the expectations are but he’s definitely behind so that’s why I’m asking.

One of mine never got phonics. Made no sense to them. No dyslexia

Its a marathon not a sprint. It will click at different times for different children so he might seem to be behind now... but in a few weeks he might "get" something and appear more ahead.

It’s still early. My oldest didn’t really get the whole ‘blending’ thing for a while, but they eventually caught on. Now they are a good reader. Just needed some time to ‘click’. The second is getting it immediately. Kids develop at different rates and some get it quickly, some don’t. Wouldn’t panic just yet!!

It takes time but once they do get it they can read anything . I’d keep practicing but also read for fun so he enjoys reading. If he hasn’t got in a year school will probably begin to do interventions with him. The expectation is that they know it by year 2

Mine has really struggled with phonics and we think she may be dyslexic. I think by this stage of the year she was still on picture books rather than word books! She did surprise us by passing the year one test but honestly she has eventually learned to read as a ‘global reader’. Her spelling is still dreadful but she is basically a free reader now. She is in all the extra intervention groups, to give you some idea.

I think this part of reception is too young to panic. But if by year one there are significant problems, as we had, then we used the reading eggs app. It really helped. Until the end of reception we used flash cards and bribes 😂

Thanks. I guess I was just wondering because he seems so good at recognising words but then can’t blend sounds. My worry is him falling behind.

He's only half a term in, so give him until the summer term before you panic.

I used to do support with dyslexic children in Y3/4/5 which essentially took them back to the beginning and after a couple terms of 10-20 mins 3x a week, they were reading words like 'magistrate'.

Thanks. I have been told he is behind most others in the class so as you can imagine it’s troubling me a bit!

It's still very very early days. It takes some children longer to get the hang of blending than others. Through lots of practise and exposure to the technique, most get there by about half way through Reception, if not earlier. If he hasn't got the hang of it by the end of Reception, I'd look into a whole word reading approach. Right now, it's far too early to assume he won't ever get there.

My youngest is the same age and cannot blend yet. It’s very very early in their school journey. Is he spring / summer born? I think you can tell the difference at this age. In my eldest’s class (she is summer born) you can’t tell the difference now.

Thanks very much very reassuring!