Getting ready to write!
The children are progressing quickly with their phonics learning and reading. Alongside blending to read, the children also need to segment words to spell. Children often find this harder and lack confidence in their ability to write.
In Reception, the children take part in shared writing activities where they can ‘have a go’ on whiteboards with the support of adults. We then encourage independent writing in all the areas of provision. This includes writing a label for their model, writing a shopping list in the role-play shop or writing a letter to a friend. We value all the children’s attempts at writing and model writing (and making mistakes) to them.
You can help at home by:
- Providing plenty of different types of pens and pencils and encouraging your child to use a correct grip
- Encouraging them to use the school’s handwriting style and to use lower case letters; we teach that a capital letter is required for the first letter in a name and at the beginning of a sentence
- Spelling is harder than reading words – praise, don’t criticise. Little whiteboards and pens are a good way for children to try out spellings and practise their handwriting
- Remember that at this stage children’s phonetic attempts are valued. They will learn the correct spellings of words later. We want the children to become confident writers by ‘having a go’ and using their phonetic knowledge independently.
- To be able to write, children need to be well co-ordinated through their whole body, not just their hands and fingers. Games that help co-ordination include throwing balls at a target, under-arm and over-arm, and bouncing balls – also skipping on the spot, throwing a Frisbee, picking up pebbles from the beach and throwing them into the sea.
Have fun!
STOP!
Today is anti-bullying day, part of national anti-bullying week. Several of our classes have taken part in anti-bullying dance workshops led by Melissa from Flex Dance Inc. All the artists of the songs used in the whole school performances have been victims of bullying in their lives. Well done to all the children involved who learned their routines in such a short time and produced very confident performances.
Last week at our latest School Council meeting, all school councillors agreed to keep our current definition of bullying:
Bullying is when you hurt someone, physically or emotionally, more than once and on purpose.
Alongside this definition we have used the following prompts for the children to remember:
- Several
- Times
- On
- Purpose
- Start
- Telling
- Other
- People
Advice about bullying is available on a number of websites. These include Kidscape, Childline, anti-bullying alliance, BBC and ThinkUKnow. Talk Time homework this week will give you chance to discuss this important topic with your child/children.
Our children tell us they would speak to an adult in school, family or friends if they were to experience bullying or if they saw bullying.
‘I feel safe because school would deal with bullying.’
‘I feel safe at school as there are always teachers there if you ever have any problems.’
‘I feel safe at school because everyone around me looks after me.’
Pupil health questionnaire 2013
If you do have any concerns about bullying, please speak to a member of staff.
Roundhay Juniors Park Run
Roundhay Juniors Park Run – Weekly Free 2km Timed Run for Juniors
http://www.parkrun.org.uk/roundhay-juniors/
It is only for juniors – if you’re not a junior, how about trying one of the weekly Saturday parkrun events?
What is Roundhay Juniors parkrun?
It is a 2km run for juniors only (4-14 year olds). If you are not a junior please try one of our weekly Saturday parkrun events instead.
When is it?
It is run every Sunday at 9:00am.
Where is it?
It’s run in Roundhay Park, Leeds. See Course page for more details.
http://www.parkrun.org.uk/roundhay-juniors/course/
What does it cost to join in?
Nothing – it’s free! Please register before your first run http://www.parkrun.org.uk/register/. Only ever register with parkrun once. Don’t forget to bring a printed copy of your barcode (request a reminder).
How fast do I have to be?
We all run for our own enjoyment. Please come along and join in whatever your pace! We’re friendly! Every week we grab a post parkrun coffee in a local café – please come and join us!
Spiders!
Reception are loving their topic on arachnids. They even made their own web!
It’s half-term…
…so no specific homework, spellings or tables this week. It’s a good time to relax and enjoy some time with your children – have you visited the free exhibition of Anthony Browne pictures at Leeds City Museum, for example?
More phonics
We have begun phase 2 of our phonics programme, ‘Letters and Sounds’.
In this phase children will continue practising what they have learned from phase 1, including ‘sound-talk’. They will also be taught the phonemes (sounds) for a number of letters (graphemes), which phoneme is represented by which grapheme and that a phoneme can be represented by more than one letter, for example, ll as in b-e-ll. We use Jolly Phonics actions to help children remember these phonemes. Each week the children will bring a set of letters home to learn. Please practise these every day and keep them in their book bag for us to add to.
Your child will be taught how to pronounce the phonemes correctly to make blending easier.
Sounds should be sustained where possible (e.g. sss, fff, mmm) and, where this is not possible, ‘uh’ sounds after consonants should be reduced as far as possible (e.g. try to avoid saying ‘buh’, ‘cuh’).
