Planning for children ready to read

[Guest]

Hello all....

 

There is a girl in my room, who will be turning 4 next month and is showing an interest in learning how to read.... Her parents have started reading with her at home but are teaching her letter names rather than letter sounds (phonics)...

 

after speaking to my collegues they are all very anti supporting her in developing this emerging skill, and have told me that I am not allowed to work on this with her as we are not allowed to "teach" reading or writing in early years. I fully understand that all children may not be ready for this at this early age, however I feel strongly that we should support all childrens needs and interests, and just as we support children who have SEN we should support those who are developmentally advanced for their age.

 

Have any of you experienced this and if so what is your oppinion.... what kind of activities would you deem suitable to plan for her, and how should this be take forward.

 

would really appreciate any help.

 

Camilla

[catma]

we are not allowed to "teach" reading or writing in early years.

I don't think that has ever been a rule!

Children in nurseries all over are doing phase 1 type early reading/phonological awareness activities as they need to be reasonably secure in this when they go to reception, which your little girl will do next sept. If she isn't given that opportunity she may well be behind her peers when she transitions. Have your colleagues considered this impact on her education?

 

I would support her with phase 1 phonics to ensure she is tuning into sounds...aspects 6 and 7 are crucial for further reading competence when she goes into reception.

Cx

[millhill]

If she is just learning letter names then she will most likely be learning to read by sight, possibly analytical phonics. Teaching to read in this way is no longer the recommended method in the EYFS.

As Catma posted, teaching Letter and Sounds Phase 1 will help with her phonological awareness. If she can orally blend well, then you could start to teach her phoneme/grapheme correspondance (Phase 2), but I wouldn't recommend it unless you have had phonics training.

Does your setting feed into a local school? You could discuss the issue with the Reception class teachers.

[Guest]

hello thanks for your replies...... I think this is a great idea and i will definatly do some phase one activities with her.... unfortunatly we dont feed into a school, but i think this kind of support would defeinatly help her in the run up to her leaving our nursery this Jan. thanks all

[catma]

Do you have an LA adviser you can contact?

[Guest]

yes we do.... that is a good idea.... I will definatly contact her in regard to this thanks

[Guest]

 

 

after speaking to my collegues they are all very anti supporting her in developing this emerging skill, and have told me that I am not allowed to work on this with her as we are not allowed to "teach" reading or writing in early years.

 

 

Camilla

 

I am gobsmacked by this comment. This child is obviously ready so why hold her back? We are always taught to challenge and extend the more able. I would start by telling the parents that they have a child who is showing an interest in reading and then show them how it is best to teach them the letter sounds rather than names when reading.

 

As the comments above, most nurseries are teaching phase one letters and sounds of orally blending and segmenting and there would be no harm in introducing letters and their sounds as a daily activity. My little girl when she was 4 at nursery was introduced to the letters and their sounds and graphemes-gave her an excellent head start at school.