Handwriting

Handwriting or letter formation, as it is also called is a tricky business. Not only do children have to master gaining dexterity in their fingers, as well as being able to hold a pencil in the right position they also have to learn to form their letters correctly too. As adults we take this skill for granted, but children have a lot to learn in a short space of time. 

Although some children will adapt to this seamlessly, forgetting a time where they were ever unable to express themselves through writing, other children have all the ideas in their head but when transferring it to paper they are unable to make any sense of it. This unfortunately tends to put many children off writing, which is such a shame. 

If you identify these difficulties with your little person, there are ways you can help them to progress with their handwriting, without even having to persuade your child to pick up a pencil at all! Therefore, when they do eventually grasp the confidence to express their ideas in writing, you will see a marked improvement in their letter formation just by trying a few fun activities with them.

Messy Play

If you have had chance to read any of Mrs Hand’s super posts on messy play yet, you will have realised what huge fans the children and adults are of it here at Hazelmere! Not only does it improve children’s dexterity by encouraging them to exercise their hands and finger tips but it also gives them opportunities to practise their letters by tracing them out in the messy play. Shaving foam is particularly excellent for this (often costing no more than 50p for an economy can from any supermarket) By squirting some onto a large tray getting children to practise writing letters using their fingers, helps them to understand where the letter starts, goes and finishes with the ability to quickly erase any mistakes brings the fun back into forming letters. Add a sprinkle of glitter on the shaving foam to make it extra magical too! For loads of other messy play ideas look further down the blog for Mrs Hand’s messy play Mondays or click on the messy play label in the side bar!

Magic Finger Writing

When showing children how to form letters by writing on paper, I often find that my hand conceals exact process of what they need to see to learn how to write the letter. Therefore, by practising forming the letter by using our ‘magic fingers’ in the air, children can again, see where the letter starts, goes and finishes as well as attempting it themselves too. To make things extra exciting, you could always use a wand or sword to enhance the ‘magic’ of the writing. Alistair Bryce-Clegg’s blog, ‘ABC Does’ gives an excellent example of Jedi writing for any budding Star Wars fan!

Fine Motor Skills

Fine motor skills are activities which specifically target children’s dexterity and help to strengthen their hands and fingers, leading on to letter formation. Although in the Early Years we have daily sessions to practise our fine motor skills, there are things which you can do with your child at home to help them practise this. Everyday things such as:

·         Pulling up and down zips,

·         Doing up and opening buttons,

·         Using scissors to cut paper, card and materials,

·         Squeezing bottles,

·         Screwing and unscrewing caps,

·         Tying shoelaces

Just to name a few! Although these activities may seem strange ideas to help your child write their letters, not only will they put the fun back into handwriting but also get them ‘ready’ to put pencil to paper. 

As always we would love to see any examples of you and your child practising their letter formation at home! Please upload them on to Tapestry!

Have Fun!

Mrs Scott

Writing Opportunities

In Reception we have been learning the sounds which are linked to the letters of the alphabet for some time now. Although we encourage children to use these sounds to build words for their writing, it is also important that our little ones understand the importance of learning to write and the purpose can bring.

There are many different ways you can help your child at home with their writing and the first thing is to make sure they watch you writing yourself. In an age of computers and phones, it’s too easy to type a quick list on your laptop or text a reminder to someone you live with (I, myself am very guilty of this) but children need to see the important people in their lives finding writing important too.

Different ideas you can demonstrate writing various ways with your child are:

·        Lists

·        Cards

·        Letters

·        Books

·        Invitations

·        Recipes

·        Stories

The list is endless and the more you practise these different ways of writing, the better they become.

Also encourage your child to write with different things in various places. Pens, pencils, paints, chalk, on paper, on card, the pavement. This adds to the fun of writing and children will be more excited to practise.

Are there any more ways you can practise together that I haven’t mentioned? 

We would love to see some examples of you practicing writing with your child on Tapestry.

Happy Writing!

Storytelling

This week we celebrated our learning by inviting our parents to assembly. Our current topic is ‘Autumn’ and the children have been exploring the season through the book, ‘The Leaf Man’ by Lois Elhert. As well as showing off our own Leaf Man pictures and singing a leaf song, children were able to retell the story using actions. Storytelling is a great way to develop literacy skills, by learning about different types of books and eventually it will lead on to inspire children to tell/write their own stories.

If you would like to do some storytelling with your child at home, the following tips may help.

• Read through the story together. Talk about what happens.
• Choose some actions for parts of the story. Simple actions are best remembered.
• You could draw a story map. This may include little pictures or actions, drawn on to a piece of paper so that it is easier to see what is coming up, rather than having to flick through the book. We have included a picture of our Leaf Man story map to give you some ideas.

Have a lovely time together! The aim is to build confidence. Books can be daunting if you can’t read the words. This way, your child can retell a much loved story without having to recognise every word on the page.

If you would like to share any storytelling with you and your child at home, we would be delighted to see it on Tapestry!

Early Reading

We have been feeling very grown up in Reception lately as we are now taking home reading books to share with our important adults! The children have loved selecting their own books and feel more inspired to read if they have had a choice of what book to take home.

We have met our Oxford Reading Tree family, Mum, Dad, Chip, Biff, Kipper and Floppy. Not only do the children love these characters, parents are enjoying feeling nostalgic as many of them remember reading the books themselves when they were young!

Sharing your child’s reading book with them is one of the most important things you can do at home to help their progress in Literacy. To ensure that you and your child make the most of this special shared reading time together, the following tips might help:

• Talk about the pictures. Look at the front cover. Who/What can they see? What does your child think the book is going to be about?
• What sounds does your child know? Can they see any of the sounds they know in the text? Point to them together and make the sound.
• Sound out each word together by pointing to the letter and making the sound. Can your child hear the word when sounded out?
• When you finish the book, review it together. Was it about what your child thought it was about? Can you make up a different ending together?

But most of all have fun sharing the book together! We would love to hear how you get on.

Happy Reading!