Phonics for the 4+ Assessments and common issues.

When I teach phonics, I see this most common error frequently:

Students adding additional sounds to the pure sound. See videos below.

Please correct this immediately. The longer it is left uncorrected, the harder it will be to correct.

Another common error when teaching phonics is teaching children the phonics using capital letters. When children read books, the most frequent letters that they will encounter will be the lower case letters. So it is logical that when teaching sounds, you will exclusively be teaching lower case letters. Once they are confident with the sounds, you can begin to introduce capital letters. When I teach writing for example, I teach capital letters and lower case letters. When it comes to reading, lower case letters are key.

The first 13 sounds that I teach my students are p, a , t , i, n, s, m, e, d, o, g, u, b.

Watch the videos below, to hear me saying the pure sounds.

Common issues from the 2022 4+ Assessments

1. Not preparing the child correctly for each round.

It is imperative that you prepare your child in the correct way for each round.

2. Child not following instructions.

Children being asked to draw something and they draw something else for example.

3. Child going into the Assessment upset.

Children arriving at the Assessment and not wanting to leave their parents and then becoming upset.

How to support your child with preparing effectively for each round.

Ensure that you know exactly what is expected at each round. The way to do this is of course to speak to an expert who already knows what is expected at each round. The other way is to spend time on the school’s websites and make a note of exactly what is expected at each round. Some website information can tend to be rather vague so you may want to call the school/s and ask. You can also speak to other parents who have already prepared their children for each round. Be aware that Assessments will change year after year so if a parent tells you something, this does not mean that the same will come up this year. In fact, I highly doubt that it will.

How to support your child to follow instructions

This just takes lots and lots of practice. You can also model yourself following instructions that your child has given you. Some children simply just do not want to follow instructions so they need to be taught how and why. It needs to be done in a very delicate and gentle way. Remember that nothing has gone wrong. Your child will be 3 or 4. It is completely natural for them to not want to follow the instructions all the time.

How to prepare your child to not go in upset

If your child is not used to being left alone for extended periods of time, it is vital that you begin to practise. Go to new and unfamiliar places together frequently. Ask your child to speak to a new and unfamiliar person (of course with your supervision!) Leave your child with someone new and unfamiliar to them for short periods of time (obviously someone you know!). Always remind them that you will come back for them. If they are really nervous about this, you can leave them a sand timer so they can monitor how long they have before you arrive. Of course only do this if your child is happy to do it. The more you practise this, the more comfortable your child will feel with being ‘left’. A lot of parents tell me that they are shocked that their child didn’t go in happily to their Assessment but when I ask them if that was the first time being left and they tell me yes, I don’t find this shocking at all. None of us like change.

Ultimately, they need to practice being left alone for at least 1 hour.

Some schools do allow you to stay but most won’t.

Be prepared :)

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