Did you know a free letter is sent by Royal Mail to every child who sends their letter to this address: Father Christmas, Santa’s Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ (Make sure you get your letter posted by Friday 9 December* and remember to put your return address on the envelope!).
Writing a letter to Santa is a handwriting activity a child is likely to want to do. So, we ask Primary School Tutor Lydia from LS Tuition for tips about how to gather your child’s paper and pencils and settle down to compile the list.
1. What sort of letter would you suggest a child can do at P1, compared to P2 or P3?
At this early stage of learning, the emphasis should be on writing for enjoyment. Children need to be supported in developing a love for learning that carries through for life.
At a Primary 1 level, children should be encouraged to write simple sentences using familiar language such as their names and CVC/CVCC words; 3/4 letter words that follow a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern e.g., cat, pram. These are words that children at this stage will be familiar with and encourages them to continue the vital skill of blending letters to make sounds/words, as they build up their vocabulary.
At a Primary 2/3 level, children should be more confident in attempting to ‘sound out’ various words and should also try to make use of the digraph/trigraph phonics sounds they are learning in school. Children at this stage are likely to be able to attempt longer sentences making use of various grammar rules such as employing the use of connectives to create sentences of varying length.
All children learn and develop at their own pace so the main concern should be on their motivation to write. This is not to say that parents/carers cannot and should not help their child with spelling etc. But the main emphasis should be on praising the child for their efforts and instilling the belief that writing is a fun and worthwhile experience.
2. Should parents correct spelling or grammar mistakes with this activity or write words for your child to copy?
For this specific activity, writing a letter to Santa, it is not hugely important to focus on spelling and grammar. Children spend the majority of their week in school, and then out of school completing homework tasks, where spelling and grammar correction features heavily. Writing a letter to Santa is a fantastic way to encourage your children to find a love for writing and be creative. The benefits of this experience are great and far outweigh the negative effect of a handful of incorrect spellings.
This is not to say that you cannot or must not provide support and guidance. This very much depends on each child and each individual family, but again, the emphasis should be on the feeling of the learner towards the activity rather than the perfection of the activity itself.
3. Should children use lined paper to help with hand writing?
Lined paper is a fantastically useful tool for children in the emergent phase of writing. It not only develops the child’s comfortability with how writing is portrayed in every day life, but further supports the development of letter formation (letters that sit on the line, fall below the line etc.) and consistent letter sizing. The younger the child, the larger the writing tends to be, so using varying sizes of lined paper is a great way to tailor this resource to your child. Most Primary 1 and 2 children will use paper with larger lines and by Primary 3/4 stage we work towards using the typical lined paper adults might use.
4. Do you suggest drawings to be included?
Let your children get creative and do what they want! Some children love to draw and others are not as interested in this. Follow your child’s lead and encourage their ideas and motivations.
5. What sort of encouragement should parents give to their child?
One of the most important points that we employ in all of our tutoring sessions and in our discussions with parents is the difference between praising the effort versus the outcome. We are not always in control of the outcome of any given situation so our self-worth will suffer if we tie our value to this. The greatest gift you can give your children is to praise that which they always have control over and this is the effort they put in to everything they do. If they try their best, regardless of the outcome, this is absolutely praise-worthy. Children who grow and develop with this mindset will be confident, successful individuals and will not be as likely to be hurt by situations out with their control.
Praise your children for their hard work and encourage them to believe that their best effort is what is valued above all.
Author
Lydia Scaltsas
Qualified Primary School Teacher
Private Tutor & Founder of LS Tuition
LS Tuition - The Learning Space
11 Harewood Road, Edinburgh EH16 4N
07584064721