Today, there is very little formal reading carried out in schools. Occasionally, hesitant readers are given time out with a classroom assistant. But as there will probably be several remedial readers with a brief time slot and no more than a passing nod in the direction of phonics, these children can emerge, after several years, barely advanced from where they began.

The others teach themselves to read. And this is where bad habits begin and may last a lifetime. If they can read a book (from a set list) and answer online questions, they are deemed good or able readers. But what actually happens is that many read the blurb, gloss over the story to get the gist of it, answer a percentage of the questions and move to the next book. The better readers speed read omitting punctuation, the most challenging words and frequently the prepositions (place words) like in, on, behind, over etc. This is similar to the way we all read silently but we do it after many years of knowing how to read correctly.

Reading aloud as we used to, combined with phonics, is the ONLY way to learn to read. It is the ONLY way for ALL children. It casts the widest net possible to teach all children, even many classed as ‘special needs.’

Reading aloud teaches children to observe punctuation, the traffic lights of reading and the means by which a writer makes sense of his work. Imagine a page of a book with no punctuation. No full stops, no commas, no question or exclamation marks. The entire text would be meaningless. When we read aloud we are reading for an audience and are forced to observe punctuation. Nor can we omit the prepositions (those little place words) which bring meaning to a line. ”The spy thundered over the step above the pursuers and was finally on the roof.” Those prepositions are critical to the meaning of the text and frequently form the basis of examination questions. When we read to ourselves we frequently scoot over these words and if children always read silently they will carry the habit into the exam room.

Phonics and sounding out any unknown words is the only possibe way for a child to understand what he is reading. If, when reading silently, he reads ‘ration for reaction’, ‘rigin for regional’, ‘nibble for nimbleness’ and ‘spot for Scotland,’ (real mispronunciations) the text will be meaningless. Sad, because comprehension is the basis of every subject throughout every school year.

The ONLY way to teach punctuation and word identification is by reading aloud while being closely monitored.

So, check your child’s reading by asking him/her to read aloud while you watch every word and every piece of punctuation. You must have an identical copy of the book or be able to see the book the reader has.

A good reader will:

1. Read every word correctly or sound out unknown and difficult words.

2. Observe every punctuation mark, stop at a full stop, pause at a comma, colon or semi-colon and indicate with his voice a question or exclamation mark.

3. Read slowly for his audience.

A poor reader will:

1. Stall at unknown words and either omit them entirely or insert anything vaguely appropriate.

2. Be almost unaware of prepositions.

3. Ignore most punctuation marks, even full stops.

4. Read fast.

A needy or remedial reader will:

1. Hesitate at most words, especially those of five or more letters.

2. Find it difficult to sound out words, because phonics the child should have known by age 5-6 have never been cemented.

3. Will not be fully aware of the purpose or appearance of punctuation marks.

4. Will find it challenging to read a full page.

The bluffers like Ben at the beginning of this blog post.

    1. Will really read it fast.

    2. May possibly hesitate at unknown words but will swiftly bluff it out and insert any word            at all.

   3. Their pronunciation can be wild, e.g. ‘Timothy for Tom,’ ‘cop for companies,’ ‘beer for                beginner,’ all real substitutes from real children.

   4. Will read with great confidence and aplomb, so that if you are not watching the text you           will marvel at this great little reader doing justice to a very weird story.

So please check your child’s reading. If you have a poor, remedial or bluffing reader go right back to the sound alphabet and all the phonics.

Teaching a child to read via phonics simply requires the sounds, your patience and time. I have taught 3 year olds this way and every age group to adults. I had two 3 year olds who taught themselves listening to their older siblings and a 4 year old who taught himself and a friend using my sounds. All became brilliant readers.

This time will soon pass, for now it has been a golden opportunity handed to you. It is absolutely free and only requires your time and effort.

I shall follow this post up with a list of all the phonic sounds.

The post How to Evaluate and Improve Your Child’s Reading first appeared on Alonah Reading Cambridge.

However, the children.

Childhood is a structured time: wake up, dress, breakfast, school, friends, home, homework, TV, bath, bed. They might buck against this structure but it is merely a game, a distraction. Structure is their validation of life being safe, normal and protective and of course current social distancing and closure of schools has imposed so much added drama. Dealing with the grown-up world, difficult at best, now must be doubly difficult. Their structure has gone along with Brownies, Guides, Cubs, Scouts, ballet, music, drama, judo all those little after school breaks which lift the younger generation into new dimensions each day.

It is important your children don’t regard this period as a holiday. It is not. This is school time, it is work time. Holidays come at the end of term, at the end of work, they are earned. So it is up to you, the adult, to put structure into your child’s day, easily achieved by setting a time for work, a time for play and a time to relax. If mealtimes and bedtimes are maintained as usual then there should be no long term problems. As for teaching, it is best to take the pragmatic approach, remember the teachers you loved at school, they were the smiley but firm ones. Aim for that and you will be perfect. When school holidays arrive children will welcome them for the freedom they bring.

