What are the words my child brings home from school? 

In Reception, your child will be given around 45 high-frequency words to learn over the year – the aim is for them to be able to recognise these words and to be able to read them.

Why are they called high-frequency?

Research has shown that just 16 words, such as ‘and’, ‘he’, ‘I’ and ‘in’, but also the more phonetically-difficult ‘the’, ‘to’, ‘you’, ‘said’, ‘are’, ‘she’ and ‘was’, make up a quarter of the words in a piece of writing, whether it’s for adults or children. Some frequently-used words in the English language don’t adhere to phonetic rules, so they must be learned individually by heart, rather like the system for learning French irregular verbs.

What happens in KS1?

In Years 1 and 2, the list is expanded by another 160 words and includes ‘about’, ‘because’, ‘once’, ‘could’, ‘house’, ‘laugh’, ‘people’, ‘their’, plus days of the week, months of the year and the child’s own address and the school’s address. By now children are expected to be able to read most of them and progress to writing some of them.

How should my child be practising these words? 

“Make it fun and don’t overdo it,” advises Ian McNeilly, director of the National Association for the Teaching of English. For example, why not try:

• Flashcards – but don’t use drawings alongside or your child may simply stick to looking at the drawing, not the letters. “A child’s ability to concentrate depends on their individual personality,” says Ian. “Five minutes could be enough for some, while others could do more.” 
  You can download flashcards from TheSchoolRun for Reception, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
• Magnetic letters – good for helping children with tricky words. Leave some up on the fridge so your child becomes more familiar with the word every time they get a drink. 
• Memory games –  place flashcards downwards for a game of pairs.
• Ask your child to look out for words on signs when you’re on a journey or a shopping trip. 
• Make sure your child sees you reading. “You are their best role model so show them you enjoy reading,” says Ian, “and make sure books in the house are easily available, not tidied away.”

My child doesn’t seem to be interested in looking at the words together. Should I insist?

No – all children learn at their own pace. “Don’t get too hung up if your child is not at the same stage as other children,” says Ian. “In the classroom, there can be a nine-month age gap between children – that’s 20 percent of their life in Reception – and it does make a big difference.”