Reception Curriculum Evening 24th October 2012 The Early Years Foundation Stage Just a reminder… • The Early Years Foundation Stage ensures there is consistency in provision for children from birth to five. • We provide the foundations for future learning. • ‘Early Learning Goals’ are set within this framework – the knowledge, skills and understanding that children should have acquired by the end of their first year at school. • The ‘Early Learning Goals’ are based around seven areas of learning and development. Seven areas of learning and development Prime areas • Communication and language • Physical development • Personal, social and emotional development Specific areas • Literacy development • Mathematics • Understanding the world • Expressive arts and design Communication and language Speaking and listening • Unlocks the door to reading and writing! • The more words children know and understand before they start phonics work the better equipped they are to succeed. • Stories, rhymes, drama and songs fire children’s imagination and interest and encourage them to talk a lot, increase their vocabulary and improve their use and choice of words. To be a successful reader and writer… Ingredients: Phonics Letter formation Key words Speaking and listening Time to practise A successful reader can… • Use a range of strategies with a strong emphasis on phonics • Recognise high frequency words, many of which cannot be sounded out phonetically • Look at context and other clues to assist in understanding text E.g. Using pictures Reading At school • Individual, group and shared reading • Phonics sessions and high frequency words • Oxford Reading Tree (ORT) is our main scheme At home • Sharing and talking about books, rhymes and stories • Look at and talk about printed language in their environment, on food packets, road signs, labels and leaflets • Read ‘target’ books and write in the reading diary What is phonics? • Phonics involves teaching how to connect the sounds of spoken English with letters or groups of letters. E.g. a says a. • Although there are 26 letters in the alphabet there are 44 phonemes in the English Language. • A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a word. E.g. c-a-t • We use a letter or a group of letters to represent these sounds (grapheme – how it is written). E.g. c-a-t • Pure sounds – don’t add ‘uh’! Phonics • We follow the ‘Letters and Sounds’ programme with ‘Cued Articulation’ signs to support. • ‘Letters and Sounds’ is a six phase programme that aims to ensure that by the end of KS1 children develop fluent word reading skills and have good foundations in spelling. • Daily 20 minute sessions. Letters and Sounds Phase 1 • • • Activities to promote speaking and listening skills Phonological awareness Oral blending and segmenting. Sound talk! • • • Learning to pronounce sounds in response to letters Blending sounds for reading Segmenting words for spelling • • • Completes teaching of the alphabet Introduces sounds represented by more than one letter Begin learning at least one representation for each of the 44 sounds • • • • Learning to blend and read words containing adjacent consonants Learning to segment and spell words containing adjacent consonants Read and spell the tricky words Write each letter, usually correctly Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 What does ‘learning a letter’ involve? • Recognising the shape of the letter from other letter shapes • Recognising and articulating a sound (phoneme) associated with the letter shape • Recalling the shape of the letter when given its sound • Writing the shape of the letter with the correct movement • Naming the letter Phonics at home Sounds sent home each week: • Cued articulation action and letter shape • Correct letter formation • Letters to cut out for word games • Words for reading and spelling High Frequency Words • Sight words should be read ‘automatically’ (improves the fluency of reading) • Some can be sounded out and some can’t be sounded out (tricky words) High frequency words at home • Sets of words sent home will mainly consist of tricky words • Children need to recognise these words automatically • Keep in book bags Suggested activities: • Matching games • Flash cards • Spot the words in stories A Successful Writer • Children begin with ‘wiggles and squiggles’. • They begin to ascribe meaning to these marks. • Increasingly use phonic knowledge and letter formation in their writing. • Write simple ‘CVC’ words as knowledge increases. ‘Wiggles and squiggles’ Letters with meaning Beginning to use phonic knowledge Writing simple words What you can do to help! • Encourage your child to draw, paint etc. • Show children your writing, shopping lists, things to do, cards. • Make scrap books, write postcards, party invitations. • Develop fine motor skills by cutting, sewing, dot-todots etc. • Encourage your child to have a go and praise all of their efforts! Mathematics Children will have opportunities to: • Experience counting games, number rhymes, songs and stories • Count objects • Learn the order of numbers • Recognise numerals • Write numerals correctly • Sort and match objects by colour, size and shape • Recognise and recreate patterns • Use mathematical understanding to solve practical problems Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division Maths at home • Point out numbers around you, on houses, cars, television channels, cookers and microwaves, • Say number names in order as you climb the stairs, count teddies on a bed, plates on the table. • Compare quantities, who has the most sweets, which shopping bag is heavier? • We will regularly send home a challenge linked to what we have been learning about at school. Any questions?