Reception Home Learning
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A few parents have asked us about expectations for writing with children in Reception and Year 1 - especially around spelling. We've produced this extra guide that we hope will help.
Writing with Year 1 and Reception Children
It has been lovely to see the children working so hard at home over the last few days and we are really pleased that they are enjoying the writing tasks. Please remember that they are very young and we do not expect their spelling to be perfect! Sound mats are attached to the tasks each day and it is really important that the children use them and try to sound out words for themselves. Inevitably, they will hear sounds in words that they do not yet know how to write and it is preferable that they have a go, even though the spelling may not be correct. For example, a Year 1 child might spell gingerbread phonetically and write ‘jinjrbred.’ That is what we might expect at this stage and it is more important that they have had a go themselves than that the spelling is correct. In reception, a child might not even hear all those sounds, perhaps just ‘jngrbd’ and that is fine too. We do appreciate that it is very difficult to replicate the writing process that takes place in school but we are truly very grateful for all your efforts!
Many thanks
Reception and Year 1 team.
Writing with Reception Children
We understand that it can be challenging to write with your reception child. They have not been learning phonics for long and writing is a very newly acquired skill! We have made a short video of one of our teachers writing with a reception child to show you how we tackle writing in school. Your child is likely to need you to repeat words slowly and in an exaggerated manner several times. They may benefit from you using the handwriting phrases with them which are in their green phonics book (e.g. to form the letter a, we would say, 'round the apple and down the leaf'.) They will probably need reminding to use finger spaces and to try to sit their letters on the line. Children won’t always hear all of the sounds in every word (no matter how hard you try!) and this is perfectly normal at this age, just encourage them to try their best and write down the sounds they can hear. It is hugely beneficial for them to try and write a short amount each day to practise their skills and we look forward to seeing some of the work they produce.
Thank you for your support.
Please click here to watch our short video.