Writing and Writing and phonics workshop

phonics workshopIvy Gardens Children’s Centre

What will we be doing?

0How children learn to write and what your role as a parent is in supporting writing.

0Games and activities to do with writing to help your child at home.

0Where children need to be a the end of Reception before starting Year 1.

Writing your name

0Being able to write their name is the gateway to writing for your child.

0 It is easy for us as adults but we quickly forget the skills you need to do this successfully.

0We are going to write our names, but from right to left AND upside down.

What do we need to know to write?

Writing goes from left to right

Where letters start

How letters are formed

Letters mean something

Letters need to be in a certain order to make sense

How much pressure to use to make the pencil work

Once I’ve written something it will always say that

How to hold a pencil

What to do with the rest of my body when I write

Before we can write…0Fine motor skills

0Children can’t ‘just write’…it would be like running a marathon with no training, we have to build up strength in our shoulders, arms, hands and fingers.

0Some ideas…using a knife and fork to eat meals, climbing and swinging from playground equipment, screwing up paper and flicking it, lacing, threading, playing with lego, helping with housework at home.

Preparing for handwriting 0Children need to have an understanding of shapes,

lines and movement before they can start writing letters.

0 It is unlikely they will move from ‘making marks’ to writing their name, there are steps in between.

To take home…pattern sheets to help with movement and lines

Letter formation

0Only use capital letters for the beginning of sentences, places names etc.

0Follow the school writing style to support your child (this is helping your child to build up to joined-up writing).

0Help your child see patterns of letter formation0Use pictures and letter ‘patters’ to help your child to

remember formations.

0 Curly caterpillar family0 Anticlockwise movements0 c, o, a, d, g, q, s, f, e,0  0 One-armed robot family0 Down, up and over movements0 r, n,m, h, b, p, ,0  0 Long ladder family0 Mainly down and round movements0 i, I, t, j, u, y, 0  0 Zig-zag monster0 Diagonal movements0 v, w, x, z, k

Seeing patterns in letter formation, help your child to look for letter ‘families’.

Writing with your child

0Does your child see you write?0Some ideas of things you could do together…

0Shopping lists, postcards, telephone message, thank you cards etc.

Where children need to be…

0Let’s look at some examples of writing from Reception.0These examples show the level of

writing we would like children to produce before they move onto Year 1.

http://www.twinkl.co.uk/

http://www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/kentict/content/games/index.htm

http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/ngfl-flash/alphabet-eng/alphabet.htm

http://doorwayonline.org.uk/letterformation.html

http://www.ictgames.com/sky_writing.html

http://www.oup.com/oxed/primary/rwi/forparents/

Some websites to support with writing and letter formation