What can you do?

Above all beware of many home schooling programmes, offers, ideas, videos, books, ad infinitum. They are expensive and, most importantly, unnecessary and can simply be a way of making money out of the Covid 19 scare.

Any teacher will tell you teaching is easy and it has never been easier with the wealth of information we have at our fingertips today. Managing children is the difficult bit. Managing a class of recalcitrant children while trying to teach them how to recognise an oxymoron, a fronted adverbial, or a quadratic equation, now that is the greatest challenge for every teacher.

Your child’s behaviour is, at this moment, your problem and once you have collectively acknowledged that you are the teacher you are ready to go. With tiny children your most important, your vital, job is to keep up your child’s reading. Reading is the skill which will take him/her all the way to A levels, University, all jobs and through life. Reading is, at Primary level, more important than maths, because reading must be in place to be able to read and interpret maths’ questions. So, all Primary School children should be reading aloud to an adult WHILE THE ADULT WATCHES ALL WORDS AND ALL PUNCTUATION – EVERY DAY. As well as reading aloud your child must do all the work set by the school.

Upper Primary level should still be reading aloud to you every day. They will also be revising their English, spelling and grammar. If you missed out on the wonderful grammar your child is now learning, don’t despair. If you wouldn’t recognise a modal verb or a noun phrase if it bit you on the foot, if you haven’t the faintest idea about FANBOYS or I SAW A WABUB, fear not. It is all on Google. Every element of their grammar is easily accessed on Google with explanations and examples. It’s all there. Maths can also be found on Google but school maths on-line exercises are fabulous. If your student simply can’t work out the answer – Google to the rescue. Do not worry as long as your child READS to you and completes the set work – you will be doing a brilliant job.

At Secondary School level.

Once again, complete any set work. Access anything you don’t know on Google. As for literature there is a fantastic teacher on line, his name is Dominic Salles and he gives brilliant lectures on Shakespeare (including MacBeth) and, I think, pretty well every GCSE and A level text. Mr Salles is not in any way connected with me or the work I do. He is a teacher I respect and value for his remarkable insight into senior school literature. You will find him on YouTube and, believe me, his work is well worth listening to.

The schools are mostly doing a superb job, they are providing work and, as far as I know many, many teachers are available for queries from parents and children. They are faultless. I too am available to any of you I can help, especially with regard to reading AT ANY SCHOOL LEVEL. My telephone number is 01353741030.

I hope I have quashed any worries you have regarding teaching your children. The main point is that you maintain the continuity of their education.

I shall follow this up with tips on how to evaluate and help your child’s reading.

The post Teaching at Home is Easy and Free first appeared on Alonah Reading Cambridge.

We appear at this moment, more interested in issues not remotely connected to education its content and its standards. It is critical to remember children are children, their childhood is sacrosanct and their schooling must never be hijacked or impeded for adult causes. We are the ones who must fight world issues. A child’s place is in school learning and growing.

Sadly the situation appears to be driven – if not specifically at least substantially by parents and politics rather than students’ needs to progress them through primary to secondary and then tertiary study.

My working life has been unrepentantly dedicated to reading, for the successful teaching of reading gives every child a fair chance to compete on the world stage of both academia and industry. And reading well begins very early. Using phonics every child should be reading fluently by Year 2 ( or 6 years old). By Year 6 every child should be able to read fluently, and to comprehend and interpret the subjects presented in school. Allowing for specific aptitudes, all children should be able to handle KS 2 exam papers with ease where they will be required to read with depth, draw inferences and reach conclusions. With parent support this can be happily achieved. In all subjects.

By secondary school these language skills are developed to an even greater extent when students study our wonderful literary heritage and are expected to present balanced and sophisticated exercises like synopses, character analyses, to gather both explicit and implicit information, write explanations and also to develop their own creative texts.

To achieve this it remains for primary schools, by whatever means necessary, to hear every child read ALOUD every day. Sadly, very few if any schools do, no time they say. With greater frequency children go term after term without reading aloud to anybody. Spelling consists of lists to be learnt at home with little attention given to syllabification, repetition and writing them in class. As far as maths is concerned, some schools have mercifully returned to rote learning of tables, while many have fanciful methods leaving children doing furious finger work as they attempt simple sums.

All I can say is that school time MUST be reserved for school work and that is the only way – along with parent support at every step, that this country will rise in world achievement status.

Long regarded as the best way for teachers to monitor each child’s progress, apparently homework will no longer be reviewed by OFSTED, (Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills). Sadly, many schools will skip homework but this would be a huge backward step for students – across the board. It could create a widening chasm between the results of children whose parents yell ”Yippee” and those whose parents continue homework in a fluent action of continuity. Homework exercises (with answers) are available like never before, if you want a sparkling future for your child, use them.

