Ideas

At our last parent meeting, we talked about encouraging children with writing at home.  We talked about how it was not necessary for children to write out their home reading book, but if they want to copy words and draw pictures about the story, then let them.  We also talked about ways you might like to support your children's writing:

• Have different sorts, colours and sizes of paper available for writing on
• Make a pair of suitable sized scissors available for children to cut the paper into different sizes or shapes
• Different writing tools eg coloured pencils, pens, crayons, felts, whiteboard markers, etc all make writing exciting and allow variety
• A stapler, hole punch, stencils, selotape can all add details to the different sorts of books that children could make
• Children love to show and display their work for others to see, so you could have a wall space or a notice board at home for this
• Magnetic letters and a magnetic board allow children to experiment with moving letters to make words 

Some parents also wanted to know what sorts of websites and apps are available that they could use at home with their children.  There are many available - some you may find more appealing than others.  I have included some here from the list that was handed out to parents, but this is by no means a definitive list:

Websites:  

·       Type into Google - ESOL resources for children aged 5-8 in reading, writing and maths - many, many websites are available eg:

·       ESOL Kids' Lab

·       ESL Kids' World

·       Study English Today

·       KIZ School

·       English 4 Kids

·       Starfall

·       Learning English

·       Studyladder

·       The 50 Best ESL Resources ...

Apps:

· Bobble Write - good for students who are learning to write the English alphabet

· Zubadoo stories - series of traditional tales eg The Three Little Pigs

· Educreations - you can take a photo, add text, draw using your finger and record your voice

· iTalk - is like a dictaphone and is great for children to read a story then play it back and hear how it sounds