English

English

English

Reading

I can support your child’s reading development so that they become confident, independent readers.

Early Readers

If your child is an early reader I can help them develop their phonic knowledge to begin to blend sounds together to read words. I follow a structured approach when teaching phonics introduced by the Department for Education.  The program moves through six phases, beginning with Phase 1 which focuses on children’s speaking and listening skills. Phase 2 introduces 23 letter names and sounds with another 26 introduced in Phase 3, including more complex phonemes such as sh, th, ng. Phase 4 focuses on consolidating the children’s knowledge and develops their understanding of blends and clusters. In Phase 5 different spelling strategies for phonemes are introduced e.g ai, ay, a-e, aigh and the focus of Phase 6 is to develop children’s fluency when reading. Alongside phonics teaching I will also support your child’s understanding of words that can’t be sounded out, e.g. the, where, you. These ‘tricky’ words are words that children have to learn and remember. I help them to do so through a range of activities.

Transitional Readers

As your child develops as a reader I can also support them further through a range of strategies to encourage their fluency and independence. These include encouraging them to; • Self-correct as they read • Attempt to read unfamiliar words • Pay attention to punctuation • Use expression when reading • Look at illustrations to help them make sense of what they are reading

Independent Readers

As your child begins to read independently I can support this fluency through different text types such as non-fiction books, magazines and newspapers, poetry, etc. They may also still need support with reading strategies such as re-reading, reading on, words within words, prefixes, suffixes etc. I will also focus on developing their understanding of text types through comprehension activities.

Writing

Your child will pass through different stages when they are learning to write. As they emerge as writers they will form letter-like shapes and letter strings. They will then move into the transitional stage of adopting conventional spelling strategies to their writing. As with reading, I use the DfE Letters and Sounds program to support children’s developing knowledge of spelling. Your child will then move into the ‘fluency’ stage of writing. When they have reached this stage I can further develop their understanding of punctuation and grammar. I can also support composition for different genres of writing including narrative, instructions, reports, poetry. Your child may need support with their handwriting which I can support through careful modelling and practice.