Here are some things that you can do to get your child ready for literacy learning:

• Read and say nursery rhymes together- Three blind mice, Humpty Dumpty etc. These are important for sound and pattern recognition.

• Encourage your child to look at books. Show them how to hold the book, turn the pages, and to follow the print from left to right and top to bottom. Discuss the pictures together. Always ask plenty of questions about the story to see if your child understands and retaining information.
• Join the local library and help your child to choose an interesting book to share.
• The library has an app called Borrow Box that allows you to borrow virtual books on your phone or mobile device. This is an ideal thing to do at the moment when borrowing physical books is more difficult. You find out more about this and other ways to borrow eBooks by visiting the East Ayrshire Libraries website: https://eastayrshireleisure.com/libraries/

• Give your child plenty of practise with art materials such as plasticene, chalk, crayons, coloured pencils, felt pens and scissors. Encourage him/her to hold a pencil properly.
• Do not stop your child from starting to write, if they are ready, copying and writing alongside an adult is more beneficial.
• Encourage them to write their name with a capital letter only at the beginning and lower case letter everywhere else
• Get them to think about distance – it would also be very helpful if they had an understanding of how big 2 metres is, as this will help with Covid-19 social distancing. The rainbow symbol and Peter Rabbit will also help them maintain this.