- Home Learning Policy October 2023-2026 (117.53KB)
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- Writing Curriculum Overview (97.47KB)
Vocabulary
Make reading together a daily habit – Read books slightly above your child’s current reading level and discuss new words as you encounter them. When you come across unfamiliar words, pause to explain their meaning using simple terms and examples from your child’s experience.
Create word-rich conversations – Use diverse vocabulary in everyday conversations and explain meanings naturally. For instance, instead of saying “The soup is hot,” you might say “The soup is scalding – that means it’s so hot it could burn your tongue, so we need to let it cool.”
Play word games – Turn vocabulary learning into fun activities like:
- Creating silly sentences using new words
- Playing word association games during car rides
- Having “word of the day” challenges where everyone tries to use the new word throughout the day
- Making up rhymes or songs with target vocabulary
Connect words to real life – Help children understand words deeply by connecting them to tangible experiences. If learning “transparent,” look through clear windows together. If learning “massive,” visit something very large like a building or tree.
Encourage word curiosity – When your child asks “What does that mean?”, celebrate their curiosity. Help them develop the habit of looking up words they don’t know, whether in a dictionary or by asking questions.
Reading and phonics
- Children will only read books that are entirely decodable, this means that they should be able to read these books as they already know the code contained within the book.
- We only use pure sounds when decoding words (no ‘uh’ after the sound)
- We want children to practise reading their book 4 times across the week working on these skills:
Decode – sounding out and blending to read the word.
Fluency – reading words with less obvious decoding.
Expression – using intonation and expression to bring the text to life!
We must use pure sounds when we are pronouncing the sounds and supporting children in reading words. If we mispronounce these sounds, we will make reading harder for our children. Please watch the videos in the link below for how to accurately pronounce these sounds.
At the beginning of each academic year, we will hold an information session for parents and carers to find out more about what we do for Phonics, Reading and English at our schools. Please do join us.
More support for parents and carers can be found here:
https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-schemes-oxford-levels/essential-letters-and-sounds/
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