At school we encourage children to become confident, enthusiastic and independent writers. You can help at home in some of the following ways For early writers: Pre- writing skills include opportunities for threading, weaving, pegging, colouring, cutting, tracing we also refer to these as ‘fine motor skills’. Model to your child how to write their name using the correct capital letters and small letters. You can write with fingers, pencils, pens, stick etc. using paint, water, sand, mud!! Write their name for them and ask them to find it for you. Be a writing model and try to think of times when your child can see you writing and encourage them to write alongside you. Boys, in particular, like to have a reason or purpose to their writing, point out examples of writing being used in the environment e.g. posters, tickets, and provide opportunities to write purposefully e.g. shopping lists, birthday cards, invitations, letters and e-mails, filling in forms, using a clipboard to record information for you, write labels for models and things they have made. Provide opportunities to draw and write BIG -children need to develop their muscles ready for writing. Old wallpaper is great for this. Provide a box of special writing materials - this could include pens and pencils of different thicknesses , pencil sharpeners and rubbers ,different sizes of paper, cards and postcards, envelopes, old ddiaries and notebooks, stickers, clipboards Talk to your child about their writing and encourage them to read it back to you In the early stages let them ‘have a go’ at spellings using their phonic knowledge and as they mature encourage them to use known spelling rules Praise all their efforts. If you have access to a computer this can be a real motivator to 'write ' on the screen and is a skill the children need to learn.
REMEMBER! Capital letters are only used for people’s names, places, the word I and at the beginning of a sentence. As children progress through the school they are encouraged to present their work neatly using joined handwriting - there is a sheet attached showing our letter formation. Point out new and interesting words when your child is reading to you Continue to read to your child as much as possible as this has a direct impact on their writing - increasing their vocabulary, knowledge and providing them with new ideas for their writing as well. Visit these websites for games and ideas for activities to do at home and more detailed information for parents about phonics and reading. http://www.roythezebra.com/
http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/
http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/
http://www.kidsandreading.co.uk/
http://www.jollylearning.co.uk/jp.htm
Reading and Writing As part of learning to read and write we are learning the letter sounds which are introduced one at a time. A set of letters is taught each week, In the following sequence: Set 1: s, a, t, p Set 2: i, n, m, d Set 3: g, o, c, k Set 4: ck, e, u, r Set 5: h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss Set 6: j, v, w, x Set 7: y, z, zz, qu As soon as each set of letters is introduced, children will be encouraged to use their knowledge of the letter sounds to blend and sound out words. For example, They will learn to blend the sounds s-a-t to make the word sat. They will also start learning to segment words. For example, they might be asked to find the letter sounds that make the word tap from a small selection of magnetic letters. Each time we learn a new sound we talk about things that begin with that letter , we look for it people’s names, we model how to form it correctly, we write it BIG and small , we write it in paint, with water , we make it with playdough, we start to use it in our reading and writing. Alongside these sounds the children are also taught the ‘tricky words’ Set 1: i ,to, the, no, go, into Set 2: he, she, we, me, be, was Set 3: you, they, all, are, my, her Set 4: said, have, like, so, do, some Set 5: come ,were, there, little, one, when Set 6: out, what, oh, their, people, Mr Set 7: Mrs, looked, called, asked, could After all the single sounds have been learnt we will learn the sounds with two letters Consonant digraphs: ch, sh, th, ng Vowel digraphs: ai, ee, igh, oa, oo, ar, or, ur, ow, oi, ear, air, er Each week we will put the new sounds in your child’s sound book ,please practise these with them as well as sharing their reading book with them.
Visit this site and watch this video showing how to say each sound correctly. http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/85357?uc=force_uj