writing in reception

[midseasonsale]

Please can someone explain how children generally go from not being able to write to being able to write. When do kids usually start to write very basic sentences and how do they get to this point? What sort of activities do they do? It just seems like one huge jump for such a small person.

They learn to write the letters, then they learn from their phonic knowledge to write simple words. Then they put them together to make a sentence. YR does activities like "hold a sentence", errrrr, am sure a teacher will come on and explain that. DS would come home with a sheet with a sound and then a sentence using words with that sound (RWI). If they were a bit more advanced they were encouraged to write their own extra sentences.

DS started writing letters after half term first term of Reception and by the end could write a few sentences- I think most could write a sentence by the end of YR, at least that was the teacher's target.

It's because Reception teachers have special magical powers!

It is amazing. DD entered reception able to write her name and form a good few letters. I was looking at her Learning Journey the other day and the first few things pasted in are her writing pseudo letters, with the teacher writing below what she had wanted to say. By the end it was fully formed sentences with some punctuation and even the beginnings of joined up writing!

Just amazing what her teachers have helped her achieve through 'play'

It really depends on the ability of the child, some children are still struggling to write in sentences in year 2 and some children are writing paragraphs by the end of reception. Start with sounds, then words and then sentences. Phonics is very important in all this, of course. As is speaking and listening. Can children speak in sentences? It's important that they speak in proper sentences before attempting to write it down. Rehearsing a sentence, counting how many words in a sentence and using a talking tin (a recording device ) all help to write a sentence and checking for missed words. For most children, it's a slow, gradual and sometimes painful process, but very rewarding too.

Thought you'd enjoy reading this teacher's diary -guided writing in Reception

www.phonicsinternational.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=333&sid=75b30308fdbee8ee00f1cb8c4e3104fe

Thanks gals/guys. It's really interesting to read your posts. I was wondering if anyone knew what the expectations for writing are by the end of the year? What sort of level do they want kids to achieve by July?

Writing: children use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They also write some irregular common words. They write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible.