Literacy: Wake up to spring
The Very Hungry Hedgehog is a spring story with a message about sharing. Claire Hewson suggests ways to use the experiences it describes to extend children's vocabulary and comprehension skills.
Literacy
Literacy is one of the seven areas of the early years foundation stage and is used to develop a child's ability read and write. Children show this in range of ways including understanding simple sentences, familiarity with phonics, demonstrating understanding of what they have read, the ability to write spoken sounds and words and even simple sentences.
Below you will find a range of practical articles and expert features that cover literacy to help you develop these skills and overcome challenges you might encounter. For more information on the EYFS you can download latest version of the statutory framework here.
Latest Practical
Literacy: ‘My family story’
Jenni Clarke kicks off a series exploring ‘in the moment planning’, outlining how this approach to children's learning can be harnessed effectively. Here she provides scenarios for using picture books as a key resource to support a ‘my family’ theme.
Literacy: Time for giving
Use the classic picture book The Smartest Giant in Town to help children reflect upon the joy of receiving and giving a gift. Explore ideas for giving, including a bake sale, to raise funds for a charity.
Literacy: A rhyme hunt
Judith Harries discusses how children can use the word play, onomatopoeia and rhyme found in Michael Rosen's much-loved children's books to develop their speaking skills and cooperative play.
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How to support home reading
Sally Player, Foundation Stage leader at Quilters Infant School in Billericay, Essex, urges teachers to adopt a creative approach to ensure all new children develop a love of reading, and recommends resources such as 100 High Frequency Wordcards.
Five activities to inspire your early years practice on National Poetry Day
From creating a small world play area to hunting for apples, there are lots of innovative ways children can explore poetry and rhyme.
Literacy: Saving every drop
Try these literacy-based activities and combine the development of children's reading and information gathering skills with learning about water conservation. Helping them to discover the importance of water is a good starting point.
Latest Features
Find the right words
With proposed changes to the EYFS profile placing greater emphasis on progress in reading, Sally Player looks at how high quality reading experiences can be delivered in Reception classes.
Giving children the ability to see the REAL World
Two programme leads outline how training for foster carers using the Raising Early Achievement in Literacy (REAL) approach has enhanced learning for looked after children in Sandwell, West Midlands.
Tuff decisions
Ailsa Chapman re-visits that stalwart of early years resourcing – the tuff tray, and suggests ways to extend its scope, with a range of imaginative ideas that children can take in any direction.
Glorious mud!
Winter is nearly over and if you’ve recently done an audit of your outdoor space, you might now be thinking about giving your mud kitchen a revamp, and introducing some new resources. If you haven’t yet set up a mud kitchen, now is definitely the time to start planning one.
Take your pick of classic picture books and discover new ways to enjoy them
Judith Harries’ series focusing on the best-loved and most widely acclaimed picture books has been steadily growing in the last six months. Here we round up some of the titles she has recently focused on with ideas for enjoying them and maximising their potential for learning.
Wrap up!
'There's no such thing as bad weather – just inappropriate clothing,' as the saying goes. Use children’s colourful winter clothing as a link to many areas of learning.