Small kids learning to read and write...what do you think?

[Prunerz]

My ds is in his first year at primary school and I can't help but feel things are going a bit slowly.

I'm torn, though, because I feel that children shouldn't really be pushed into learning these things before they are ready - so we didn't. But now he's half-way through his first year and he IS ready, he's really starting to get it. But he's not getting much concrete encouragement from school.

He does the usual ORT stuff and that is fine, but one book a week. They take out a library book each week, and always way way above his literacy level, but geared towards his interests (eg a DK book on planets). That's it. There is no writing/spelling homework in his first year.

I understand that parents have a huge role to play here, and we do sit and read with him, read chapter books to him etc. What I really want to know is: is this fine, or is the school being a bit lazy here? I feel like his capacity to learn is bigger (and not just him but the other kids I know in his class too). It seems like a bit of time is being wasted iyswim.

Or does it not make much difference? I mean, he is going to leave school literate, and there's no specific need for him to be reading fluently, or anything.

Hi Prunerz, I think you are in the Edinburgh region? So am I (well, West Lothian) and I'm also a teacher though not doing much work at the moment, mainly sahm.

Does your ds have cards with letters/letter sounds/blends/tricky words etc to learn to read? I say this, because Edinburgh ed authority have their own early literacy scheme (they have to be different and "one-up" I think!) and this involves teaching the kids synthetic phonics in quite an intense way over P1 and P2. If he is doing this then he won't have spelling or writing homework yet, but he will be expected to write the sounds he is learning to read as part of dictation, usually once a week. You could ask his teacher to see this, to help put your mind at rest that he is learning to spell. If he is learning quickly and the phonics teaching is going at a good pace it should stand him in good stead to be a competent speller in the years to come without needing loads of homework at this stage.

Is he v bright? Do you feel he is not stimulated enough?

Ooh spooky, I haven't been on here in ages and you know where I live!!

Ok that's all very interesting. I get the impression it isn't all that intensive, but of course it is hard to tell. There has been some discontinuity in teaching, so of course that won't have helped. His normal teacher is so on the ball, it is mildly terrifying.

(I think he's fairly bright but a) not out of the ordinary, and b) who doesn't think their child is? )

I am probably pretty lazy myself, because I don't know what synthetic phonics is.

Do children read aloud in class these days? I would happily go in and hear the kids read, but they don't seem to do it.

I can't help you really, because DS could read before starting school. We didn't teach him, we just read with him. I was laid up in bed/a wheelchair for nearly a year when he was 3 going on 4.

He always sat cuddled up against me, while I read to him. I just moved my finger under the words (it seemed the natural thing to do). He learnt to read by default really, and it's been a tremendous help to him. Now aged 10 he's a voracious reader, with a good vocabulary (spoken and written).

If I were in your shoes, that's the approach I would take with your ds. Read with him, something appropriate for a young child (we liked the postman pat books, Mr Men are good for this too).

If he is ready he will start to pick it up. And it can't do him any harm, I'm sure.

Sorry to spook you, I've been on MN a while now but I lurk more than I post ! I tend to remember names of regular posters who live near me though..

Synthetic phonics is a particular approach to learning to read and write which involves quite intensive teaching of all the different sound patterns right from the start. They are getting into this in a big way in England now, I believe, but I think Scotland has always been on the ball with this (I can say this as I am English but now live in Scotland!) So rather than slowly learning one letter sound a week and not learning to blend letters until the second year of school, synthetic phonics teaches about 4 letter sounds/blends a week and teaches children to blend the letters together right from the start. In theory they are only supposed to read books with words using the sounds they have learnt so far, but my experience in Scotland suggests that actually many schools give out ORT (this is not a phonetic scheme but relies on the "whole word" approach) alongside teaching the phonics.

If you want to find out more, google synthetic phonicsm I'm afraid I'm useless with links.

In terms of rates of learning I know that the Edinburgh scheme is supposed to be followed religiously each day, but I also know that many schools take it more slowly. (I taught in Niddrie so I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions about how fast we went......). If I were you I might ask to see the teacher and ask what methods/schemes they are using. Also ask what you could do at home to help? For example if your ds can write simple words independently now you could write letters/shopping lists etc with him. But make it fun and play related at this stage, too many worksheets can be a drag.

Brill, thanks.
They seem to do a letter a day, and I hadn't really paid attention to what came when, but that would make sense if they are blending as well.

yy we do sit and read with him and always have - he isn't what I would call a 'natural reader' - I could read before starting school, too. But he's doing fine, I just wondered what was going on, really.

Thanks for the inside info and encouragement!