Children need a stimulus when writing. When a child is beginning to learn to write, it is even more important. To a child at the very early stages of reading or writing see letters and words as empty and lifeless. An competent reader can see words using their imagination and a sentence can create a thousand pictures in your mind. As educators we need to help children reach this level of enjoyment through the written word. To help children on the beginning of their journey, sentence starters are a great aid. Not only do they need help with creating sentences with sentence starters but they need help with the imagination to create pictures in their minds with these sentences. Each sentence starter has a picture to match with the sentence. I have not included capital letters with the sentence starters unless they are similar to the lower case version, because I intended on using them for very early writers and I wouldn’t have taught them how to form capital letters let alone read and understand words with them. If you laminate the resource, they can use over and over again.

Teaching through book talk is the best way to help children learn new vocabulary and aid their development in learning the spoken word. We use a lot of books in our setting to help children. One thing I did notice though, is that there are not many phonic resources you can buy that will help children. There is a lot of basic things of course but they are all limited. This resource I made is a brilliant way to help children who are starting to learn to read basic words. The child needs to read the word in the middle and then there are eight pictures around it to see which one matches (very very important as reading can be a ‘silent’ activity when a child begins to read so they need to know it is relatable to something.) I used pegs for the children to show which picture was the correct one (again this was to help with fine motor control and strengthen their grips). They pegged one picture before coming to me and telling me what they have read by sounding it out and then saying the word. Cut the resource out. Fold the picture and the backing on itself and laminate these together so its back to back. The pegs are something you will have to provide but once you have them, you are all ready to go.

The best way for young children to understand numbers is for them to ‘play with maths’. This means using lots of concrete resources until they have a true understanding of our number system. Without this vital step, children will not be able to visualise maths and therefore will struggle later on when dealing with abstract maths. The next step is for children to use what they have learnt with picturial representations. This still enables them to visualise the maths without being able to ‘play with it’. This powerpoint will fit within the pictorial element of the process. Children are expected to click on the number (out of three options) that matches the number of fingers shown. It them shows them if they are right or wrong. The powerpoint is fitted with a cBeebies Numberblocks theme as my daughter and current class love them but as it is powerpoint you can change this to fit any theme your children love.

Print these boards out, laminate them and you are ready to go. Give your children pegs (this will help their fine motor skills, that in turn will help their writing) and they can peg the correct number which the fingers show. The shown fingers represent numbers 1-10 in various forms so the children will also be exposed to a vary basic form of addition (by counting both groups of fingers together) Understanding what numbers represent is a basic skill every child needs, and these boards were designed to be used as part of the enhanced provision in class so children can still access their learning independently while I work with a guided group.

This independent game has been made to use alongside the Numberblocks episode ‘The Legend of Big Tum’, where the Numberblocks meet a mysterious big hairy monster with a big hairy tummy who loves puzzles. They work together to work out who is in Big Tum’s tum! It teaches children how to find missing numbers with the Numberblocks . This is a powerpoint based game that I created to put on the interactive whiteboard for them to play independently. It is for numbers 1-5 and the children can click which number they think is in Big Tum’s tum. It will then take them to a screen to tell them if they are correct or not. If they are incorrect they then go back to try again but if they are correct they go onto the next missing number. The game will cycle back to the beginning once all the numbers are done. At the start I have included the first part of the Numberblocks episode too to give the children an idea of what they must do.

Numicon is brilliant. It really helps young children understand our number system. This is a display that I initially used at the top of our classroom windows (so I printed off back to back so you can see them both sides of the glass) and children then had a constant reminder of Numicon and numbers whether they were inside or outside during enhanced provision times.

A simple resource to laminate. They children can use a peg to match the word they have read to one of the eight pictures around the edge. I have purposely not used Capital letters for this resource. The reason for this is that it is designed for beginner readers who may not have the knowledge of Capital letters and what they look like. I want my children to access this resource independently during their enhanced learning time. It is made on publisher so you can change this if you wish too. Reading is a ‘silent’ process for many children. When first learning they do not possess the ability to imagine what the written word is telling us. They have many, many other skills they have to master before they can get there. This resource is aimed at beginner readers to try and put some fun into reading. With a picture to help young children visualise what they are reading, they have a purpose to reading it too and not just going through the motions. This resource is designed to be used independently, but can obviously be used as a teaching aid too.

A simple resource to laminate. The children can use a peg to match the word they have read to one of the eight pictures around the edge. Reading is a ‘silent’ process for many children. When first learning they do not possess the ability to imagine what the written word is telling us. They have many, many other skills they have to master before they can get there. This resource is aimed at beginner readers to try and put some fun into reading. With a picture to help young children visualise what they are reading, they have a purpose to reading it too and not just going through the motions. This resource is designed to be used independently, but can obviously be used as a teaching aid too.

When a child is learning to read it is important for them to blend each word individually. However, when children are doing this they can forget what they have read already. They have a lot to workout and remember so its only natural. A strategy we use is to ask the child to go back to the beginning of the sentence once they blend a word and read the sentence with fluency and therefore not blending. This is the only way they can remember what the sentence is. This resource is designed to see if they understand what they have read. A very simple sentence has three different pictures under it. They should read the sentence and then use a peg to indicate which picture matches the sentence. The peg idea is to aid their fine motor development and therefore help with handwriting.

