3. Reception – Ball skill words and numbers Play and Learn at Home

Children learn in so many different ways. For the sporty ones this is a great way to combine different skills. You need to decide whether you will concentrate on ball skills with feet, throwing and catching skills, skills involving a bat or a mix of all three.

(See football exercises with professional Ryan Ware or cricket skills with Andrew Hall on the website section 2B)

Preparation.

Make or buy number cards 1-10 with their respective number of objects on them (balls would be good!)

Also make or buy flashcards. You will need 3 sets. To make them divide several A4 sheets into 4 flash cards each. In neat “ball and stick” lowercase writing, make flash cards to put around the house. The length of the word doesn’t matter, long words are fine, we need to see the word patterns. A very young child finds it easier to understand the purpose of letters when he understands what a word is and what it is for. Put the cards on the objects. Window, fridge etc

Alternatively print some off or buy some like this

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil/sites/kids/files/attachment/flashcards-sports-equipment-2018.pdf

Aim – to count, match, understand and write numbers to 10 over several weeks

– to recognise related words

 Activity 1. Looking at “2”.

Beginning with foot skills, see if you can keep the ball in the air for 2 “keepy uppies”. Count 1,2. If you achieve it with one foot, try with the other. Make the task easier if this is too hard, but we need to do 2 of something. Reward with 2 small treats and a printed 2 with 2 objects on it. Show the 2 to a special person, daddy or grandma, put in where you can see it. The fridge with a magnet works well. 

Activity 2. Make a table with 2 of things on it. 2 forks 2 spoons, 2 toys, etc. Build the table up with things from around the house. Talk about 2. When you go for a walk point out things in 2s. 2 cars, 2 dogs etc. The task is complete when you are shown 2 things by your child. 

Activity 3. You can now move onto 3 things with a different but similar ball related tasks. Over several weeks increase your number. Alter your number table. Point out the number you are working on in books, songs, on TV, in games, while outside etc. Try Batter up Wombat by Helen Lester as you bedtime story

Activity 4. Look at the words you have put around the house regularly. Point them out and talk about them. With the other 2 sets of words play matching games. Gradually some of the words will be recognised. Don’t forget we are looking at whole words not letters. At this stage we are not introducing any letters until we can recognise about 20 words and understand the function of the written word. Use any other sports related cards you may have too. Make sure you begin with pictures on them at first. These are available from

ESL printables

Activity 5. Free ball play. No counting, no words, just a good kick about or catching and throwing session.

Activity 6. Some small children find fine motor skills (writing) difficult and these may develop later than other skills. This is quite normal, especially in some boys. If you watch a small children paint, draw or make marks he will use the whole of his arm from his elbow, which is why they need a large piece of paper. As they develop children will begin to work from the wrist. They are then more able to form smaller shapes.

Drawing is a much loved activity. Draw the skills learnt in the activities above. Making sure you ask for a drawing of 2 things, 3 etc

 

Activity 7. Early writing begins with copying over adult handwriting. The child’s name is a good place to start with a large word to copy over. Decrease the size of the writing and increase the amount of words to write over time. The copying can stop in time.

 

 

After several weeks or months you should see skills in all areas improve. Ball skills, number understanding, sight word recognition and general vocabulary.