Preparing for Foundation Stage.
At home, please encourage your child to do things for himself/herself such as putting on a coat, going to the toilet and washing hands on his/her own, putting away something they have played with, or undressing/getting dressed.
Helping your child at home
Reading
There are lots of activities to develop your child’s reading skills e.g. jigsaws, matching games, looking at books together, encouraging your child to retell stories to you in their own words, talking about the pictures, ‘I spy’ games (using letter sounds), singing nursery rhymes etc. We will provide further information about reading with your child once they have settled.
The children are expected to keep their reading books in the plastic wallet provided. School book bags can be purchased from the school office. The Reading Record book that your child will receive is an important link between the teacher and home. We would very much appreciate it if you would write comments in this book when you share books with your child.
Writing
You will receive a copy of the how we encourage children to form their letters at St John’s. This is to help you to help your child. If you do any writing with your child at home please bear in mind the following points:
• Only use capital letters for the first letter of a name or the beginning of a sentence;
• Encourage your child to form the letters correctly. If the letters are formed incorrectly, your child will have difficulty in learning how to join their letters later on. The ‘flicks’ will help your child begin to form joined up writing in the future;
• Use the sounds when referring to the letters and not their names; this will help your child when they are learning to read;
•Please make sure that your child holds his/her pencil correctly between the thumb and first two fingers of the hand.
Mathematics
Numbers are everywhere, and we encourage a very practical
approach to early number work. Children learn math’s skills, like everything else, when they are:
• Playing;
• Talking and listening;
• Doing practical everyday things around the home;
• Watching adults using maths in everyday ways
For example, when you are doing the washing:
• talk about sorting the clothes into colours and whites;
• discuss the colours and patterns;
• count them onto the line; how many socks are there today?
Encouraging your child to talk with you about many different experiences will help develop their language and understanding. For example, using mathematical language such as long/short, big/little, same/different, heavy/light, full/empty, forward/back, on/under, over/below, in/out, more/less/the same.
Get Involved!
Feel free to come in and offer your help if you have a spare hour or so each week.
Please see below some useful Information leaflets to help support your child's learning at home.
Learning Numbers Through Play
At home, please encourage your child to do things for himself/herself such as putting on a coat, going to the toilet and washing hands on his/her own, putting away something they have played with, or undressing/getting dressed.
Helping your child at home
Reading
There are lots of activities to develop your child’s reading skills e.g. jigsaws, matching games, looking at books together, encouraging your child to retell stories to you in their own words, talking about the pictures, ‘I spy’ games (using letter sounds), singing nursery rhymes etc. We will provide further information about reading with your child once they have settled.
The children are expected to keep their reading books in the plastic wallet provided. School book bags can be purchased from the school office. The Reading Record book that your child will receive is an important link between the teacher and home. We would very much appreciate it if you would write comments in this book when you share books with your child.
Writing
You will receive a copy of the how we encourage children to form their letters at St John’s. This is to help you to help your child. If you do any writing with your child at home please bear in mind the following points:
• Only use capital letters for the first letter of a name or the beginning of a sentence;
• Encourage your child to form the letters correctly. If the letters are formed incorrectly, your child will have difficulty in learning how to join their letters later on. The ‘flicks’ will help your child begin to form joined up writing in the future;
• Use the sounds when referring to the letters and not their names; this will help your child when they are learning to read;
•Please make sure that your child holds his/her pencil correctly between the thumb and first two fingers of the hand.
Mathematics
Numbers are everywhere, and we encourage a very practical
approach to early number work. Children learn math’s skills, like everything else, when they are:
• Playing;
• Talking and listening;
• Doing practical everyday things around the home;
• Watching adults using maths in everyday ways
For example, when you are doing the washing:
• talk about sorting the clothes into colours and whites;
• discuss the colours and patterns;
• count them onto the line; how many socks are there today?
Encouraging your child to talk with you about many different experiences will help develop their language and understanding. For example, using mathematical language such as long/short, big/little, same/different, heavy/light, full/empty, forward/back, on/under, over/below, in/out, more/less/the same.
Get Involved!
Feel free to come in and offer your help if you have a spare hour or so each week.
Please see below some useful Information leaflets to help support your child's learning at home.
Learning Numbers Through Play