I created all these resources to be used in my class when they start in reception. The idea behind this resource is to allow children to match initial sounds to words. When a child is ready to start phonics this is an important skill to allow them to move onto working with full words. You will need an extra resource to go along side this printable. I used bottle tops and wrote the letters on the top. Each card has a picture that they have to think of the initial sound for, they then have to find the bottle top with the sound (letter) that matches. They place it on top of the circle and then it makes the word. With help they can then read the sounds and blend the full word.

This is a great resource that children enjoy. They have to problem solve to find the odd one out. I laminated the sheets, cut out the crosses and stuck velcro on the squares and cross. This enables the children to work independently by placing the cross on the ‘odd one out’ before explaining to me what they found. I also placed the number sentences with Numicon representations on the back of these sheets for a reference to the children. Why is this activity important? When children subitise it means they can work out how many in a collection without having to count everything they see. They can describe how many by looking and thinking which helps your child build their mathematical imaginations. Spatial structures are critical mathematical representations that children need to be able to make meaning from. It later enables children to work flexibly with numbers and operations.

This is a great resource that children enjoy. They have to problem solve to find the odd one out. I laminated the sheets, cut out the crosses and stuck velcro on the squares and cross. This enables the children to work independently by placing the cross on the ‘odd one out’ before explaining to me what they found. I also placed the number sentences with Numicon representations on the back of these sheets for a reference to the children. Why is this activity important? When children subitise it means they can work out how many in a collection without having to count everything they see. They can describe how many by looking and thinking which helps your child build their mathematical imaginations. Spatial structures are critical mathematical representations that children need to be able to make meaning from. It later enables children to work flexibly with numbers and operations.

This is a great resource that children enjoy. They have to problem solve to find the odd one out. I laminated the sheets, cut out the crosses and stuck velcro on the squares and cross. This enables the children to work independently by placing the cross on the ‘odd one out’ before explaining to me what they found. I also placed the number sentences with Numicon representations on the back of these sheets for a reference to the children. Why is this activity important? When children subitise it means they can work out how many in a collection without having to count everything they see. They can describe how many by looking and thinking which helps your child build their mathematical imaginations. Spatial structures are critical mathematical representations that children need to be able to make meaning from. It later enables children to work flexibly with numbers and operations.

This is a great resource that children enjoy. They have to problem solve to find the odd one out. I laminated the sheets, cut out the crosses and stuck velcro on the squares and cross. This enables the children to work independently by placing the cross on the ‘odd one out’ before explaining to me what they found. I also placed the number sentences with Numicon representations on the back of these sheets for a reference to the children. Why is this activity important? When children subitise it means they can work out how many in a collection without having to count everything they see. They can describe how many by looking and thinking which helps your child build their mathematical imaginations. Spatial structures are critical mathematical representations that children need to be able to make meaning from. It later enables children to work flexibly with numbers and operations.

This is a great resource that children enjoy. They have to problem solve to find the odd one out. I laminated the sheets, cut out the crosses and stuck velcro on the squares and cross. This enables the children to work independently by placing the cross on the ‘odd one out’ before explaining to me what they found. I also placed the number sentences with Numicon representations on the back of these sheets for a reference to the children. Why is this activity important? When children subitise it means they can work out how many in a collection without having to count everything they see. They can describe how many by looking and thinking which helps your child build their mathematical imaginations. Spatial structures are critical mathematical representations that children need to be able to make meaning from. It later enables children to work flexibly with numbers and operations.

Children have everything they need within this resource - the picture to look at to make a word and then the individual letters (or diagraphs) attached to the card via a split pin. Children are then able to move the letters around to experiment with ways of making the word.

Children have everything they need within this resource - the picture to look at to make a word and then the individual letters attached to the card via a split pin. Children are then able to move the letters around to experiment with ways of making the word.

Numicon is a great resource to help children understand the meaning of numbers. The idea with this resource is for children to match the silhouette of ‘buildings’ to the Numicon on the side of the screen. The game then tells them if they got it right as that Numicon forms in the correct position or if they got it wrong using a Batman GIF. This resource was designed for children to access independently while I sit with a guided group during their independent learning time. They can access it via a whiteboard. This Powerpoint/game helps children recognise and learn numbers 1-10.

Sound mats are priceless when helping young children to remember the sounds they need to write in words. A quick reminder of how the sound is formed is usually all it takes for the child to carry on with their work instead of being stuck. I have included the A3 version, which I use as part of a display, the A4 version, which I don’t actually use but I have in the past for visually impaired children so they have a larger copy and the A5 version. Both the A4 and A5 versions I like to laminate back to back so they are both together for the children. Tricky words are also included on each. I also tend to place ‘me’ and ‘my’ together as this is something children do tend to get mixed up with.

These boards include one simple sentence with sound buttons on decodable words with three pictures from the book. The idea is that the child should place a peg on the correct picture that matches the sentence. A very simple comprehension exercise that they could do completely independently. The pegs add a bonus that it aids their fine motor skills at the same time.