And finally, FINALLY teachers will be helped and encouraged to take control of the classroom. Gavin Williamson (Education Secretar:y) has announced, ”Bad behaviour is a blight in any schoolroom and I am determined to put a stop to it. I am giving my full support to our teachers and school leaders by empowering them with the tools they need to maintain a safe and disciplined school environment.” (The Mail on Sunday, 1 September 2019)

A sound education is only as good as the disengaged and disruptive allow it to be. At long last. It is up to you, the parent, to raise respectful, obedient children.

And now for phonics. So far I have covered all the sight words and phonics needed to enable even a tiny child and certainly an older one to become a competent reader. Just a few more and we have reached the winning post.

I always teach my readers that the sound ‘y’ changes according to where it occurs in a word.

At the beginning it is ‘y’ as in yellow, yes, yet, yeti, yesterday and yap.

Inside a word it is ‘i’ as in ‘ink’, eg physics and system and crystal.

At the end of a word it is ‘ee’, as in happy, silly, funny.

And so,

chrys (kris) as in chrysanthemum. Sound it across, chrys-an-the-mum.

Sy (Si) as in system, sympathy, sys-tem, sym-path-y.

Phys (fis) as in physics, physical, physician, phys-ics, phys-i-cal, phys-i-cian.

Sch (sk) as in school, scholastic, sch-oo-l, sch-ol-as-tic.

Ould (ood) as in could, would, should, c-ould, w-ould, sh-ould.

But ‘ould’ is also pronounced ‘old’ as in shoulder, boulder, sh-ould-er, b-ould-er.

Lastly the ‘my’ group pronounced m-eye.

My

shy

fly

why

do

you

cry

dry

those

eyes

and

fly

sweet

fly.

Now your new reader can easily manage.

‘The air cleared, tiny bursts of crystal fresh breeze flooded in to cool their faces. They were still hot after the fear and excitement of Fulmen’s battle royal. Moreover, they could not forget that animal which had now appeared twice, and with such force and menace. Was this the real danger, not the fireworks and noisy shambles; was the beast the true threat?

What will happen next, Leo wondered silently, I suppose, he thought, I could try to see if there’s a safe spot ahead. Mindful of Lampy’s warnings not to do this without his say-so, a short flight would surely do no harm. More than anything else in his life he had to protect his sisters, moreover, time was running out. To arrive back after or even on his birthday might have terrible effects on the whole of Terra Ulmas. In that case if it meant disobeying the glow-worm for the moment then so be it.

The party had sat down to rest Lampy’s beam for a short while after their recent skirmishes with the forces of Fulmen. They tried to get comfortable on the sharp, gritty stones that carpeted this part of the Magic caves of Alonah. Leo drew his feet up and sat, chin resting on his legs, as though grabbing a short nap.

In reality, he projected his mind. Carefully at first, feeling as he went, his eyes searched from left to right. He hoped desperately the exercise itself was not dangerous and so far everything seemed pretty much like last time. After ages of flying the length of cave after cave, he came to a grotto, not as large as the previous one but just as attractive and, if anything, just as good.

He entered briefly to test its friendliness. Suddenly he felt an urgent need to return. QUICKLY! Leo’s mind was tiring, he was beginning to fall asleep. He had the crushing feeling that animal was near. It was trying to get at him. It was going to kill him! On the point of closing off all thought, his mind as though attached to an elastic band, zapped back to Lampy and the girls, in the space of a nanosecond. And then he really fell asleep.’

From The Magic Caves of Alonah by Robyn Dalby-Stockwell.

We are really galloping towards the end of the phonics needed for your child or person to read and conquer all literature in the years ahead.

This is Teaching Post 17

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The post Daily Homework is the Path to Success first appeared on Alonah Reading Cambridge.

Secondly, that tutors are used mainly to advance bright children beyond their peer groups. This, you are asked to believe, is to enable those already achieving children to scoop prizes by enhancing their results and to win places at top sixth form colleges and Russell Group universities. Wrong! My tutoring over all these years has never included bright children wanting to be brighter. I have, however, had extremely clever children who have missed out on a vital stage in one or more subjects. For example, I’ve lost count of the number who had not learned to read by age 8/9/10/11. Once we had gone back to the basics of the phonic alphabet and phonic sounds, reading was conquered and they strode forward and on to excellent sixth form colleges, universities and top degrees. The same held true for maths. A child loses its way in Year 3, is humiliated, erects a solid wall between himself and numbers and is unable to progress. As a tutor my job is to dismantle that wall brick by brick, make numbers fun, then meaningful, then a challenge. Many have then gone on to take maths through to A Level and beyond. Tutors, far from being a status symbol for the wealthy, are used by wise parents from all walks of life for the very prosaic reason of helping a child understand something he/she is finding difficult. When children are struggling – in any subject – a tutor will fix a light on those murky areas of misunderstanding. He or she will begin as far back as need be, if necessary as far as phonics or the times tables. The tutor will then, working forward, identify the problem/s and progress from that point.

