Literacy is one of the specific curriculum areas, and covers reading and writing. We have a big focus on this within Nursery, as we are working hard to develop a love of books in all children. Part of our Literacy Curriculum is taught through Tales Toolkit (more information on this can be found here) which has a big focus on stories and storytelling. 

Within Reading, we teach our children:

• about the different features of books - front cover, back cover, spine, title, author
• the key aspects of a story - character, setting, problem, solution
• to talk about the events of a story
• retelling a story using the pictures in the book. 
• letter sounds, and recognising the letters in their name
• alliteration - words which begin with the same sound
• rhyme - through nursery rhymes and songs
• the beats in a word
• talking about initial sounds in words (when they are ready)

Within Writing, we teach our children:

• to give meaning to their marks
• how to write their name
• to listen for the initial sound in a word (when they are ready)

We also use Letterland in our Phonics Teaching - where every letter is given a character name. Each week we have a special story time session where we look at the Letterland Characters. Each character is a letter from the alphabet, and the children learn a song about the sound the character makes. The children really enjoy meeting all of the different Letterland characters and singing their songs. If you would like to find out more about letterland, and to find some free resources, please visit the Letterland website

Letterland

When they leave our Nursery your child should be able to:

• Understand 5 important things about print:
  • Print has meaning
  • Print can have different purposes
  • In English print is read from left to right, and from top to bottom
  • Pages in story books are read one at a time
  • Books have different parts, and each part has a name, such as front cover
• Tune into different sounds in English
• Have some phonological awareness, so that they can:
  • Spot and suggest rhymes
  • Count or clap syllables in a word
  • Recognise words with the same initial sound such as money and mummy
• Have long conversations about stories and learning new words.
• Write some letters accurately, and use knowledge of sounds and letters in their early writing.
• Write some, or all, of their name.

How you can help your child at home

• Talk about stories, such as “what is happening in the pictures”, making sure you give enough time for your child to think.
• Play around with words, e.g. making up silly rhyming sentences.
• Let your child help to write shopping lists or birthday cards.