Writing can often be seen as something that is only done at school but there are lots of ways to help children see why writing is important in everyday life.

Ask your children to help write shopping lists, invitations, emails, notes, cards, postcards, a to-do list etc. This will help them to see the value and importance of writing in everyday life. 

Write for fun! Help your child make up a play and perform it. Or write a story together and act it out. Write a diary together of the day's events.

Talk with the children about their writing and what they liked about it.

Cut out words in magazines/newspapers etc and make an interesting story from them.

Spelling

Talk about fun/interesting words to say that you might see. Short and simple games can help with spellings and developing vocabulary. In Barn Owl class sometimes we like to see how many words we can make from a big word, e.g. CAPTIVATING.

There are also key spellings that the children should know and learn. There are 100 high frequency words, and key spellings for Year 3/4. These can be practised in lots of ways:

- Look, cover, write check. Children look at the word, cover it up, write it and then check to see if it's correct.

- Chanting the spellings in different voices - who can do the silliest voice? The poshest? The quietest?

- In Barn Owl class we like to write our spellings in pyramids - ask the children about this!

- Colouring the different vowels/letters.

- Invisible words - trace a letter on the children's back with your finger and they have to write the word down.

- Write the words in mud, with chalk, make them out of twigs, paint etc. This helps with letter formation as well.