Listening to your child read.

Sound Book Go through your child’s Sound Book a page at a time. Don’t use it as a test but repeat the sounds together. Try doing the sounds in a different order. Can they remember the sounds in different contexts e.g when doing an alphabet puzzle. Remember to make the sound with your child. They will soon let you know if they are able to do it on their own.

Blending Packs Now your child knows a few sounds, can they run these sounds together and hear a word? E.g c-a-t cat Blending, as this is known, takes a lot of practise. It is very common for children to be able to say the sounds but not be able to hear the word at the end. E.g c-a-t carrot You can help your child by repeating the sounds and seeing if they can then hear the word. Try not to add an uh after the sounds. T-a-p not tuh-a –puh Digraphs and trigraphs should be read as a whole not individual sounds. e.g oa, ee, igh,

Tricky Words These are words that do not sound out easily. Always sound out the regular part then look at the rest of the word. Tricky words have to be learnt as sight words. Regular practise helps. Say the words together. Try to make it fun. Let a fairy hide the words in the garden. Write them in chalk and use a bean bag to aim for specific ones.

Reading Books (Decoding) Get your child to point to the words as they read them. If they find this hard you can point to the words for them. Encourage them to look at the words when they are reading them. Your child will usually have had their Reading Book read to them in school but if they are finding it hard, model reading it to them first, then let them have a go.

Reading/Library Books (Comprehension) Talk about the pictures, characters, front cover. What is their favourite part of the story? What might happen next in the story? How do we know it’s an information book? How do we read and look things up in information books?

Segmenting Segmenting is when we say a word then robot talk it. E.g cat c-a-t. Use robot arms! We use this skill when spelling so try to develop this skill whenever possible. E.g Can you find your c-oa-t. It’s time for b-e-d Later in the term your child will bring hope some simple words to practise writing. This will be followed by simple dictations. I will say more about this later.

Have fun learning with your child. Remember it is not a race. Let your child lead their learning. Over practise never hurt anyone. Re read books, practise sounds and tricky words. I usually find a little and often is the best way forward.