The final myth is that a ‘lost’ child will survive without a tutor. Absolutely not! Anybody believing this is simply not examining the facts. Education has changed and to quote L. P. Hartley, ‘The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there.’ Gone is the classroom of the 3Rs, the rigid discipline and sadly, in many cases, the parent/teacher empathy. Today’s classroom reflects our multiculturalist society, our eco-awareness and our specific attention to health and safety. These wide subjects have, necessarily, leached time from the school day, bearing in mind the school day in 2018 is exactly the same length as its 1950’s counterpart. Something, or some things, had to go and those things were specific reading time, spelling as a lesson and handwriting, all of which must now be developed and expanded at home. And so, if you feel your child could benefit from the help of a tutor, go ahead. Find a qualified teacher who is experienced in teaching at your child’s level and ignore any adverse comments about tutoring. Most importantly, the tutor must be a qualified teacher.

And now for the next step in our reading tutorial.

The sounds:

ble, cle, dle, fle, gle, kle, ple, sle, tle, zle, as in dabble, uncle, candle, scuffle and so on can be tricky. As you say these words you’ll notice the sound is a simple ‘fl’, ‘bl’ etc. Don’t pronounce them ‘ful’, ‘bul’ and then words ending in these sounds will never be spelled incorrectly.

Finally for now we’ll look at:

aw: as in paw,caw, raw.

ew: as in few, pew, grew and new, but also as in, sew.

ow: as in bow, cow, brow, frown, clown, also snow, grow, blow, glow, stow.

Now your little reader should be able to read the following.

‘Then they rested and when everybody was about to move on, a crashing in the ferns stopped them in their tracks. Leo went to investigate. It was a line of small rabbits. Tied to each one was a bundle of food. The leader was a slightly larger ginger and white chap with impressive pink ears, white paws and long black whiskers. He hopped up to Lampy and sat before him nodding his head and flicking those long black whiskers in a sort of silent but animated conversation.

”Ah ha!” Lampy thanked the rabbits, then told the children that Queen Arianne had sent the food and now they’d be able to go on their way fully refreshed.

In air that almost stung their skin with its freshness, they picnicked on light, crusty dough rolls, crunchy salad, sliced brawn, new potatoes, ham and potted beef. There were tiny pies with tomato sauce, bramble jellies, strawberries, fruit pies, cup-cakes, biscuits, sweet honey from the royal bumble bees and ice cold water from the pools.’ From The Magic Caves of Alonah.

Keep reading every day. Good luck.

This is Teaching Post  16

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The post Tutors plus Phonics are a Brilliant Equation first appeared on Alonah Reading Cambridge.

One of the most disturbing elements in the classroom over the past 50 years has been the arrangement of tables. In most cases up to ten children are sitting with their backs to the teacher. No eye contact and scant attention to a lesson unless the child opts to physically move his chair and tune in.

Recent studies have proved that formal rows, with chalk and talk front of class teaching, produces formidably excellent results and is favoured by many successful schools. What is more these schools, frequently with a policy of strict discipline, can provide a quiet and structured atmosphere. This both encourages and allows each child to achieve his best.

And note, the times tables, so long villified by ‘trendies’ are back. Now easily accessible memory is replacing frantic fingers and toes in the exam room. However this past week I have checked tables with two children in particular. One learned them the correct way chanting:

One two is two.

Two twos are four.

Three twos are six, etc.

She had chanted them over at home and in the car with her mum on the way to school. I tested all tables randomly and she was word perfect on each. The second child had learned up to the 6 times table by rote. The rest, for some reason, were learned 7, 14, 21 – 8, 16, 24 etc. The result was that all tables to the sixes could be tested, any table in random order and were perfect. The seven times and upward were not immediate responses and involved fingers each time. Chanting is the only sure-fire method for quick fire accurate recall.

Moving on now to the next group of phonics, these are sound groups which are actually words in themselves:

age, adage, stage, page, rage

old, gold, bold, fold, scold

ear, bear, clear, swear, spear

air, pair, fair, stair, lair

sure, measure, leisure, pressure, treasure

ice, spice, nice, rice, twice

ace, place, face, race, place

They are golden sounds which occur in so many English words. They can speed up reading enormously.

str, spl, scr, spr

These sounds, for me, do not really fall into the category of a phonic because they can each be sounded letter by letter. However, learning them as complete sounds helps reading fluency.

strand, stretch, splash, splish, scrap, scrape, spring, sprat.

Lastly a rule few people seem to know.

I call this the rule of ‘g’ and ‘c’.

When ‘g’ is followed by a soft vowel ‘e’ or ‘ i ‘ the sound usually becomes ‘j’ as in ‘giraffe’ or ‘gel’. Likewise when ‘c’ is followed by these soft vowels it often becomes ‘s’ as ‘ceiling, ‘cell’, ‘cill’.

The letter ‘y’ often acts as a soft vowel thus: ‘gyrate,’ ‘gym,’ and ‘cynic,’ ‘cyst.’

When the above sounds and rule are learned and added to the list so far, the following text should be fine.

