1. EYFS Parent Workshop 14 th October 2015 Miss Dhillon

2. Taking the pressure off It doesn’t matter if he can’t hold a pencil yet. But it would help if he developed fine motor skills. It doesn’t matter if he can’t write his name yet. But it would help if he recognised his name. It doesn’t matter if he can’t read books yet. But it would help if he were read to, if he was excited by stories, if he could retell stories and join in with chants from similar stories It doesn’t matter if he can’t draw a recognisable picture yet. But it would help if he used materials to draw circles and lines. It doesn’t matter if he can’t recognise letters of the alphabet yet. But it would help if he can hear the initial letter sound in words.

3. Writing is more than holding a pencil and making marks You need to start BIG: Provide scarves, ribbons, bubbles encourage the children to catch them, to make patterns by twirling the ribbons and scarves Provide decorating brushes and buckets of water encourage them to paint the walls and fences Provide low level climbing activities, planks to walk across Provide open cardboard boxes to crawl through

4. Writing is more than holding a pencil and making marks Many of the activities that help children to learn to write, do not actually involve children in writing: Scrunching up newspaper, tissue paper, popping bubble wrap Provide dough this can be rolled, cut, pounded and pinched Dried beans, pasta, lentils, rice transfer using a spoon, tweezers or index finger and thumb Provide a think layer of sand in a shallow tray, use index finger to make patterns and shapes Provide squeezy bottles filled with water make patterns on the ground

5. Activities to help with dressing Together lay out the clothes in the correct order. Sit the child on a low chair- not the floor. Reinforce by verbally repeating the correct sequence for getting dressed. Break the skills down to demonstrate how to put an item of clothing on. Begin with the easiest. Practise, use stretchy wristbands to pull onto arms. MAKE IT FUN- use timers, races etc