Supporting your Child’s Learning in Reception

The early stages of learning to read are so important for your child’s development. We want you as a parent to be as involved as possible in being part of their reading journey. Our aim is to support all parents in gaining confidence to support their child in practising reading at home. We hope you find the guide below useful and please speak to your child’s class teacher if you would like further information.

At Caton Primary School, we use ‘Red Rose Phonics’ as our systematic synthetic phonics programme for early teaching of reading and writing. Phonics is making connections between the sounds of our spoken words and the letters that are used to write them down. Our phonics teaching follows the cycle of revisit and review, teach, practise and apply. Our aim is to teach children to sound out and blend in order to read words.

Terminology:

Below are words that your children will become familiar with as they are taught the phonics programme:

Grapheme – The letter or letter group which is the sound (phoneme) written down

Phoneme – The smallest unit of sound that can be identified in words

Blending – When reading a word, identify the graphemes in the word and say the corresponding sounds in order to hear the word as a whole. E.g. read cat   c- a- t

Segmenting – When spelling a word, break it down into the sounds you hear and write the grapheme for each identified sound. E.g. say shop = writing c- a- t

Decode – Breaking a word down into sounds to be able to read it.

Encode – Breaking a word down into sounds to be able to spell it.

Digraph – When two letters make one sound when they are together. E.g. shop

Trigraph – When three letters make one sound when they are together. E.g. night

Split digraph – When two letters that are “split” by having another letter in the middle of them. E.g.  a_e in game or i_e in tide.

Tricky words – These are words that the children won’t have been taught to decode yet as they haven’t learnt the spelling rule. Therefore, they will be taught to read them by sight.

Progresssion through the scheme:

The scheme is dividied into 5 phases.

Phase 1 is taught in Nursery and is a mixture of fun oral and listening activities to get children to be able to focus and tune into sounds in words.

Phase 2 is taught in Reception and teaches 23 single letter sounds from a – u  and supports children to recognise letter shapes and their corresponding sounds (grapheme, phoneme correspondence or GPC) eg. The letter S makes a sss sound. 6 common tricky words are also taught such as the and to. Tricky words are word that can not be sounded out using phonics.

Phase 3 is also taught in Reception and teaches the single letter sounds from v-z and begins to teach some common digraph and trigraph letter blends such as sh, oa and  igh. 26 more tricky words are learnt in this phase so that children can read and spell 11 of them and recognise the rest by sight.

Phase 4 is taught in the final term of Reception and teaches children to read longer words (polysllabic) that contain phase 2 and phase 3 graphemes with adjacant consonants eg. crunch or sprint. All the tricky words from phases 2 – 3 are recapped in this phase.

Phase 5 is taught in Year 1 and teaches 21 further graphemes for reading, 19 alternative pronunciations for graphemes and 95 alternative spellings fo phonemes with application into writing and reading.

How can I support my child with their maths at home?

To best support your child’s mathematical development it is important to dedicate time to focus on mathematics on a regular basis, exploring mathematics through different contexts; including storybooks, puzzles, songs, rhymes, puppet play, and games. This helps to integrate mathematics throughout the day (both in and out of school) and makes the most of moments to highlight and use mathematics, for example, in daily routines, play activities, and out of school environments.

Using manipulatives (objects) and representations (drawings) can be powerful tools for supporting young children to engage with mathematical ideas. It is important to ensure that children understand the links between the manipulatives and the mathematical ideas they represent. Encouraging children to represent problems in their own way, for example, with drawings and marks, and using manipulatives and representations to encourage discussion about mathematics can also be beneficial.

Activities to try at home…

There are many activities that can support mathematical development at home in the early years. Here are some examples:

1. Counting: Encourage children to count everyday objects such as toys, books, and food items. You can also count steps when walking up stairs, or count how many times you jump. Counting songs and rhymes can also be fun and engaging.
2. Sorting and matching: Provide opportunities for children to sort and match objects based on different attributes such as size, shape, color, and texture. For example, they can sort buttons by color or match socks by pattern.
3. Patterning: Encourage children to create and identify patterns using different materials such as beads, blocks, or stickers. You can start with simple patterns like ABAB or ABBABB and gradually increase the complexity.
4. Measuring: Provide opportunities for children to measure and compare different objects using non-standard units such as paperclips or blocks. For example, they can measure the length of a book or the height of a tower.
5. Shapes: Encourage children to identify and describe different shapes in their environment. You can also provide materials for them to create their own shapes using playdough or construction toys.
6. Cooking and baking: Involve children in cooking and baking activities that involve measuring, counting, and following instructions. For example, they can help measure ingredients or count how many cookies are on the baking tray.
7. Board games: Play board games that involve counting, matching, and strategy. Games like Snakes and Ladders,   Uno and many Orchard Farm games can be great for developing early math skills.

Remember to keep the activities fun and engaging, and to follow the child’s lead! Encourage their curiosity and exploration, and provide opportunities for them to ask questions and make connections.