How can I Help?

How does my child learn?

Your child will learn a range of sounds from the minute they start Reception. They are learnt in an order that allows children to start building words as soon as possible! The order of a, b, c, d only allows for a small array of words to be learnt. i.e. dad, bad, cab

However, the sounds s, a, t, p allows for a much larger range of words i.e. at, sat, tap, pat, pats, taps, past etc

The order of sounds is developed in aid of this. Below we explain what sounds are learnt, what order, and when you can start to help!

When does my child learn this?

Your child will be learning from as early as day 1! Lots of schools use a variety of schemes from Read Write inc, little Wandle, Jolly phonics, Phonics Bug and more! We have tried to develop a 1 size fits all approach as all these schemes will learn at a different pace! Below is a table that shows you time of year, sounds learnt, Tricky words learnt (see tricky word page) and where our Share-Books would fit.

How can I help?

Little and often! We have created books that support each phase of learning, and we believe that 3 weeks per book is enough to help build pace when recognizing sounds. Within each book is a wide range of activities and games. We would recommend reading as much as possible through the activities, board games, colouring challenges etc as well as the story. That way you will be able to keep your child engaged for longer!

What is enough?

We would suggest 5 challenges or 'sessions' a week. These don't need to be story reading. Below we have created a 3 week 'plan' to give you an idea of how you could structure a weeks reading support. Remember this is just an idea, every child learns differently. If you can do more, great! If you need to do less, that's fine! We would recommend you getting a feal for what is working and what is not. If it becomes a real battle, take control, take over, take the pressure away. We all get that feeling when our child is showing all the signs that they have had enough! Fine! Mummy/Daddy can read the rest, shall we play a game instead? Always encourage the positives!

What book does my child need?

Don't worry! We we have created some simple assessment slides for you to go through with your child. Click on the book link and whiz through the slides with your child. If they can read all the sounds and all the words then that book is too easy! If they are slow to build the words or struggle to recognize a sound, then this is the book for you! Start at the top- Mit the Mighty Snail and work your way down. (Phase 3 assessments will be added alongside the stories when available)

Mit the Mighty Snail

Mick the Flying worm

Pip the Pirate

Real words or tricky words?

Below we show you how the 2 sets of words differ and how we aim to help!

Real

These words follow all the rules of reading and are words that your child can read, even if they have never seen them before.

Tricky

We call these words tricky or 'red words' because we need to learn them by sight. Using the phonics rules will not help us here!

How can we help?

Don't worry, you don't need to know what all of these words are and how to teach them, we do all that for you!

We gradually introduce sounds and tricky words throughout your child's school year. That way they will be able to gradually access more and more words and stories.

Below shows you how this works: