2. We use the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework when
working with your children and we focus on the 7 areas of
learning.
We refer to these as 3 prime and 4 specific areas of learning.
These areas are:
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Physical Development
• Communication and Language
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design
3. Basic Pre Writing Stages
• Mark making – chalk, pencils, crayons & paint.
• Gross motor play - climb, run, walk, bang, twist, turn, pull,
push & ride a bike/scooter.
• Fine motor development – use pencils, paint brushes, finger
paints & chop sticks.
• Play dough – develops strength with fingers and hands.
Encourage your child to knead, pinch, poke, roll & press.
• Lie on the floor and read a story.
4. What is a pincer Grip
A pincer grip allows a child to pick up small items using their
thumb and index finger. Once your child’s pincer grip has
developed they will be able to use dials, twist door handles,
turn the pages of a book, zip up coats, undo buttons on tops
& use pencils with precision.
7. How do I support my child developing
a secure pincer grip?
• Motivate your child to experiment with writing.
• Encourage children to explore various writing tools.
• Teach your child that spoken words can be written down.
• Lacing & threading activities.
• Popping bubble wrap.
• Posting games.
• Eat noodles using chop sticks.
• Use tongs & tweezers.
• Wind up toys.
• Use scissors and tear paper.
• Paint
• Mark make.
• Squeezing toothpaste through the tube & squeezing water out of sponges.
• Using a hole punch.
• Spray bottles.
8. Early Writing & Print –
It is all mixed up!
• Children are learning how print works.
• That it goes from left to right.
• They are naming and sounding the letters of the alphabet.
• They are gaining knowledge about sounds (phonological awareness).
• They are manipulating sound structures (sentences, rhymes)
• Blending & segmenting - Individual units of sound (phonemic
awareness – c / a / t)
• All the above = the foundations of reading.
• Children’s knowledge is constantly being integrated.
• They are developing their oral language.
• Exploring environmental print.
9. Phonic Knowledge
Children use their phonic knowledge to write letters
and words in a vast range of ways that match their
verbal/spoken sounds and words.
Children in FS1a are using around 8-10 languages
between them!
10. What Next?
• Daily reading – read to your child everyday even for 10 minutes. Talk about the illustrations
in books, ask your child what characters are in the story? Do they like the story? Why? Why
not?
• Gross motor development – running, moving in different directions, move fast/slow, riding
their bike, using the stairs independently.
• By now your child should not be using a pram/stroller/push chair on a daily basis, they
should not have a bottle or a dummy, they should be having between 10-12 hours sleep per
night and most of all their routines should be consistent.
• Use straws to drink water and milk – build up your child’s mouth muscles.
• Encourage them to water the plants, this will provide lots of opportunities to develop and
strengthen cross curricular interests and strengthen their hand and finger muscles.
• Challenge your child by asking them questions and developing their attention. Keep
activities short and to the point – use an egg timer to help keep them interested.
• Provide opportunities for your child to use scissors safely.
• Role model a range of verbal sentences and encourage your child to talk in sentences. Share
news about your day.
• Sing rhymes.
• Count objects, talk about shapes, describe shapes and build models using construction
materials.
