What an exciting day it is for me today! I got into this blogging game because I wanted to share about life with kids; my love for play, math games, writing, reading and anything else that I am wildly excited about. Today, I have joined the amazing team as a regular contributor over at, (can you believe it), Childhood 101?! I love celebrating the joys of family, home and childhood, and now I can also do this over at Childhood 101!

That’s quite enough exclamation marks for one post. Head on over to Childhood101.com for my post, Supporting Literacy through Listening.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

The post Supporting Literacy Through Listening by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

Whenever people write, they have something to say. This is no different with children who are learning to write.

Being able to write enables children to express their thoughts and experiences. Learning to write, and learning to read, is a huge task. As with all other aspects of literacy, when kids write, they have to think about many things, simultaneously. Writing, like other aspects of literacy, is not easy and can be understandably frustrating and discouraging. Children need plenty of feedback and encouragement.

Here are a few ways parents can help kids write:

1. Focus on the good things rather than the mistakes. Mistakes are part of the process of learning, but by focusing on the good things, children are more likely to remain confident and be prepared to take risks and enjoy writing while they develop their writing skills.

2. Let kids see you writing all sorts of things. E.g. shopping lists, cards, letters, emails, filling out forms, etc.

3. Listen to them as they read their written work. Be interested, limit distractions, value what they say and follow their lead.

4. Provide a dedicated place for writing. Set up a writing area where they can go to independently and write. Make it inviting and have writing supplies readily available.

5. Make personalized books with your children. Collect pictures from catalogues or use photos as writing prompts.

6. Display your children’s writing. Show you value their written work.

7. Keep a family journal. Add something at least once a week – write about special days, achievements, activities, jokes, etc. Read the journal regularly.

8. Give gifts that encourage writing. I love receiving notebooks (lol), but some other gift ideas include specialty papers and pens.

9. Use new technologies. E.g. word processors. Where fine motor skills are hindering the actual physical task of handwriting, using new technologies may help keep children motivated with writing, while they continue to build up their fine motor skills.

10. Write daily. We learn to write by writing. Write every day.

What’s your best tip for helping kids write?

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

The post Literacy: Helping Kids Write by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

Why are boys as a group performing less well than girls in literacy related tasks? Girls achieve higher levels of literacy than males across a range of studies conducted in a range of countries (ACER, 2003). We’ve somehow created a system where large groups of boys, resist and reject literacy.

Perhaps more boys than girls are identified as having learning difficulties because of boys’ aggressive and disruptive classroom behaviours? Perhaps it is because their (boys’) culture is not working within schools (Carr-Chellman, 2010).

I really feel passionately about ways to improve literacy achievements and performances of boys, especially as a mother of three boys. Here are some ways we can support boys to form healthy, constructive attitudes and perceptions of literacy, (Makin & Diaz, 2002):

1. Make sure toddlers, both boys and girls, have access to and engage with literacy experiences. A child’s interest in literacy learning is not determined by their biology. Don’t dismiss as normal (and acceptable), a boys’ disengagement with literacy activities purely because he is a boy.
2. Ensure male parents and other male role models are involved in early literacy activities and learning. Let boys see and hear Dads, Uncles, and Grandpas reading and writing.
3. Challenge the perception that literacy, (reading and writing), is just for girls. Promote men as readers and men as writers; watch, or talk to male authors, reporters, writers.
4. Make literacy relevant to boys by working with a broad range of texts e.g. magazine and film texts of interest to groups of boys. Don’t push just narratives on them, include non-fiction books, and don’t say that a comic book is not a book!
5. Work with new technologies to encourage boys to participate in language activities. If gaming is their culture, find ways to work with it.

As I brace myself for N & M starting school, although it’s still a few months away, I hope the enthusiasm they have about literacy now stays just as bright when they do start school. Actually, I hope that with school, their enthusiasm for literacy and literature will grow even brighter!

Do you have a son or sons? What are their attitudes to literacy?

More Activities for Preschoolers

Three to Five: Playful Preschool is stuffed to the brim with tried, tested and loved playful learning ideas for preschoolers. There are 25+ ideas for preschoolers, ten printable resources and additional links to over 50 more activities. A great resource for parents. Download your copy here.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment; I’d love to hear from you. If you are new here, you might like to receive updates direct to your email. We have many fun ideas to share.

Reference: 
Makin, L & Diaz, C.J. 2002, ‘Literacies in early childhood: changing views, challenging practice’, Elsevier Australia, Marrickville, New South Wales, Australia.

The post Literacy: Five Ways To Help Boys by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

My kids are nuts about birthday parties. It doesn’t matter if the birthday party is a real event or a play event, it’s always met with a smile. I am often able to bring tantrums to a halt with the mere suggestion of having a (pretend) birthday party. Tears stop as we gather friends around. There’s the busy scuffle as we sort out the party food. There’s always cake, of course, but not before we all sing the “Happy Birthday” song.

There are as many definitions of play as there are people. I most definitely believe in the importance of free play. However, I also believe that structured play has its’ place.

In this series, writing through structured play, you will find structured play scenarios with various literacy opportunities. Literacy is often confined to reading and writing.

However, literacy includes talking, listening, visual literacies (eg viewing and drawing), and critical thinking.
Structured play gives an excellent opportunity to build on a child’s previous experiences. Today, we’re all about birthday parties. Creating structured play of a birthday party provides opportunities for a number of literacy events. This may include:

• Decisions about the party: lists of we need / plan of layout
• Invitations: letters/emails/phone/video invitations.
• Getting help for the party: letters / emails / phone invitations for help from friends and family.
• Cooking for the party: recipes/information about allergies of guests/shopping lists for food
• Shopping for party supplies: searching for suppliers/shopping lists for supplies

Writing through structured play, e.g. a birthday party, gives children a real purpose for writing and provides a readily understood context for the introduction of new text forms. Scaffolding your child through the literacy events of structured play may include:

• Modelling a text
• Jointly constructing a text
• Working alongside children who are writing independently
• Providing a framework that structured the content and format of the text
• Drafting, editing and re-writing, depending on purpose and audience.

A pretest: N & M (4y.o.) write birthday invitations.They displayed an understanding of some print conventions i.e. writing from left to right; starting from to top of the page and working their way down as well as some letter shapes.

Structured play offers many learning opportunities. Follow a child’s lead. Use discussion to help them question taken for granted ways of thinking. Help them think beyond themselves. Spend time playing with children and getting down to their level, because #playmatters.

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