‘Suddenly Leo was stretching his arms, feeling cramped and scrunched from having sat in one position for a time. In fact, the whole journey had taken less than three minutes and he was back and looking at Alice, Sinead and Lampyris who were staring at him as though he were an odd beast. After a moment he managed to explain the beauty that awaited them in the grotto which was only a short distance away. The girls were beginning to rally when, from a fissure in the rocks above them, came a mighty thwack! It split the air and sent a torrent of water bursting forth on the rock face near the ceiling. Tiny bursts of lightning zapped around it, increasing the pressure and causing it to widen with alarming speed.’

The above text includes only sounds learned so far. Ask your child to read to you every day.

Happy reading.

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And yet so many people endured two world wars, lived with the constant threat of bombs dropping on schools, homes and places of work. They fed their families on pitiful rations, scrimped for clothes, had inadequate heating and lived day after day with the news of the death of yet another family member or friend. Were they stressed? Were they pressured? Yes of course they were and with good reason. Did they dwell on this stress, did they break down in tears over the pressure? Perhaps occasionally but, although I was only nine at the end of WW2, I can honestly only remember smiles, laughter and songs, songs of rousing hope and bloody minded determination. There was none of the keening, awful moaning of today’s population. People rolled up their sleeves and faced their problems. Above all, they relentlessly committed themselves to an outward calm to inspire those around them, in particular their children.

Today’s self indulgent embracing of pressure and stress has spawned almost a worldwide billion pound industry from lifestyle gurus to dietary advisers and others seducing your anxieties to take your cash.

Of course we have stresses and anxieties today and I would never attempt to trivialize problems of unpayable mortgages, broken homes, mounting bills and illness. But no child should be encouraged to believe it is stressed beyond coping. No exam should be built into an emotional and mental hurdle that is insuperable. When children worry about exams it is the job of those adults who love them to soothe their worries and massage their distress. No exam is ever set beyond its examinees, from degree level to KS1 there will be some who fly through, some who achieve low marks and those who work like steam engines to achieve a middle of the road mark. All achievement is valid, no matter where the result finally rests. Always tell your child that life is simply about doing your best and the more you worry the more difficult that will be.

Now for the next group of sounds, possibly the most difficult to date but easily conquered with time.

eye. A sight word, this one really is simple if you make the two ‘e’s into eyes with eyebrows, and the ‘y’ into a nose.

ough. This has five sounds.

(off) cough trough.

(ow) bough, Slough.

(oh) dough, brougham.

(aw) fought, wrought, sought, bought.

(uff) rough, tough, slough, enough.

ou.

(ow) found, sound, hound.

augh.

(aw) taught, caught, aught.

(arf) laugh, draught.

au.

(aw) faun, Paul, haul, Maundy.

Teach these the same way you dealt with previous phonics and, difficult though they may be, my children have not had any problems learning them. Remember, sounds can go shopping, walk around the garden, be tied to the tail of a balloon, hung on a door handle or placed at the table, any innovative or unusual spot to make them special.

Remember too, everyday reading means your child reading aloud every single day, but always, always making it fun and with plenty of acting.

Your reader can now with all of the phonics and sight words mastered, read:

”As he spoke the words, a tiny bolt of lightning zapped across the cave leaving a streak of blue light in its wake. To the girls it went unnoticed but both Lampyris and Leo were aware of it and each looked silently at the other.

Lampyris slid onto Alice’s hand and, holding him protectively, she stood and they began to make their way through the cloak of darkness with only the little grub’s eerie green light to assist them. They went on, for what seemed like hours.

”Soon children, very soon we must arrive at a rather lovely cave, it can’t be far.” Lampyris was standing on his tail end, his tiny green cap waving around, but gazing steadily ahead. ”Leo,” he turned to the young lad, ”stand still, close your eyes, go on! Keeping them closed, send your mind along the cave.”

The little glow-worm was not asking Leo to do this, it was ordering him and he felt oddly compelled to carry out its instructions. Everybody stopped what they were doing and Leo, sitting again, gave a small cough. He cleared his throat and pitched his mind forward, feeling for all the world a prize idiot. Thank goodness the chaps in his class weren’t around, he’d be ridiculed from here to next…

All of a sudden he was searching cave walls, aloft from the ground, in the flight of a soaring bird. As he went, swooping, diving and gliding, he searched th|or|ough|l|y, (ough, as in dough) peering from side to side, catching sight of the stalactites as thick as a man’s waist and rocks as immense as a shire hall.

Leo had been in flight only a short time when, ahead of him, from the open roof of the cave, light streamed in. It was like all the sunbeams of the world bunched up into one massive light. Beneath the hole, rank upon rank, tier upon tier of lush green ferns flourished in profusion. Sunshine pouring through, caught the tips, buttering their fronds to sparkling gold.

