So tell me about Phonics and how best to help dd (who's not in UK school)....

[Pantofino]

DD (5 in September) is in the Belgian system, and as far as I can see won't start the "serious" stuff til next September (and won't infact start Primary level til 6.5)

As far as letters are concerned, she pretty much knows them all. She shows very little interest in reading them though, but can write her name and a few simple words - cat, dog etc.

I have bought English phonics books as you never know if we might have to move back home suddenly. (And I must admist I have no idea of the method used here). So I've kind of been teaching that method (non-forcefully) and she loves Fun with Phonics on TV.

In the car everyday we play eye-spy. It got a bit boring, though her vocabulary is excellent - t for traffic light, s for sign, l for lighthouse etc. My sister, who is doing a PGCE type degree suggested moving on to doing same game with the "end" sound, and then the "middle" sound.

So we've started with the end sound. No problems with word like "cat" and "dog" and "bed". I spell them out when she says them. But dd is getting carried away with herself. On her turn she comes up with words like "office", "house" and "George" (the cat).

But of course office does not end with an "s", even though it does IFSWIM. And George does not end with a J. (That one totally threw me). So the beginner books I have bought so far do not cover this.

Question is - do i continue with this, even though it is NOT the correct spelling? Or do I need to find another way?

Yes do not worry about spelling. It is the 'sound' that is the most important and that will help her with reading too. The accurate spelling can come later.

But she IS only 5! In my school we concentrate on the reading and blending of sounds, then think about getting them onto paper in whatever form!

Sorry dd is 5 in March, not september (that's me though will be a tad older)

I don't know what books you have access to but I bought a phonics book with a CD from The Early Learning Centre

this

It meant I could understand what they were learning in school for example they sing

a a ants on my arm

but I had no idea how they would teach the A sound. If I remember correctly it was "ai"

Oxford Reading Tree books are really good for teaching the basic phonic words. After a while there are words that they just need to recognise but that comes later.

Hope this helps - I am just a parent. My son is 5 1/2 now so in year 1.

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/index.shtml has some great resources.

Oh, I was you a year or so ago.

We were living in Germany and I was worried about dd being left behind her UK friends.

I bought the phonics books but we did not get far with them. She lost interest in reading although she still loved rhymes.

She is now 6.5yo and has just started school in Switzerland. She is reading words and managing to spell out quite difficult words. And she is learning french too.

My impression is that the children who start school later learn to read faster. I don't know if that is just our experience.

I've seen loads on MN anout the ORT. Is it recommended that I stock up when in UK at Xmas? I buy the level 1 Ladybird books in the British Shop here.

I guess dd would have started in Reception under the UK system, so whilst I don't presume to teach her the french stuff, I want to her to be covering the same ground as her UK peers I suppose.

My half English/half Belgian babysitter has a teenage daughter that speaks English fluently, but she admitted that she struggled writing a letter to her GPs and couldn't really cope with Harry Potter in English even at 15.

To me it is important that dd can read and write equally well in English. Should probably post this in the Bilingual section...

Sorry my link is for an older child, just reread your post.

A lot of reserch, especially comparing UK and Finnish system, has shown that starting reading before 6 or 7 has no long-term advantage. It can even put children off reading.

I understand covering reception curriculum in case she needs to fit back into the English system, but don't push it too hard - she is lucky to be in a more developmentally-appropriate system.

Plaing games with sounds (phonemes) is great and it is the sound at this age which is important. Later she can learn the different ways of spelling various phonemes.

I find it quite difficult at the moment, tbh. DD started learning to read in german, is now in a French speaking school and obviously I would like her to read fluently in English too.

I am not pushing her at the moment as she is finding it a bit stressful learning French and coping with a new school.

Will be watching this thread though.

How does she get on with the first reader books? I am going to get my mum to send me some. Can you recommend any books that your daughter enjoyed, Pantofino?

Most efficient evidence based, enjoyabel and reinforcing thing to do would be to follow online programme Headsprout

It is the subject of my MSc into evidence based educational methods and I have done it with my own child who is not a native English speaker.She loved it.

Costs about £100 which will give you roughly 20 hours of instruction requiring minimal parental supervision.

You will not get anything better. Guaranteed.

Ooh Moondog - don't disillusion me and tell me you are on commission?

Good God, of course not!
I'm a speech and language therapist doing a Mastrs in MSc and this is one of my areas of expertise.

Moondog
How old was your DD when you started doing the programme?

6 nearly 7. I have only learnt about Headsprout recently through my MSc supervisor.
I also wanted her to master reading in Welsh first.
It is appropriate to start it earlier.

I have somoene's PhD on Headsprout by my bed at present. I will be reading it after logging off.

Mme, probably dd is going though enough, as you say. We moved out of Brussels into Flanders, and the neareast school is Dutch speaking. We had some animated discussions about whether to move dd, but even my flemish speaking colleagues agree that in the "bigger" picture it is better for dd to speak french.

I haven#t bought "special" books. I did buy some letter cards, and magnetic letters. And a very annoying thing that sang the alphabet song and was supposed to stick to the fridge (and was soon hidden on top of the wardrobe).

Moondog - I will have a look. Dd loves the PC anyway. I guess she fights to get her turn