Year One teachers, does this sound normal?

[Ishouldhavelistenedtomymum]

We are supposed to:

✔️ Listen to the child read
✔️ Learn twelve spellings a week
✔️ Practice phonics
✔️ Read to the child

It is feeling like a lot! And I am struggling a bit if I am honest, and feeling a bit rubbish. Is this normal?

i know there is a push for lower screen time but apps are your friend for things like this. I did used to load the week’s spelling on the iPad I recall.

what works for one family won’t work for another. I had a 30 min walk to school with my children so completely dedicated time for this stuff. Others don’t have that. Don’t stress too much about their reading. Do what you can but we certainly weren’t doing to every day.

At the end of the day you just have to prioritise it though. If you struggle to do spellings playfully in your day while stuck in traffic or walking home or chatting in the bath then you need to carve out the time to sit down with your child to do it.
You will need to help your child develop outside school for their entire school career so saying you can’t find the time isn’t going to work in the long run.

It sounds fairly normal, what I would say is, and I say this as someone who is passionate about education and children reading - this age can be really painful! Listening to them read and doing phonics can sap your will to live, however, it does get better! Please don’t feel like it will always be like this - phonics finishes when they’ve learnt all the sounds, they get more fluent at reading, and it just seems more manageable.

I’m a big fan of five minute mum (instagram) and together with an ex teacher she’s created 2weeks2learn - they turn homework, reading, spelling etc into little games to make it more fun! It really worked for us, perhaps you’d feel less like it was dominating if you felt you were having fun playing with your child? Have a look https://www.2weeks2learn.com/

The reading is fine. The 12 spellings sounds like too many, especially if you have tricky words as well.

What are the spellings? Usually they would all be focused on a certain di/trigraph or pattern so it's not really "learning 12 words" per se. 12 still feels excessive but more manageable if that's the case.

@BananaPeels what app did you use? I do have an iPad but don’t use it much … sometimes it comes out in the mornings if I need a few minutes getting ready! Thanks.

@Arbourimage I am, if you note the present tense, but it really is dominating life at the moment. And I’m concerned about it getting worse and unmanageable really.

Thank you @Shelby1981 i will have a look now yes it is absolutely painful!

@PumpkinsForLife eight of them follow that sort of pattern, so we have true and blue and tried and pie, that sort of thing. Then four tricky words.

Sorry, OP. I am a teacher and couldn't agree more that it is a lot. It won't get worse though, in my estimation, as the school is trying to maximise their pass rate for the phonics screening check at the end of year one. You might find the urgency drops away a bit after that.

There isn't much evidence that spelling tests work in the long run unless it is a word that the child will write regularly after the test, so try not to worry.

My daughter didn't have spellings in Year 1 as it was pre phonics check but what I would do is make it quick and fun. Get some post its or blank bits of card, write the spellings on and get DC to sort them by sounds. Which ones have got ir? Make it visual/colourful and move things around. If you have any magnetic letters, use them to make the words and pull out the target sound like 'ir'. Practice just those one day.

Get some different coloured felt tips, write the bits he is getting wrong in different colours. Write them in chalk on a wall or patio in the garden, on a mini white board etc. 5 minutes a few times a week is better than a long slog before the test. Also, use time in the car. Ask him what ir sound is in bird. How do you spell 'come'? Say the letters in a silly voice or whisper the letters in 'quiet' when you get that far. He'll have ideas about making it memorable.

It might still take a bit of time but it might not feel like it and he'll be keener to crack on. Stick the post it notes in random places-get him to do it. Send him to collect them the night before the test and ask him which he thinks he knows. Which ones are still tricky? Practice those. Stand up and say the sounds while stamping a foot for each.

Whilst the ideal way to read with your child is sitting at a table next to them so they can use their hands and the book is still to aid tracking, I read with DD in all sorts of places, her sat on my knee with the book on the steering wheel when trapped in the school car park at the end of the day was a favourite. I know lots of parents who drive to school and do this waiting for the door to open. Kids are often fresher in the morning. I am not, so we didn't do this, but might that suit you guys? She also read her book while I cooked/emptied the dishwasher.

Tell him he is doing brilliantly at every opportunity. I don't get very involved in homework now she is older but maths has suddenly got a bit tricky in year 10 and it is nice to sit next to her and do it together at a time when she doesn't really need me very much any more. Reading with and to your child is the best possible thing you can do to ensure they do well at school so that would definitely be my priority.

You are completely right though: we are asking a lot of Year 1 parents. Tell yourself you are doing brilliantly too.

I don’t think it will get worse necessarily, mines only the same age as yours but from friends with older kids as they get older they’re expected to do more but your involvement doesn’t need to grow as well if you see what I mean.
It sounds like you’re just a big burnt out from it, our teacher is really big on the idea of homework being supporting learning at home as a concept more than sitting at the table “working” at this age. So try to just incorporate it into different types of play across the week. So for spellings and phonics make it engaging for them and easy for you to do it, foam letters in the bath, magnets on the fridge, little chalkboard in the kitchen etc and they can be promoted while you’re doing other things. Looking for their sounds of the week in things they see outside while you’re doing stuff.

Basically don’t think you need to have a big piece of time free to sit down in order to do it, save that for reading and if they get worksheets on top and make the practicing squeeze into your day. Aiming for 5 mins most days will work better for most kids than sitting down for 20 mins once a week anyway.

Thanks @Bigtrapeze , what a lovely detailed response and I greatly appreciate you taking the time to answer me.

How can I best prepare DS for the phonics screening? That’s a big concern of mine; he isn’t on track to pass at the moment.

My kids school don’t expect you to listen to them read everyday. Your child’s school is expecting too much.