The pathway leading to this beautiful grotto was lined with stalactites and stalagmites, fused into tall, slender pillars and glowing with surreal, welcoming light. These same pillars completely surrounded the vast area of ferns and moss covered rocks. Leo, lost in dreamy thought, drifted along the path and into the grotto, observing its beauty but, above all, basking in its feeling of safety and protection.

Turning swiftly, as though flight had been the normal way of getting around all his life, he swooped back to his sisters and Lampyris.

* * *

This extract is from The Magic Caves of Alonah and contains only phonics and sight sounds learned to date. Happy reading.

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Quoting from the above article, ‘Some (teachers) are refusing to teach out-of-control pupils who have brought knives into school or threatened to set staff on fire and some as young as eight have been allowed to stay in lessons despite the risk they pose to teachers and classmates.’

In any other job or profession, if employees were subjected to such excoriating criticisms, both professional and personal, they would not just down tools and walk away, but would possibly take legal action.

A teacher’s sole remedy has been to report a problem to the head teacher, who would in turn speak to the parents. Some parents would bend over backwards to cooperate with the school and help the child through a difficult period. Others invariably and ironically, whilst wanting their child to have an education would defend the culprit’s right to express an opinion or to show he, or she, was bored by texting or calling out in class. Many will even parrot that, ”Kids should be allowed to be kids,” then, laughing cite their own childhood anti social behaviour in an effort to dilute their child’s actions. What they forget is that, in the past, schools had the option of corporal punishment, parameters would be set and, overall a calm teaching environment could be maintained. This remedy was removed and very slowly children, in many cases, now feel they are in charge. But at last teaching staff are calling an end to abuse and threats, just like any member of the public they can state their own human rights. As for the public, we need our teachers, we need to keep our teachers, so above all we need to value our teachers.

I hope your teaching skills are moving apace as your child’s reading gathers strength and confidence.

And now for our next group of sounds, to be printed as always in red felt pen on white cards:

ay (a) as in say, pay, day,way.

ey (ee) as in key, donkey, monkey.

oy as in boy, toy, coy, royal.

ai (a) as in rain, gain, main, grain.

ei (ee) as in ceiling.

ie (ee and eyed) as in field, wield, pie.

ied (eed and eye) as in carried, married, cried.

ies (ees and eyes) as in carries, marries, cries, spies.

oi (oy) as in toil, foil, soil, boil.

ui (oo, i and eye) as in fruit (oo), build (i), guide (eye).

And that’s it for now, taking your sounds to:You, the, they, I, me, a, no, little, your, we, beautiful, come, go, to, be, she, saw, my, house, was, do, for, he.

Y on the end of a word.

Double letters.

oo, ee, sh, wh, th, ck, ch.

Magic e.

ang, eng, ing, ong, ung.

ar, er, or, ur, said, oh, are, one, friend, magic, colour, their, great, who.

all, ell, ill, ull.

tion, sion, cean, cien, tious, cious, ous, cial, sial, tial.

oa, ea.

glow.

oh, ah, qu.

ay, ey, oy, ai, ei, ie, ied, ies, oi, ui.

Amazing! Well done. With plenty of practice and plenty of revision your reader can manage:

”The children whispered as they travelled on. The Magic Caves of Alonah were so deep no daylight had ever penetrated their secret depths. Stalactites and stalagmites sprang from ceiling to floor, forming long, silvery white stakes that sometimes met in the middle to form slender, rock hard, milky pillars. From everywhere came the drip of water, as regular as raindrops and just as wet.

Words were soft, speech frugal.

After they had gone on for what seemed like the best part of an entire day, Lampyris asked the children to stop, he needed to regain his strength. He explained that keeping his light on was, for him, exactly like running quickly was for them. It used up his strength very fast and he might only boost it if he turned the light off for a while!’

(From The Magic Caves of Alonah by Robyn Dalby-Stockwell).

Good luck and good reading.

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All I can say is that this country needs its brains and if your child has the chance to go to a Grammar it will be a golden opportunity to receive the best education leading to the finest opportunities life has to offer.

Above all, Grammar school placings must be won on merit alone. My Primary school was tiny and many, many miles from the city. The parents were predominately dirt poor farm workers, the school library a shelf of very old books and attendance random at best. The girls I competed against for a Grammar school place were mostly from large city Junior High schools, (Intermediates) and had already had two full years of French, Latin, Science and advanced Maths. They tended to come from homes with educated parents, books, secure jobs, holidays and an interest in education. Of course there were exceptions, like myself, but in the main my peers had been exposed to much wider opportunities and an education better suited to a Grammar school place. I competed and passed the examinations fairly and squarely.

My results, throughout those Grammar school years, most certainly did not trouble the real achievers, but among the average batters I held my own. Had I ever been told, or been made even remotely aware, my tests were easier because my family was poor or that my results were adjusted for the same reason I would have carried that shame throughout life. To alter entrance exams, or later tests for various children for various reasons, I consider patronizing at best and social engineering at worst. I have taught in both State and Public schools and have seen brilliance and top achievement in both. Meritocracy in Grammar schools is vital for the educational prosperity of future generations. So, you are the parents, the matter sits firmly in your hands. Don’t let this country go into an academic meltdown due to the redefining of entrance exams and the dumbing down of standards. Your child deserves better.

