Parents MeetingLearning to Read and Write with Phonics

and Early Maths

How we teach phonics

The children are taught phonics daily using the Letters and Sounds programme and we learn the Jolly phonics songs and actions that go with them. It is taught as a

discrete subject in small groups led by an adult.

Phase 2 Sounds We will focus on learning to recognise and write these

letters first.

Phase 3

Phonics ‘jargon’CVC word: Consonant, vowel, consonant e.g. map

CCVC word: Consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant e.g. ship

Phoneme: a single sound e.g. /a/ or /sh/

Grapheme: the visual letter or letters that make a sound e.g. <a> or <sh>

Letter Name: ABCs

Digraph: A two letter sound e.g. <oo> or <ea>

Trigraph: A three letter sound e.g. <igh> or <ear>

Split-digraph: Typically a split long vowel sound e.g. /a-e/ in make or /i-e/ in like.

Blending and Segmenting

Segmenting: This is when we sound out a word to spell it i.e. c-a-t.

Blending: This is when we blend the sounds together to make a word i.e. c-a-t is cat!

If a child can not do this orally, they will not be able to tackle words in their books. It is a key skill they need to develop! It is essentialthey have opportunities to practise this skill to aid this.

We regularly play “I spy....” and then

sound out a word to support this. We “robot talk” words too!

Tricky Words

There are also ‘tricky words’ that are high frequency but the children will not be able to decode them.

These are:

Phase 2: the, to, no, go, I, into.

Phase 3: he, she, we, me, be was, they, my, all, are

The children should aim to recognise these in isolation (on a flashcard) and in context (in a book).

Reading and Writing Milestones....

- Recognising and writing their names

- Mark making and giving meaning to it

- Making up their own stories or recalling those read to them

- Identifying rhymes and continuing their own rhyming string

- Recognising sounds in the environment and books

- Hearing and writing initial sounds

- Orally blending words (d-o-g is dog)

- Writing initial and further sounds (strb in strawberry)

- reading CVC words and tricky words

- Reading captions and writing CVC words

- Reading and writing simple sentences

Reading Development in Reception

- Weekly reading with each child (1:1 or group)

- Access to Reading Eggs

- Daily shared stories (fiction or non-fiction)

- Story scribing with an adult

- Parent Reading

- Reading Buddies

Repetitive books and phonic books...

- Repetitive books are good for learning

and recognising new words on sight as

they are repeated (i.e. come and look).

Go back and ask your child to point at

word or find it on the next page before

they read it.

- Phonic books focus on using the child’s

phonetic skills to read simple sentences.

This can be slow and robotic at first. Re-

read a sentence to your child and ask

them to read it again to develop their

fluency.

Sharing booksCan they find the

sounds they already know

(i.e. i in Winnie)

Find and discuss full stops and capital letters.

Sound out and blend words they

can decode.

Spot HFW as you read (i.e. it)

If the story is predictable, pause and let them say

the word.

Discuss the story in the picture,

what’s going on?

What’s going to happen next?

Use lots of expression!

Supporting Writing Development in Reception

We encourage and promote mark making in all areas of our environment. It should be enjoyable, engaging and purposeful

through:

- Practising letter formation in different ways

- Continuous access to paper, pens and pencils

- Activities that develop fine motor strength (threading, building, moulding, cutting)

- Activities that develop gross motor strength (climbing, big painting, carrying things, PE)

- Lists, role play writing, labels on creations, letters, signs etc.

Writing Stages

Letters or circles may seem random. Ask your child what they have written to find the meaning behind their mark making.

Children then begin to write sounds they can hear. At first this is with the adult support and then it becomes independent.

Children begin to write simple sentences. They will find it difficult to read this back at first.

Children confidently write simple sentences and can read most of this back to an adult.

Things to be aware of…

Pronouncing sounds clearly. Sometimes we can add the –

uh noise when sounding out. Help your child by modelling the correct way as this can make it difficult to blend a word. Mr Thorne is a good person to look up on YouTube if you need some support on correct pronunciation.

Using capital letters. These should be used for the beginning

of names and for the start of sentences. Help your child to recognise if one has snuck into the middle of a sentence.

Reading fluency. Sometimes children can ‘over’ sound out. Re-

read sentences to achieve better reading fluency.

Correct letter formation. Support your children to start a

letter in the correct place and with the movement of a letter (i.e. not taking their pencil off the page).

The wider reading world. There is more to reading than Biff

and Chip!

Supporting Mathematical Development in Early Years

How we teach Maths

Maths is taught daily as a discrete subject in small groups. It is also developed through children’s play.

Early Math Milestones....

- Securing their skills in counting aloud beyond twenty

- Counting and counting out objects accurately 1:1 to ten

- Matching a numeral to a quantity

- Continuing and creating simple patterns

- Building models with different shapes

- To develop language of size

- To sequence significant events

Securing the 1:1 principle and a grasp of the

value of number is essential before moving

onto abstract calculations.

Next Steps in Maths

- Ordering numerals to 10/20

- Counting 1:1 accurately to 10 and beyond

- Identifying one more and one less with and then without objects

- Halving, doubling and sharing with objects

- Developing their vocabulary to describe weight, size and volume

- To describe properties of 2D shapes

- Addition and subtraction

- Estimation

How to help at home

- Count aloud ALL the time (stairs, hops, walking, races, teeth)

- Play board games

- Sing songs and nursery rhymes

- Enjoy number books

- Count objects in everyday life

- Notice numerals everywhere

- Foam/magnet numbers

- Puzzles

- Allow children the time to solve problems

Tapestry

Please upload any observations from home, we really value them

We also enjoy reading your comments and seeing any ‘likes’

We will begin to use next steps in our observations so that you can see the next developmental stage for your child

Resources for Parents Mr Thorne (Gerald the Giraffe) on YouTube and Apps

Book Trust

Jolly Phonics Songs

Oxford Owl Phonics website to hear sounds

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading-owl/expert-help/phonics-made-easy

Apps: Pocket Phonics, Reading Eggs, Letter School, Phonics Fun Farm, Busy Shapes, dtdnumlet (dot-to-dot), Maths Alien Adventure

Alphablocks (iPlayer)

Numberblocks (iPlayer)

Any questions?