Supporting your child with developing their early writing skills Parents Workshop 28th & 29th April Welcome INSERT PICTURE OF A CHILD IN SCHOOL WRITING

Supporting your Child’s Early Writing Development Facts about Writing Writing is a vital life skill in our society Writing is not easy to learn or to teach- it is a complex set of skills Writing is needed for all areas of learning in school Writing can be functional and creative Two clear parts of teaching writing – secretarial and compositional Children who can write well have higher self esteem

Writing expectations for Nursery age children Keep in mind each child is an individual and will develop at different speeds Nursery Draws lines and circles using gross motor movements Holds pencil between thumb and 2 fingers, no longer using whole hand grasp Holds pencil near point between thumb and 2 fingers and uses it with good control Can copy some letters EG from their name Sometimes give meaning to the marks they make Ascribe meaning to marks they see in different places Reception Shows a preference for dominant hand Begin to use anti-clockwise movement and retrace vertical lines Begin to form recognisable letters Uses a pencil and holds it effectively to form recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed Write some irregular common words leading to writing simple sentences Spell some words correctly and makes phonetically plausible attempts at others Repeatable learning objectives taught throughout the school. Mile stones/ expectations become more challenging as they develop as writers. This is in line with NC 2014. Could we show/ talk about some examples of writing at expected levels here??

Understanding the Stages of Learning to Write Developmental stages of children’s early writing Random scribble Scribble that looks like writing Individual shapes that look like letters Some real letters used randomly (especially letters form their names) Letters and shapes written from left to right across the page Individual letters used to represent words (initial sounds) More than one letter used to represent a word Transitional Phases Standard Spelling

How we teach early mark making Carefully plan the provision that encourages mark making in all areas of the Nursery Develop gross motor skills Develop fine motor skills and strength in hands Involve the children in purposeful mark making through role-play, writing labels for display, writing messages, drawing maps Opportunities for some focused writing sessions We talk with the children about any marks they make drawing, chalking, painting, IWB For each phase/ meeting we could tailor this by giving examples of activities/ show photos? Read out some amazing writing by some of our kids??

Provision in the Nursery Stimulating writing area Sensory activities planned daily Opportunities to write planned for indoors and outdoors Mark making tools and resources provided in all areas Focused activities to support children’s development of all gross and fine motor skills

Development of gross motor skills Able to draw circles & straight lines PE sessions – gym, games (skipping, tennis) Tennis rackets bubbles Climbing – during PE sessions, using outdoor equipment, trees Window washing Using ribbons and scarves to make large movements Movement and dance sessions Building with large blocks Jedi or wand writing

Development of fine motor skills Using tweezers Finger rhymes Cooking – chopping, mixing Play-dough – rolling, twisting Using small construction EG Duplo, blocks Using different tools to make marks Pegs and peg boards Using clothes pegs Painting, drawing, chalking

Opportunities to write and make marks

Moving children’s mark making on

What can parents do? * Make your home a ‘Reading’ home * Surround your children in rich language * Opportunities to strengthen gross motor movements EG climbing, playing tennis, using monkey bars * Opportunities to develop fine motor movements EG cooking, using play-dough, small construction sets * Let your child see you as a writer writing lists, notes, letters, emails, diaries and encourage them to ‘write’ for the earliest age EG signing cards, adding to shopping lists * Use opportunities in the environment around you EG writing in steam in the shower, in the sand on the beach, in the mud, in paint, shaving foam * Take part in the REAL project Value all attempts they make at mark making