Kia ora whanau,

In our new entrant writing program, In our writing program, we follow Milo the Monkey and Casey the Caterpillar. These friendly characters guide us through fun and engaging activities to develop our writing skills. From learning how to hold a pencil to forming letters, Milo and Casey help make the writing journey exciting and enjoyable for everyone. We're taking it one step at a time. We understand that children are still learning to hold pencils and form letters, so we focus on fun activities to help them develop these skills. With patience and encouragement, we're laying the groundwork for their future success as writers. It's all about celebrating progress and building confidence together!

Casey the Caterpillar 

This is a handwriting programme that teaches children the correct letter formations through a story about Casey the Caterpillar. It teaches children to correctly form the ‘shapes’ that, when put together, form all letters and numbers.  You can assist by ensuring your child holds their pencil with the correct grip and forms their letters from the correct starting point. 

We are learning to write these letters⬇

Please Practise writing at home.

Letter Formation Stage 1 ⬆

Letter Formation Stage 2⬆

WRiting Groups, Room 13

Weekly Learning

How can you support your child at home?

Make writing fun 

• Help your child write an alphabet letter, then go letter hunting in your house or in a book to find that letter. 

• Let your child see you writing – you can use your first language. 

• Encourage them to write shopping lists or make birthday cards. 

• Water and a paintbrush on a dry path or a stick in the sand are fun ways to write letters and words. 

• Support the learning of letters and sounds using appropriate apps.  

Here's a tip: It is important that they have fun when writing at home and that they keep trying.  If they get letters or words backwards or misspelt, praise them for trying and encourage them to have another look at it.  If letters are backwards, you can write the correct letter somewhere for them to copy.