Phonics at home
How can I help my child at home?
It is vital that your child gets your support to ensure that they progress at the expected level for their age.
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Establish a routine to include reading daily throughout the day and the week
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Have fun with Fred Talk at home e.g. Where is your c_oa_t? Time for b_e_d!
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Encourage your child to ‘Fred Talk’ or ‘sound out’ any unfamiliar words
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Recognise ‘red words’ together – remember ‘you can’t Fred a red!’
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Use the ‘Questions for Reading’ to help deepen understanding of the books you read together
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Fill in the ‘Parent Comments’ in your child’s reading record to keep a dialogue with the class teacher
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Read as many stories to your child as you can. Traditional tales, stories from other cultures, poetry, their favourite story - talk about the stories with them.
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Explain the meaning of new words.
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Ensure that your child sees you reading for pleasure
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Most importantly though, show the fun that can be gained by listening to stories.
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Access and use the resources sent home as mentioned above.
Resources for Parents to help support with learning
Pronouncing sounds correctly:
It is important that we pronounce the pure sounds correctly to support the children’s learning. To view correct pronunciation of the sounds, click on the link below:
Stretchy consonant sounds, practise stretching each sound (avoid ‘fuh’ ‘luh’ ‘muh’ ‘nuh’)
Bouncy consonant sounds- say the shortest sound you can without an ‘uh’.
Practise Fred talk
1. Read the words in Fred talk. Say the last sound gently.
2. Spell the words using Fred fingers. Touch each finger as you say each sound.
Have fun with Fred Talk at home e.g. Where is your c_oa_t? Time for b_e_d!
Encourage your child to ‘Fred Talk’ or ‘sound out’ any unfamiliar words
What are Red Words?
These are words that are unable to be sounded out and so are irregular. Children simply have to learn to recognise, read and spell these words as they cannot be sounded out using any sort of phonics strategy.
Further Support
There will be a number of Parent Workshops throughout the year where staff will explain how they are teaching Phonics and ways in which you can support your child at home.
Please see the RWI Booklets below for further information.