Now for the next step forward in our reading programme.

oa pronounced ‘oh’ as in ‘boat.’

ea pronounced ‘ee’ as in, ‘each, ‘leap.’

oh pronounced as a long ‘oh.’

‘Oh, what a nice day.’

ah pronounced ‘ar.’

‘Ah, I see you have arrived.’

qu pronounced ‘kw.’

‘qu’ we have had around since phonic alphabet days, for it is virtually impossible in our language to separate the ‘q’ from the ‘u’. Now is the time to include it as the valuable fast phonic it truly is.

Glow. A new sight word pronounced g|l|oh.

Your fast phonic list, surprisingly, now consists of :

You, the, they, I, me, a, no, little, your, we, beautiful, come, go, to, be, she, saw, my, house, was, do, for, he.

Final y.

Double letters.

oo, ee, sh, wh, th, ck, ch.

Magic e (split digraph)

ang, eng, ing, ong, ung.

ar, er, ir, or, ur.

said, oh, ar, one, friend, magic, colour, their, great, who.

all, ell, ill, oll, ull.

ight.

tion, sion, cean, cien, tious, cious, ous, cial, sial, tial.

oa, ea.

glow, oh, ah, qu.

Now are you ready to read the following?

‘Alice suddenly remembered Queen Arianne’s instructions. She had said Lampyris was big, much bigger than ordinary glow-worms and had a green patch on his head. She reminded the others and they sat still, on the grassy bank, wondering what on earth they’d do.

”Well, we can’t sit here forever,” Sinead whispered. ”I think we’ll have to keep going, check the size of this particular glow-worm and if it’s normal I suppose we just press on until we find Lampyris.”

”Oh fine,” replied Alice witheringly, ”if it’s not Lampyris we’ll just keep going and going and getting hopelessly lost. Is that what you mean? A really wicked idea Sinead, I don’t think.”

Leo sensed it was time for a bit of brotherly leadership.

”Girls, while you’ve been ah, chatting, I’ve been thinking. We’ve seen a glow-worm, it might be Lampyris and it might not. But, it is a glow-worm, the first one we’ve seen tonight. That means we must be close to the Caves of Alonah. Let’s check this bright little friend and if he’s not the one we want, then we shall sit here until the right one comes along. Oh,” he added quickly, ”we had better continue to be pretty quiet.” Like his sisters he was constantly aware Fulmen might be anywhere at any time.’

(The Magic Caves of Alonah by Robyn Dalby-Stockwell)

Slow going? Never mind, it is all part of learning to read.

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Education has changed, it has leapt forward dramatically in an effort to repair the damage of past years. During those years I taught English to Italian and Spanish teenagers who could spot an adverbial, define a gerund, write a perfect complex sentence and parse it with ease. Their knowledge of our language was astounding while our teenagers had barely progressed beyond the very basic nouns and verbs. As we move forward to catch up, parents are feeling left behind.

Well done those mums and dads who, instead of complaining bitterly about their children’s difficult homework, are taking themselves back to school to help their kids. Gold star for these people.

One of my pet grouches as I try to decipher children’s work is handwriting. I have children who write the letter ‘d’ like a twisted bow – from the bottom up! No letter in our alphabet should ever be written from the bottom up, it is sloppy workmanship and is barely decipherable. There is currently no uniformity expected and no height requirement. Half line letters like a, e, i, o, u, m, n, etc are usually barely above the base line while tall letters are only marginally larger. As for the letter ‘f’, it now resembles a twisted hook sitting squarely on the line.

Our entire printed alphabet is made up of bats and balls o o o, l l l – both half line and full line height. When muscle control has perfected these, then the child can move comfortably to a written script. I would love to see bats and balls the only ‘writing’ done in the Reception year. Expecting tiny children to write their names and even sentences with those jelly finger-muscles is, I believe, wrong and results in long lasting bad habits. Children find their illegible work is acceptable to frustrated teachers, many of whom no longer have time to conduct proper handwriting lessons.

Now, according to a recent BBC news programme it has been noted children’s handwriting is in an appalling state. At long last! Let’s hope handwriting lessons return, from bats and balls onward.

Back to our reading programme and the next group of fast phonics – which may look difficult but are not. They do, however, provide quite a big leap forward in your child’s reading.

ight, pronounced ‘ite’

tion, sion, cean, cien, all pronounced ‘shun.’

tious, cious, pronounced ‘shus.’

ous, pronounced ‘us.’

cial, sial, tial, all pronounced ‘shall.’

Printed in red felt pen on white cards and set out as a game they are easy to learn. None of my pupils has ever had problems learning these ”difficult-looking” phonics – even pre-schoolers and any child from Reception upward can simply learn them by rote from the list I am providing.

