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When To Read When Not To Read


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Hi

 

I have just found out that we in the nursery give children a reading book from the scheme when they recognise about 7 keywords and have started to blend to read. But if the children go to reception without reading books they wait until the child can read 43 keywords before they are given a book.

 

Some now have 5 points in LSL and Reading and are not on a book.

 

I know there is no difinative answer but wondered when do others start children on reading books?

 

Thanks for advice and help...

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What reading scheme does the school use?

 

This year I didn't introduce reading books until the child could blend cvc words consistently so my class didn't get a reading book until the Spring term and have had really good reading skills and working on much higher levels than in previous years when the policy was to give books without/few words in nursery.

I don't teach key words only "tricky" words but most reading schemes would only require a child to know "I" and "the" in the early stages.

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I'm in reception and we have books with just pictures that they are given right from the beginning. When they are able to talk about the pictures, make up stories, make predictions etc... we then give them reading books which are meant to be read with the parent/carer with the child joining in with the predictable language. They then move onto the next stage when they are confidently joining in. These books tend to have a repetitive structure where the last word changes on each page and is linked to the picture. These books help children to really feel like they are reading and give them confidence. Once we know that through our phonic activities that they are able to blend CVCs and beyond they then move to the next level where they tend to be the phonic based books. I hope that makes sense.

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Well we do not use scheme books in the nursery at all. We spend a lot of time on Phase One of L&S and doing songs, games, nursery rhymes etc. children can take home books from the book corner and we do lots of reading of real books but we leave the idea of a structured reading scheme to reception upwards.

 

In reception and the rest of the school we have the bookbands and use a variety of different schemes so the children get a wide and varied experience of texts. Children take home books from reception as they do in nursery but we also have guided reading sets which we use in school and they do not go home.

 

Just another way of doing it I suppose!

Edited by Guest
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I did similar to you Emilia. We did not give children reading scheme books in nursery but they could take home one or two books from our book library for parents to read with them. We also had games they could borrow. In the front of these books we stuck short guidelines as to the type of discussion a parent could have with the child about the book. My Grandson's school did something similar in Nursery. In Reception he has three take home books, one fiction, one non-fiction and one for his parents to read to/with him. He also has lists of words each week, and I worried initially thinking it was look and say, so I asked him to tell me how he was working out the words. He demonstrated, and he is obviously blending the sounds, and I am really impressed that he does it in his head not out loud. The phonics first approach really seems to be effective.

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I gave my children books with just pictures in from as soon as they started full time, which was about 4 weeks in. As the children became more confident in blending sounds I gave them books with words in - and have found a couple of schemes which link well with letters and sounds. I think almost all of my children were on books with words by christmas.

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We often have children in Preschool - maybe one or two a year who are reading confidently more than 7 words and working out others. They read my writing when I'm making notes, they read the words on the wall displays and read words from the stories we read at group time. These children are welcome to take oxford reading tree books home to share with their parents. There's NEVER any pressure and we make sure that they take the books in order so that they are progressing through the scheme properly.

 

Surely it would be negligent of us not to do this, when they are so obviously ready and eager?

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They go to a load of different schools - this year there are 6 different receiving schools, but the two who are reading extremely confidently (Autumn term birthdays) are going to schools who are happy with it

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I asked because following the Rose review most schools teach reading using synthetic phonics.

If children have been taking home reading books in pre school /nursery and then the school doesn't give out books right from the start it can cause problems with parents.

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Yes, I agree with you. In the past we have had a school whose early years teacher said she absolutely didn't want us to do any reading with the children at all. When I told the child's Mum this she was absolutely outraged and said she'd buy books off Amazon herself if we didn't continue to read with her child - who was a really good early reader - and she actually changed where her child was going to school

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Possum of course if a child is able to read we will read with them and give them access to books they can read themselves but I personally want them to read a variety of books and I really do not like just a diet of Oxford REading Tree. In my experience early readers are able to read a wide variety of books which is why the books in the book corner of nursery are a selection of fiction non fiction, comics and some books from schemes. We are not in the business of holding children back but of enabling and develooing on what they can already do.

 

What we have noticed is that those children doing phonics first are really making greater progress in YR than they have done in the past!

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Yes, I agree with you. In the past we have had a school whose early years teacher said she absolutely didn't want us to do any reading with the children at all. When I told the child's Mum this she was absolutely outraged and said she'd buy books off Amazon herself if we didn't continue to read with her child - who was a really good early reader - and she actually changed where her child was going to school

 

I would never say don't do any reading with the children but I'd prefer young children to have story books not ORT (I'm not a fan)

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im a hater of scheme books myslef and truely believe in real books. in our foundation stage unit i will only allow real books no scheme books , the parents didnt like it at first but now they have realised how well the children can read and read a good range of books where as i found in the past childrfen that rely on scheme books only felt confident reading them and not real books.

 

we spend lots of time doing letters and sounds phase 1 and real immerse the children in real books, putting them with all activities for the children to read

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hi again

 

Thanks for all the comments it is really helping me to think about what we are doing. We still have a 3 term intake so our summer term children would not have a chance to score 6 before EYFSP is sent in if we left them for 4 weeks and only did phase one in nursery.

 

We do teach letters and sounds and the keywords in this way (forgot to say that.)

We do send home books from the Nursery library to share with a parent.

We also put books in different areas etc etc.

We also cover phase 1 before starting on phase 2.

 

I have a child who came in knowing lots of sight words and is now blending words of up to 7 letters, he can read about the first 70 words listed in L&S he does not start school until easter so he is on reading books already. His writing is just as good and is forming a lot of letters correctly. His social skills are ok so we do concentrate more on that than reading as he gets so much input at home.

 

Just spoke to county advisor today and she suggested with the sort of books we have in school somewhere during phase 2 would be appropriate. Need to speak to literacy coordinator now to decide as a school what to do. Thanks again for all the comments.

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I learnt something from Sir Jim Rose the other day - he was explaining all about "run in" (or might have been run on!) which is the letters who have a longer sound like /s/ or /m/. This makes them easier to blend when you are learning hence the order of the earlier phonemes in L+S!!

So mmmmmummmmm would make sense

 

You learn something everyday!

Cx

Edited by catma
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You need to say mmmmm as in the noise you would use for something that tastes nice as you rub your tummy. You're right - it doesn't work well in print.

 

Quick edit - sorry got confused and thought I was replying to the last post! Time to go to bed!

Edited by AlisonP
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