VC and CVC words
C and V are abbreviations for ‘consonant’ and ‘vowel’. VC words are words consisting of a vowel then a consonant (e.g. am, at, it) and CVC words are words consisting of a consonant then a vowel then a consonant (e.g. cat, rug, sun). Words such as tick and bell also count as CVC words – although they have four letters, they have only three sounds. For example, in the word bell, b = consonant, e = vowel, ll = consonant.
Now the children will be seeing letters and words, as well as hearing them. They will be shown how to make whole words by pushing magnetic or wooden letters together to form little words, reading words and breaking up words into individual sounds, which will help their spelling. These will be simple words made up of two phonemes, for example, am, at, it, or three phonemes, for example, cat, rug, sun, tick, bell.
How you can help at home:
Magnetic letters
Buy magnetic letters for your fridge.
Making little words together
Make little words together, for example, it, up, am, and, top, dig, run, met, pick. As you select the letters, say them aloud: ‘a-m – am’, ‘m-e-t – met’.
Breaking words up
Now do it the other way around: read the word, break the word up and move the letters away, saying: ‘met – m-e-t’.
Both these activities help children to see that reading and spelling are reversible processes.
Remember to make it fun!
Phonics
We are busy learning to identify alliteration and rhyme which will pave the way for the systematic learning of phonics.
The children are taking part in lots of activities where they listen attentively to sounds around them, such as sounds in the environment and to sounds in spoken language. Singing a wide range of nursery rhymes and songs and reading books to and with the children helps to increase the number of words they know – their vocabulary – and helps them talk confidently about books.
We are also learning to ‘sound talk’. The separate sounds (phonemes) are spoken aloud, in order, all through the word, and are then merged together into the whole word: d-o-g = dog. This merging together is called blending and is a vital skill for reading.
Children will also learn to do this the other way around: cat = c-a-t. The whole word is spoken aloud and then broken up into its sounds (phonemes) in order, all through the word. This is called segmenting and is a vital skill for spelling.
This is all oral (spoken). Your child will not be expected to match the letter to the sound at this stage. The emphasis is on helping children to hear the separate sounds in words and to create spoken sounds.
Ways you can support your child at home:
Play ‘What do we have in here?’ Put some toys or objects in a bag and pull one out at a time. Emphasise the first sound of the name of the toy or object by repeating it, for example, ‘c c c c – car’, ‘b b b b – box’, ‘ch ch ch ch – chip’.
Say: ‘A tall tin of tomatoes!’ ‘Tommy, the ticklish teddy!’ ‘A lovely little lemon!’ This is called alliteration. Use names, for example, ‘Gurpreet gets the giggles’, ‘Milo makes music’, ‘Naheema’s nose’.
Teach them ‘Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers’ and other tongue twisters.
Find real objects around your home that have three phonemes (sounds) and practise ‘sound talk’. First, just let them listen, then see if they will join in.
- ‘I spy a p-e-g – peg.’
- ‘I spy a c-u-p – cup.’
- ‘Where’s your other s-o-ck – sock?’
- ‘Simon says – put your hands on your h-ea-d.’
- ‘Simon says – touch your ch-i-n.’
- ‘Simon says – pick up your b-a-g.
Have fun!
Outdoor learning!
The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum emphasises the importance of the outdoor environment. As you know, we have enhanced our outdoor area to improve the quality of learning experiences for the children:
- Being outdoors has a positive impact on children’s sense of well-being and helps all aspects of children’s development.
- Being outdoors offers opportunities for doing things in different ways and on different scales than when indoors.
- It gives children first-hand contact with weather, seasons and the natural world.
- Outdoor environments give children freedom to explore, use their senses and be physically active and exuberant.
Funky Fingers!
Reception had fun developing their fine motor skills this week. Fine motor activities are essential to help your child develop the skills needed for good handwriting. Why don’t you try some of these activities at home?
- use padlocks and keys – how quickly can your child unlock them?
- clothes pegs – how many can your child peg around a box in one minute?
- how many small beads can (s)he pick up in one minute using tweezers?
- mix pasta and dried peas – can your child separate them using tweezers?
- how many bubble wrap bubbles can (s)he pop?
Don’t forget that gross motor skills such as climbing, carrying, pulling and pushing are important too!
Get set for a new park run
A new free weekly 2km run at Roundhay Park has been set up after a £1500 grant was provided by local councillors. The Roundhay Junior Park Run will take place every Sunday morning and is open to children aged between four and fourteen. Parkrun is a worldwide organisation which sets up and manages free weekly timed runs in parkland surroundings. Fancy a go yourself…? There is also a weekly 5km run every Saturday at 9am.