DD never responded to the 'playful' approach. I couldn't have managed spellings in the car - it was hard enough getting her to write them never mind say them out loud.
For us (& different things work for different families) we had a routine & set a time limit. So for example Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays we spend 10 minutes doing the phonics card after tea. I presented it as as non-negoitiable, sympathised that she would rather watch TV and cracked on. Time limit over it was done even if she hadnt 'got them' yet. We had less spellings - but sympathy i hated doing them :-).

You dont want it to dominate your life. I'd give the phonics cards & spellings 3 ten minute slots each & 5 listening to read slots. That is less than 2 hours a week. If you think that is too much choose not to do one activity for a term & make peace with that. I think it is less stressful to decide ahead of time what you are/aren't doung rather than stressing about whether to do it on a daily basis.

Thank you @Owlbookend . I think the thing with the spellings is there are just so many that even doing one a night (current approach) doesn’t get us close to completing the twelve. When you add the other stuff in on top it really is an awful lot. It does make you feel a bit 💩 though, when you get these ‘oh just do them in the car’ sort of approaches - have more academic children than ds I think!

& i genuinely think different approaches work for different people. I'd have loved to make it fun like @Arbourimage but i couldn't. I think im just not a very fun parent. I went more for 'this is a bit crap, we'd both rather be doing something else but it will help you read so lets just get it done.'

Yes - solidarity. Other parents would say their kids enjoyed doing homework. Mine certainly didnt. We had the same tasks as you, but definetely less spellings. DD is in Y10 now, but i do still remember it was no fun. My involvement in homework is now minimal & DD isnt an academic genius but her reading & spelling progressed just fine.

Thanks @Owlbookend . I don’t think I’m a very fun parent either and I also find it a bit frustrating. I don’t think the teacher particularly cares how it’s done to be fair but you do have to do it in a way that works for you and your child, of course.

Our school has no homework (aside from reading) until year 3. Enough parents complained that they scrapped it for KS1. I was happy either way but it worked out well.

I think it's do-able if you plan. The only 'extra' I would say is the spellings and phonics as you should be reading to the child from very very young and listening to them read from Reception. Bed times for reading to them, listen to them read after dinner - 5 minutes (that's a long time in reality), phonics you can have whatever they're learning and just print it off, stick it around the house with blue tack and refer to it every so often when getting dressed/ cleaning teeth, walking to the front door etc. Spellings I would do at the weekend and a reminder in the week on a day when you have less going on. I assume they follow a pattern so you're not learning 12 different words but maybe like week, seek, cheek - where you just change a letter and then a few tricky words like said, come etc.

We’d never be able to manage twelve spellings in two days. I am sure some people do, but ds can’t.

OP, the phonics screening is not something you can actively prepare him for. It is more a measure of school performance than something that actually benefits children in my experience and professional opinion. Year 1 is a massive year of development. I see what schools are saying about being 'on track/not on track' but plenty can happen that can change his trajectory.

Practices the phonics they send home. Make it fun and incorporate movement where you can. Don't stress about that though. A few minutes here and there is plenty. Silly voices are a great tool. Makes things memorable.

The most important thing is reading: reading decent books to him and letting him practice the books he will bring home from school.

Conversation is also incredibly important. Talk to him lots. Everyone is doing less of this as adult screen time increases. Make as much time in your day to talk. Oral language is a big predictor of success academically. Schools are trying to plug the gap left by declining language skills by sending more work home so their school isn't seen as failing. The pressure on schools and year one teachers to have a high success rate in the phonics screening check is intense and I feel truly apologetic that your experience of year one has been affected. You sound like you are very committed to doing your best for him and that is all you, or any of us, can ever do.

I am an ex-teacher. But I also have 4 dcs. By no.4, I was so fed up of primary school homework that I used to do it for them - they just copied it out. Pointless, but done without stress. Obviously, that doesn’t help with spellings. And reading is necessary.

Outcome for dc4, by the way, pretty much the same as 1-3.

Edit to add - choose 4-6 spellings (however many your dc can realistically manage, without undue stress for either you or dc), and just do those.

No, that's ridiculous. 1 or 2 at a time, tops. Combine it with phonics, presumably the spellings are linked to sounds learnt this week? If so, focus on learning the key sound.

E.g. if spelling list is: pie, tie, lie, cries, fried - then hammer home that they all have the 'ie' sound spelt with i and e before you even consider words that use that spelling. "There are lots of different ways to spell the ie sound, this week we are practising ie."

Reading - 5mins to have them read their phonics book. Even just 2 pages is fine, it doesnt have to be the whole book. Doesn't even have to be every day - 3 times a week would be enough and it can be the same pages (once to decode, second time to build fluency, third time to practise prosody/voice choice).

Reading to them - prioritise this, build it into bedtime routine. Let them choose a story for you to read to them. This is probably the most important bit of all the 'homework'. It is to help build a love of reading.

Don't make it harder than it needs to be. Tell the teacher if you feel it is too much.

I would actually say the ideal way to read to your child is not sat next to them, but sat so that they can see your face as you read to them (e.g. turn inwards towards each other). So they can see your eyes tracking the page, so they can see the shape your mouth make and tongue/teeth as you pronounce each sound, so they can see your expression as you read different parts of the story/different characters/different voices.

We will agree to differ there, but from a parental perspective it isn't essential.

Sorry, we have misunderstood one another. I mean when you are teaching reading and the child is the reader. My apologies.

I disagreed with your ideal "sit side by side" and shared my opinion with the OP of the ideal way to sit and read with a child. I don't think we misunderstood? We are allowed to disagree! My ideal - sit so they can see your face, so you can see theirs. Yours - sit side by side.

Haven't you ever noticed a child look to seek reassurance when they are in the early stages of learning to read? Make it easier for them. Let them see your face before they know they need to. Anticipate everything when teaching, even the simple things.