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Helpful Hints
Ideas for parents to help their children at home
#1 Have an empty scrapbook where you focus on one letter a week. Draw, use stickers or cut and paste pictures from magazines that begin with that letter. This is a wonderful individualised resource book you can refer to regularly to consolidate their learning.
#2 Children need to practice writing their name on worksheets when they are given out in class. Practise writing their name on drawings, paintings etc that they complete at home in order to practise this routine. When you print a picture for your child to colour, ask them to put their name on it first.
#3 When children are writing, drawing or colouring, make sure that their fingers and wrist are moving but not their whole arm.
#4 Point out that there are words everywhere - on signs on the road, in shops, on boxes of food, on packaging of toys, computer games, in books you are reading, on TV, things around the house, at the park, etc
#5 Mazes and dot to dot books are great for fine motor skills.
#6 It is fun to practise writing letters with different textures: in the sand box; with a paintbrush and water on the ground; using chalk; making letter shapes with play dough; making cookie dough into letters of the alphabet; using shaving cream and food colouring; using a fairy wand or magic wand in the air, etc. The possibilities and opportunities are endless!! Please remember to practice lower case letters before introducing upper case (capital) letters. This is important to ensure children are using the correct directionality of the letters and starting in the right position. This saves having to unlearn bad habits which is difficult to do. Always model and praise great writing.
#7 Find different purposes for writing: help make a shopping list; a card for a friend; construct a story together where the children can draw the pictures; write an email to someone; make a pretend shop with shopping tags etc. When text is purposeful and has an audience, children will gain more meaning from it. It doesn’t matter if it is a string of letters at first. Focus on the first sound and help them hear it so they can record it correctly.
Follow FINE for School on Facebook for more helpful hints and tips.
Ideas for parents to help their children at home
#1 Have an empty scrapbook where you focus on one letter a week. Draw, use stickers or cut and paste pictures from magazines that begin with that letter. This is a wonderful individualised resource book you can refer to regularly to consolidate their learning.
#2 Children need to practice writing their name on worksheets when they are given out in class. Practise writing their name on drawings, paintings etc that they complete at home in order to practise this routine. When you print a picture for your child to colour, ask them to put their name on it first.
#3 When children are writing, drawing or colouring, make sure that their fingers and wrist are moving but not their whole arm.
#4 Point out that there are words everywhere - on signs on the road, in shops, on boxes of food, on packaging of toys, computer games, in books you are reading, on TV, things around the house, at the park, etc
#5 Mazes and dot to dot books are great for fine motor skills.
#6 It is fun to practise writing letters with different textures: in the sand box; with a paintbrush and water on the ground; using chalk; making letter shapes with play dough; making cookie dough into letters of the alphabet; using shaving cream and food colouring; using a fairy wand or magic wand in the air, etc. The possibilities and opportunities are endless!! Please remember to practice lower case letters before introducing upper case (capital) letters. This is important to ensure children are using the correct directionality of the letters and starting in the right position. This saves having to unlearn bad habits which is difficult to do. Always model and praise great writing.
#7 Find different purposes for writing: help make a shopping list; a card for a friend; construct a story together where the children can draw the pictures; write an email to someone; make a pretend shop with shopping tags etc. When text is purposeful and has an audience, children will gain more meaning from it. It doesn’t matter if it is a string of letters at first. Focus on the first sound and help them hear it so they can record it correctly.
Follow FINE for School on Facebook for more helpful hints and tips.