Ladybird Milestones | learning to read

From 5 years onwards children have a rapidly growing vocabulary and are starting to read and write. They have a greater awareness of the world around them and they love to be told stories which capture their imagination, or make them giggle! When they start school, children begin learning to read very quickly through phonics teaching and reading schemes. Understanding the way children are taught to read can feel quite daunting. Synthetic phonics is the method now used in most UK schools and there are lots of phonics books and apps that can be used at home to support your child's phonics learning. 

Phonics involves making the connection between the 44 sounds (phonemes) of spoken English with letters or groups of letters (graphemes). Children are taught that these sounds can be blended to read words. Learning these phonics skills helps children to read fluently, spell accurately and write creatively. Once these have been mastered, encourage your child to read simple readers with stories that will spark their imagination.