ENGLISH
THE READING FRAMEWORK
The government published a document titled 'The Reading Framework' in July 2021 which we refer to in school to help us to give the children the best possible start to learning to read. There is some information included in the framework which emphasises the importance of 'talk' as the very first step for a child to become a good reader. The document says:
"Becoming a fluent, skilled and attentive reader starts at the earliest stages, before children encounter a book for the first time, partly driven by the quality of their parents’ talk with them that expands their vocabulary."
This is why in EYFS we have a big focus on the importance of talk, through conversations with the children, child to child talk and activities such as Talk Boost and 'Word of the Week' to expand their vocabulary. The more you can talk to your children at home the better!
Reading to children is also incredibly important. The Reading Framework lists the following statistics:
"Researchers in the United States who had looked at the impact of parents reading with their children quoted the following figures in a news release about their findings:
Here’s how many words kids would have heard by the time they were 5 years old: Never read to, 4,662 words; 1–2 times per week, 63,570 words; 3–5 times per week, 169,520 words; daily, 296,660 words; and five books a day,1,483,300 words."
So reading to your child has a huge impact on their vocabulary! We read books to the children daily in school and encourage parents to read to your children at home.
handwriting
The children have been learning to write letters in our handwriting sessions. At Stafford Leys we use the cursive handwriting style. Please click on the link below to download an overview of how to form all of the letters of the alphabet using the cursive style.
| letter_join_formation.pdf |
Please also find below some advice for those children that are left handed.
| left-handedguidance.pdf |
Before doing any handwriting we do Dough Disco with the children using a small ball of playdough. The reason we do this is it allows the children's fingers and hands to warm up before writing and allows their fingers to connect to their brains - they are then 'ready to write.'
Try this video below:
Try this video below:
How to form the letters i, l and t
Please spend some time with your child watching the video below to see how to form the letters 'i, l and t' that we have learnt to write at school.
how to form the letters u, j and y
Please spend some time with your child watching the video below to see how to form the letters 'u, j and y' that we have learnt to write at school.
how to form the letters c and o
Please spend some time with your child watching the video below to see how to form the letters 'c and o' that we have learnt to write at school.
