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Helping your child with phonics

This week the children will begin to blend (read) and segment (spell) words orally. We call this ‘sound talk’.

For example,  c-a-t = cat. The separate sounds (phonemes) are spoken aloud, in order, all through the word, and are then merged together into the whole word. The merging together is called blending – it is a vital skill for reading.

Children will also learn to do this the other way around: cat = c-a-t. The whole word is spoken aloud, and then broken up into its sounds (phonemes) in order, all through the word. This is called segmenting – a vital skill for spelling.

An important point to remember is to avoid saying the ‘uh’ sound that you might remember from school. Think of ‘b’, ‘c’ without the ‘uh’ – make the sound as short and ‘pure’ as possible for these sounds.  For others, like ‘f’ and ‘l’, the sound should also not have an ‘uh’ sound, but these letters can be more continuous.

At the moment, blending and segmenting is all oral (spoken). Your child will not be expected to match the letter to the sound at this stage. The emphasis is on helping children to hear the separate sounds in words and to create spoken sounds.

Try this at home:

Find real objects around your home which have three phonemes (sounds) and practise ‘sound talk’ – first just let them listen, then see if they will join in, eg:

• ‘I spy a p-e-g – peg’
• ‘I spy a c-u-p – cup’
• ‘Where’s your other s-o-ck – sock?’
• ‘Simon says – put your hands on your h-ea-d’
• ‘Simon says – touch your ch-i-n’
• ‘Simon says – pick up your b-a-g’

Play other phonic games at home, too!

SEAL statement 17 October

This week is the first of our focus on manners over this year with ‘I say please and thank you’ as our weekly statement.

We often receive comments from visitors to school that our children are very polite. 

Over this year, every half term, we will be focussing on a different aspect of good manners to encourage and remind children to consistently use these important qualities both in and out of school.

Staying Safe Week

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOKVqOtUVdA”>Safety Week

14 October 2011

This week, we are learning to spell words with the ‘ay’ sound.

These will be tested on Friday 21 October.

14 October 2011

This week’s spellings are words that end in ‘er’. Your child will be tested on Friday 21 october 2011.

• richer
• smaller
• smoother
• taller
• braver
• safer
• older
• colder
• closer
• longer

14 October 2011

This week’s homework is creative. It’s due in on Wednesday 19 October.

I know about the body.

It links to our new topic Doctor! Doctor!

Your child could produce a:

• poster
• draw a picture
• write some sentences
• label a part of the body
• do some research

14 October 2011

This week’s spellings recap on all the rules for adding ‘ing’. Some of them may be spellings you’ve had before and some may be completely new to you.

The main focus of the learning is to ensure your child understands the rule. There is only one spelling list this week.

Can you come up with any more spellings that follow the rules for adding ‘ing’?

14 October 2011

This week, the spellings are a mixture of the ‘ing’ rules:

• just add ‘ing’
• drop the ‘e’ for ‘ing’
• double up when there’s a short vowel sound

Children will be tested on eight out of the ten words on Friday 21 October.

14 October 2011

The homwork this week is creative and is due in on Wednesday 19 October.

I can find 2D shapes all around me.

Ideas could be:

• trace a picture and colour in the shapes you recognise
• take some photos of buildings or objects and identify the shapes
• draw a picture using only shapes you know and label them
• identify some right angles in shapes you find

I look forward to seeing your creations on Wednesday!

14 October 2011

Your homework this week is a mixture of creative and talk time and is due in on Wednesday 19 October.

I can talk about Greece or Ancient Greece.

Next week, we’re having a session called ‘Just A Minute’ in class. Children have been asked to prepare a talk that they will give to the rest of the class about an aspect of life in Ancient Greece or modern day Greece. This talk is to last one minute and has been set to develop the children’s skills as confident and creative speakers.  The children will need to practise their speeches at home to build up their confidence.

Any materials they prepare to help them – maybe a bullet point list as a memory aid – must stick to the homework rules of not going over one page of A4.

The piece of work could be about:

• gods
• Athens
• Sparta
• a myth
• schools
• modern Greece
• …or a different idea!

Remember to only use one A4 side, but you can extend the page (with flaps, for example) if you want to.