Once they are firmly in place your child can now read the following:

‘What a commotion at the station! Bright lights flicker and there is a bang, banging everywhere as the Smiths arrive. A great, ancient, ocean-going liner has called at the port, which is next to the station and the anxious family is conscious that it is getting late. Will their friends disembark in time for the social occasion they have planned? This occasion will be a big, magical party.’

Explain the meanings of difficult words and help your reader to sound across each one.

Keep faith, your child will thank you as his or her reading becomes better and better. Good luck.

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More and more frequently strident pressure groups are demanding their own politics du jour become part of the school syllabus.

Gender and transgender issues, totally inappropriate in school anyway, should not be taking up valuable class time. There is a mountain of empirical evidence to support the fact that any sex education is better left to an age when young people are ready to accept it and sufficiently mature to deal with the information. Rachel Johnson, in her article of 15 January, 2017 in the Daily Mail remembers asking her classmates to call her Richard. She was a tomboy – as simple as that. Children are children, they find their own identities in time. So let us leave politics out of school and clear the decks for a return to the 3Rs – two of which are right now being regretably ignored.

Of overwhelming importance is school time – that guinea stamp of education is being looted. Day after day another political issue is thrown up by some shouting minority, and because they drown out reason, yet another ten, twenty, forty minutes is shaved from your child’s education, from your child’s hope of a better job and a brighter future. I know this is my soap box, but believe me, time is one of the few things we can’t retrieve and are losing by the shed load. Already reading, writing and in many cases spelling have fallen victim to extraneous subjects, there is simply no time for them any more.

However, a hijacked timetable is only one issue. Another huge problem today is behaviour. I would love to see CCVT in every class in this country so that irresponsible parents, who refuse to confront their child’s bullying and behavioural issues, could be faced with proof. A Year 5 child tearfully told me this week she can’t hear the teacher because of all the noise around her. This is primary level and children walk around during lessons, they talk, they sing and even text. A Year 10 boy is being forced to change schools to escape the behaviour in his lessons. Added to this many of his classes are taken by supply teachers who simply hand out photocopies of old work to ‘go over.’ He is learning next to nothing. Class sizes are being blamed for everything from irregular attendance, to staff stress, to inadequate results, behavioural problems and probably global warming.

Classes in the UK are categorically not too large. China and South Korea have larger classes but, because they operate on respect and cooperation and a deep seated learning ethos, their results are much better. Parents expect their children to be respectful and to apply themselves with a sense of gratitude for their education. Greek and Roman scholars honoured their teachers and treasured learning. Sadly many parents in this country have no such expectations of their offspring and will even defend their right to be insubordinate saying, ”They’re only children, you can’t expect them to be perfect.” – and I have heard this many times.

I am not Ofsted. I rarely even walk into a classroom these days, but I regularly see the results of disrupted education. Dispirited children, of all ages, come to me and I teach them to read, to write, to comprehend and to interpret questions. For this reason it is imperative you teach them to read and comprehend at home. As I say it’s not rocket science. I hope it is becoming apparent as we move along just how simple the process is and if you follow my fast phonics programme at least your child will be in the higher level sets and will be given a fair chance.

Your reader now knows.

You, the, they, I, me, a, no, little, your, we, beautiful, come, go, to, be, she, saw, my, house, was, do, for, she, he.

Y as on the end of a word.

Double letters.

oo, ee, sh, th, wh, ch, ck.

Magic e (split digraphs).

ang, eng, ing, ong, ung.

ar, er, ir, or, ur.

said, oh, are, one, friend, magic, colour, their, great, who.

Now we move to.

all, ell, ill, oll, ull.

Print them singly in red pen on white cards. Take ‘ull’ shopping, blue-tack ‘ell’ to the kitchen door, put ‘oll’ to bed and wake him up in the morning. All the tricks of teaching and learning. For older students, simply set the sounds out and go over and over until they have been committed to memory.

Your new reader can now work out the following text from all the sounds and sight word learnt to date.

‘Jenny saw their friends with colourful magic balloons. She was very happy, all her family came along to see the beautiful display. There were pretty hills too with green trees and small pink roses that filled their senses with wonderful smells. Jenny was thrilled, she called her friend Benny who picked a rosebud and gave it to Jenny. Jenny and her family and Billy took their blue and green skipping ropes from a basket and skipped up and down the hills. They chased balloons and had great fun telling tales and singing songs.

Jenny and Billy fetched water from an old stone well and they mixed it with raspberry to make a refreshing drink. Jenny’s family loved the raspberry drink and called it ‘Raspberry Cheer.’

After a while they all went home with their balloons and skipping ropes and with some ‘Raspberry Cheer’ for Jenny’s Grandma.’

This is a formidable achievement and, using fast phonics, can be accomplished by a three year old – I have done it several times – and literally hundreds of times with four to five year olds.

My next post will cover ten new sounds and we shall be over half way. I will also discuss the best way to encourage your child to be a neat writer, so necessary today when formal writing lessons are disappearing swiftly.

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