Monday

Red word hunt. Hide these red words around your house and see if your child can find them. See if they can say what the red word is as they pick them up. At the end see which red words they can write from memory and which ones they need help with. Make a note of which red words your child is struggling to recognise to link into tomorrow’s lesson. 

Tuesday

Following on from yesterday’s focus on red words, today will be an activity focused around the recognition of these words. After having identified what red words your child couldn't recognise, briefly flash these cards to your child helping them read the words. Next you can play a game called splat! Lie the red words onto a table and call out a word at a time. Your child , using a spatula fly swatter or just their hands, then must find the word and splat it! The children love to play this game and you can get creative with what you use to splat the words. A magic wand? An alien's frying pan? Anything you can come up with to engage your child is encouraged. If they are struggling to recognise the words don't be afraid to constantly correct or show them the answer, this is how they will eventually be able recognise them in the future. 

Wednesday

Creating and sharing stories is a great away to get children motivated to write. We have often done this in class and it’s called 'helicopter stories'. Start off by reading your child's favourite story. Talk about the characters, the setting, the problem and the solution. Then ask your child to think of their own story. Ask them who the main character is and the supporting characters. Then where the story is set and the problem and the solution. Let their imagination run wild and the crazier the better! Write down their ideas and the story and then, together, act out of the story. Get them to think about their movements and how certain things would act. For example how would a spider run or a rocket fly? Included below is a video of helicopter stories being done so you can get an even better idea of how it all works. Once you have done this you can then get them to write down some, if not all of their story themselves. 

Thursday

Today you play a fun game called silly soup. You have a bowl, a mixing spoon and random items on the table. You explain that today you are going to be making some silly soup which is where you put lots of strange things mixed up together. Start by saying you need something that starts with a specific sound, for example 's'. Your child then looks for an item on the table that starts with the letter 's' and puts it into the bowl and mixes it around. However, explain that you also need to write down the ingredients for this soup so you can keep the recipe. So every time an item is placed in the bowl support your child in writing it down. Keep going until you have enough items in the bowl. Along the way encourage your child to taste the soup and see what they can taste and smell. 

Friday

Pick your child's favourite book. When reading the story together see if they can spot any red words. Each time they spot one see if they can verbally put it into a sentnce that is different to the one they have just read.