Maths

To order and sequence familiar events

Activities

• Practise getting dressed in the morning. Talk about which items of clothes they would put on first and why.
• Make a sandwich together. Once the sandwich is made, talk through what you did together in order. Use the words first, next and last.
• Make a cake together. When you have made the cake, talk through what you did together in the correct order.
• Draw simple pictures for a familiar event e.g. brushing teeth or making a bowl of cereal. Mix up all the pictures and encourage your child to put them in the correct order. If you have a printer, you could use the ones listed below. 

Literacy

To recognise and write the letters ‘m’ and ‘a.’

To say the letter sounds

• Watch the YouTube clip to say them correctly.

m – is a stretchy sound.

a – is a bouncy sound.

Rhymes to help your child remember how to write the letters correctly

• Use the letter sound mat below

m – Maisie mountain mountain

a – round the apple and down the leaf

Activities to help recognise the letters

• Hide the letters in the garden and go on a letter sound hunt. Your child could move in different ways e.g. hop to the letter ‘m,’ skip to the letter ‘a’ etc.
• Spot letters in the story books you share together.
• Spot letters when you are out walking.
• Watch the alphablocks ‘m’ and ‘a’
• Make the alphablocks ‘m’ and ‘a’ characters using the printable sheet to colour and stick onto a tube. One of our nursery children has completed the alphablocks set over the past few weeks!

Activities to help write the letters

• Practise mark making the letters using cars dipped in paint. Move the cars to write the letter, forming it correctly.
• Mark make in sand/ porridge oats/ flour/ salt/ sugar etc writing the letters using their finger.
• Write the letters with chalk or with a paintbrush and water.
• Write the letters in playdough using a pencil.

Reading

During the summer term, your child would have been given a weekly ‘reading book.’ Please register at oxfordowl.co.uk for access to a reading book. You will need to enter the Oxford Owl for home site. You can browse an ebook and select ebooks for 3-4 years or select Book Band: Lilac. These books are wordless and are an important step to help your child to read.

Please read the same book over a few days, completing a few of the steps below each day.

How to read a wordless picture book with your child:

In the early stages of reading, books are wordless so your child can tell the story through the illustrations. Wordless books are valuable for developing childrens' early literacy skills. They engage children in prediction, critical thinking and storytelling. Guiding your child’s interaction with a wordless book can also develop a richer vocabulary and greater understanding that the story and the pictures are connected. These are all essential skills to ‘practise’ before your child starts reading books with words.

1. Begin by looking at the cover. What can you see? What clues to the story does the cover illustration show?
2. Tell your child the title of the story. Does the title give you any ideas about what the story might be about? Look at the picture on the front of the book. What do you think this book might be about?
3. Take a picture walk. Look through all the pages of the book with the sole purpose of enjoying the pictures. Talk about anything that captures your child's attention. Look carefully at the expressions on characters' faces, the setting and the use of colour in the book. These conversations will enrich the storytelling later. 
4. Next, ‘read’ the story. You might go first, inviting your child to add to your story as they see fit. Don’t be afraid to tell your story with dramatic flair. Add sound effects and interesting voices that suit the characters of your tale.
5. Encourage your child to take a turn telling their own version of the story. Focus on the words your child uses when they tell the story. Try to get them to talk in sentences. If they just say a string of words, repeat what they have said in a full sentence. Help your child expand their sentences or thoughts by encouraging them to add information from the illustration's details. One way to encourage more details is by asking "W" questions: Who? What? Where? When? Why?
6. After you have finished telling the story, ask questions about the book — which is your favourite illustration? Do you have a favourite part of the story or a favourite character? Why are they your favourite?