This week we are blogging about Year 1: what to expect; how to help and how assessment will be carried out.  This is the first in our series of Year 1 posts, which follows on from our Nursery and Reception series.

By the end of Reception, your child is expected to be able to write and read simple words, but please don’t panic if the literacy lightbulb has yet to illuminate above your little learner’s head.  Controversy rages among educational experts and commentators as to the ‘correct’ age at which a child should start school.  Most recently, Guardian columnist Deborah Orr examined claims that we send our children to school too early, and the issue of whether children are really ready to start reading and writing before the age of seven has been a hotly debated matter for decades.

Your Year 1 child needs your support in reading and writing.

Young learners don’t learn at a constant pace: today’s slow starter is tomorrow’s brilliant mind (and vice-versa, unfortunately).  So there is no need to worry if your child hasn’t grasped reading and writing.  We do have to work within the system we are given in the UK, however, so parents and carers do need to support Year 1 children in reading and writing.  Whether your child is a slow starter or a fast-developing reader, read on for ten excellent ways to support them in reading and writing.

1.  Encourage, encourage, encourage and never be critical of their reading mistakes.  If they misread a word, be very subtle in how you correct it.  Nod, smile and say the word as though they had read it correctly – this works!

2.  Don’t jump in to help them with a word they are having trouble reading.  Give them time to think about it or sound it out.  Let them feel comfortable with asking for your help when they need it.

3. It’s important that children who find literacy tough do not begin to see books as ‘not for them’.  If your child struggles to read, ask them to describe a much-loved story book by talking about the pictures.  

4.  In Year 1 your child may begin to read independently.  This is a lovely thing.  Usborne First Readers are a good source of easy reading material for children.  Urmston Bookshop have a good stock of these and will order in whatever they don’t have in stock.

Usborne first readers help your child develop independence in reading and writing.

5.  Encourage your child to read in bed at night or in the car when shuttling from one place to another.  This will help your child see reading as a normal and enjoyable part of life.

6.  Get your child a drawing board or a large (at least A3 size) whiteboard and a supply of pens.  Scribbling away to their heart’s content will help them build confidence in their ability to write.  The brilliance of whiteboards is that whatever you write on them is temporary (and if it’s very marvellous, you can photograph it) so that mistakes don’t matter.  Never correct their whiteboard work; when children express themselves with words maybe only they can read, their interest in reading and writing grows and evolves.

A drawing board will encourage your child to write.

7.  Can your child read the first 100 high frequency words?  Download them here and work your way through them.

8.  To help your child practise tricky words, play noughts and crosses, bingo or snowman.

9.  Visit starfall.com for fun, literacy based activities.

10.  Be patient: your child may not be ready to read until s/he is seven years old.  There is no need to panic.  If you do feel that your child needs more help with literacy, the first thing to do is to speak to his/ her teacher.  Few schools will assess your child at this age for specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia.  This is generally because indicators such as letter reversals and difficulty in remembering spellings are commonplace at this age.  If you feel your child would benefit from some out of school help, feel free to contact Paul Syrett or Christine McLaughlin at Better Tuition to book a free, no obligation assessment.  We are the leading providers of tuition in the Urmston and Stretford area and we are experts in our field.  We can often reassure parents who are concerned about their Year 1 child’s progress and if tuition is needed, we can design an individual learning plan for your child that will result in rapid progress.

First image courtesy of AKARAKINGDOMS / FreeDigitalPhotos.net