Sheen Mount Primary School, October 2019

EYFS - The building blocks for writing readiness

We would like the children at Sheen Mount to see drawing and writing as an enjoyable fun

experience. Developing a child’s mark making skills in the early years will allow them to learn to

control a pencil in such a way that it becomes automatic. In so doing 100% of their attention can

shift to generating text! Before children are ready to start writing letters, they need to have

developed a range of other skills, which contribute to them being able to hold and use a pencil

effectively to draw and write.

Hand and finger strength: writing is tiring and can discourage children from persevering. Try

using play dough, squeezing tweezers and pegs to build up finger strength and fine motor control.

Crossing the midline: being comfortable to reach across to the other side of your body. Try dance

moves where arms and legs cross the body or painting at an easel using only one hand.

Pencil grip: top tips to help develop the tripod pencil grip -

• ‘Froggy fingers’: “Put your Froggy legs [thumb and forefinger] on the

end of the painted part of the pencil with the pencil across the frog’s

back [back of the hand], then put the log under the frog” [middle finger

supporting the pencil to complete the tripod grip]”

• ‘Pick and Flick’: Place the pencil on the table in-front of the writing hand, so it forms a

straight line up the table with the writing tip of the pencil pointing towards you. Then

using your thumb and index finger pinch the pencil about 2 cm up from the tip. With

your other hand push the pencil down until the pencil is supported in the cup (web of

skin that joins the thumb, hand and index finger) and the pencil is resting on the inner

edge of middle finger.

Children need to learn to rest their wrist on a table and to use their non-dominant hand to hold

the paper still.

Hand eye coordination: where your eyes and hands work together to accomplish a task such as

catching a ball or jumping to touch bubbles that are being blown.

Bilateral integration: using two hands together where one hand is the lead and the other helps.

eg, opening a jar, sharpening a pencil or cutting paper, threading, clipping/pegging, zips, tearing.

Upper body strength and postural control: a child needs to have developed gross motor skills to

be able to write - a child’s neck and trunk need to be stable to support the other limbs and prevent

fatigue. Try things like kneeling whilst painting at an easel or ‘tummy time’ when playing or

drawing on the floor, animal walking and climbing.

Object manipulation: children need to be able to effectively use tools and equipment such as a

toothbrush, hair brush, crayons, spoon and fork. Encouraging independence will give children a

lot more practice at using their hands with growing efficiency.

Visual perception: the brain needs to interpret what our eyes see, play games like spot the

difference.

Hand division: this is when children only use their thumb, index and middle fingers to manipulate

something, and keep fingers 4 and 5 curled up within the hand. Try sorting marbles, buttons or

small shells into groups by colour or size. This is clearly a precursor to learning to hold a pencil!

Spacial and temporal vocabulary: words that are often used when children are learning to write

letters, such as top, go up to, go down to, around, back…

Children should be able to form these shapes when mark

making, before starting to write letters:

Here are some examples of some more activities that you might do at home to help develop

your child’s fine motor skills, which will help with pencil grip and rotation involved in writing:

Playdough—pinching, squeezing, with thumb and forefinger, poking, rolling to make a

snake.

Threading—beads, pasta straws. Make necklaces.

Picking up small objects using the thumb and index finger, learning to use tweezers and

pipettes or small eye droppers. Count dried peas into a pot or post pennies into a money

box or use inset puzzles.

Finger rhymes—stretching and curling fingers, moving them independently.

Water play—using spray toys and spray bottles. Water the flowers, spray the path or

windows.

Craft activities—glue sticks and paint brushes. Making collages with paper, decorating

with sequins.

Icing cakes—using a plastic dispenser to push and squeeze out the icing.

Strengthening activities—swinging from a climbing frame, grasping to climb, crawling

through tunnels.

Stirring cake mixtures — using a two handed operation, one to hold the bowl the other to

stir. Encourage anti-clockwise rotation.

Making powder paint and blending colours– as with mixing a cake.

These activities encourage mark making - this should go beyond pencil and paper and include

a range of textures and media

Paint using an easel and large brushes.

Paint the paving stones with water.

Draw shapes in the air with a wand.

Dance with a ribbon in your writing hand.

Chalk on the ground, on boards or dark coloured sugar paper.

Draw in the sand.

Finger paint with cold water paste and powder paints.

Make rubbings on rough surfaces.

Draw in cornflour ‘slime’, baby lotion or sand.

Remember children’s marks and drawings are their way of communicating and sharing

observation of their world. The adult’s role is to encourage, praise and celebrate their

achievements. We hope you have fun developing these skills with your child at home.

Gross Motor Skills activities

Core body strength:

Crab walking

Commando crawl

Gorilla walk

Make a bridge and hold it

(drive cars underneath)

Pushing – wall or person or

heavy moveable object

Ball walk – push up wall, then

walk it along

Hold beanbag between knees and sit up,

keeping legs/ feet in position

Walk along tight rope with bean bag on head

– pickup object

Shoulder strength:

Hand pushes and hold for 5 seconds

Chair push ups – take feet off ground too and hold for 5

seconds

Pulling – tug of war, rope tied to railing, monkey bars and

rope at playground

Big drawing - lying down or standing up is better.

Using chalk, big whiteboards, painting with big brushes or rollers on walls. Driving toy

cars around with paint on the wheels, rolling balls through paint.

Drawing that crosses the mid line (lazy 8s and x). Shape drawing that encourages spatial

awareness e.g. draw plate, draw pizza on plate, tomato on pizza, pepperoni etc.

Drawing lines, crosshatching etc.

Sheen Mount EYFS Literacy Evening, 24th October 2019

Stages of Writing Development

6. Letter Strings (Familiar letters, e.g. name,

progresses from top to

bottom, left to right when

child ‘reads’ it.)

(We went to the store)

10. Early Inventive

Spelling (Child begins to add more

consonant sounds. 1 letter

may represent an entire

syllable or word. Some words

may overlap, but some word

spaces included.)

Sheen Mount EYFS Literacy Evening – 24th October 2019

Handwriting Development

In order for children to eventually acquire a legible, fluent and fast

handwriting style, they need to develop certain skills, including:

Good gross and fine motor control.

Language to talk about shapes and movements.

The main handwriting movements involved in the three basic letter shapes

as exemplified by: l c r

It is particularly important when using pencils and felt tips that you help

your child hold the pencil correctly, using the tripod grip. You could try:

‘Froggy fingers’: “Put your Froggy legs [thumb and forefinger] on the end

of the painted part of the pencil with the pencil across the frog’s back [back

of the hand], then put the log under the frog” [middle finger supporting the

pencil to complete the tripod grip]”

‘Pick and Flick’: Place the pencil on the table in-front of the writing hand,

so it forms a straight line up the table with the writing tip of the pencil

pointing towards you. Then using your thumb and index finger pinch the

pencil about 2 cm up from the tip. With your other hand push the pencil

down until the pencil is supported in the cup (web of skin that joins the

thumb, hand and index finger) and the pencil is resting on the inner edge of

middle finger.

When practising ‘Sheen Mount’ writing remember that it can done on any

scale. It is essential to provide children with a line, as all letters begin on

the line and most end there. Have patience! Remember how hard it is to

acquire a new skill.

Happy Writing!

Sheen Mount EYFS Literacy Evening – 24th October 2019

High Frequency/ Tricky Words

High frequency words are words that appear very often in written texts.

They are a mixture of decodable words (words that can be sounded out)

and tricky/exception words (words in which the English spelling code works

in an unusual or uncommon way, which means the words have to be learned

and recognised by sight).

(italic = tricky words)

a an as at if in

is it of off on can

dad had back and get big

him his not got up mum

but the to I no go

into

will that this then them with

see for now down look too

he she we me be was

you they all are my her

We will begin to cover the following words at the end of Reception, leading

into year 1:

went it’s from children just help

said have like so do some

come were there little one when

out what put could should would

Sheen Mount EYFS Literacy Evening, 24th October 2019

Approaches to reading with your child

On different days you could focus on a different aspect e.g.

Telling the story using just the pictures

Sound detectives / adding sound buttons (beans and sausages)

Tricky word hunt

Reading (adult or child)

Retelling using pictures – can children add in detail/ description? Could they

continue the story or change parts?

Rereading

Before beginning reading:

Look at front cover – make predictions about the plot, characters etc.

Read the title together – Does this inform predictions further?

Identify author and illustrator – Have they read other books by same people?

Read the blurb – Why is it there? What does it tell us about the book? Were our

predictions correct?

Go for a ‘walk through the book’ and ask the child what they think happens, looking

at pictures etc.

Do they notice any tricky words as you ‘walk through’?

Then begin reading…

When reading:

Use phonics to sound out words – have Jolly Phonics resources to hand to support.

If the child encounters a hard word or a tricky word, they haven’t learned yet, tell

them these words or prompt them with the initial sound or the pictures.

Constantly refer to cues – pictures, context, does that make sense?

Make sure the child tracks words with their finger and turns pages, not the adult.

Take note of the page and text layout.

Look at punctuation and discuss, e.g.

- Full stop – used because the bit about that topic/ subject/ event has

finished.

- Speech marks

- Exclamation marks - how it shows feeling and influences expression

- Size of letters and use of capitals e.g. to denote shouting/ loud.

Note repeated phrases – encourage recognition to improve fluency.

Note rhyme and alliteration.

Take time to reflect and discuss events, characters etc. making comparisons to own

experiences and other books.

- Make predictions about what happens next.

- Discuss the setting and characters actions.

- What were their favourite parts and why?

- How would you change or continue the story?

Most importantly, make it fun, enjoyable and exciting!

Stop if the child is tired or disinterested and continue another day – making it a chore will

only make them disaffected.