Year 2

• Over the holidays, please do remember to listen to your child read as often as you can and discuss the books with them. You could look at different texts that give information e.g. holiday brouchures or leaflets of places you might visit if you are going away.
• Help your child to keep a diary of what they do each day over the holidays. They can collect things to stick in and draw pictures or add photos too to give more information and help them to remember.
• Practise the number bonds to 10, 20 and 100.
• Recap counting in 2's, 5's and 10's and the related multiplication and division facts for these. Move on to counting in 3's and 4's and the related multiplication and division facts if your child is ready.
• Make sure that your child knows the days of the week and the months of the year. They should know how many days are in each month too and have been learning this by using their knuckles - ask your child to explain this to you!
• Practise telling the time with your child. Make sure they are confident with telling the time on the hour, half past, quater past and quarter to, both digital and analogue.

A few parents have made enquiries about homework. As we explained in a previous newsletter, there are suggestions under this section, and we explained how to develop your child’s skills during their daily 20 minute reading with you. In addition to this, your child should now have their Study Ladder user name and password. By logging on to www.studyladder.co.uk your child can access curriculum-based interactive activities that have been especially selected by your child’s class teacher. There are also many other activities that your child can choose from and various rewards for motivation.

We are also in the process of each class setting up a blog, through which your child can add their ideas or answers to questions set by the class teacher. They can also read and comment on their peers' postings. The tasks on the blogs will also become increasingly challenging.

To further help your child you could also:

• Look in explanation books with your child and discuss the different features of how they are organised.
• Compare different explanation texts.
• Find examples of causal connectives in their reading (but, so, because).
• Find examples of time openers in their reading (First, Then, Next, After a while etc).
• Have a go at writing some sentences with causal connectives and time openers.
• Blend words and match with a picture http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/PictureMatch.html
• Sort real words and made up words http://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/PicnicOnPluto.html
• Practice telling the time on analogue and digital clocks.
• Extend your child by asking what the time was half an hour earlier or what the time will be 15 mins later, etc.
• Make sure that your child can say the days of the week and the months of the year in order. You could extend them by asking them to write them down, making sure they write each with a capital letter. Capital letters should not join to the next letter.
• Make sure your child knows the basic time facts. E.g. There are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, 52 weeks in a year, 365 days in a year etc.
• Help your child to remember and learn their x2, x10 and x5 times tables and the corresponding division facts.
• Help your child to search for things that interest them about our Light topic. E.g. Why do some animals see better in the dark? Why do you sometimes only see part of the moon? What is the time difference between 2 countries? Etc.

 A few parents have made enquiries about homework. As we explained in a previous newsletter, there are suggestions under this section, and we explained how to develop your child’s skills during their daily 20 minute reading with you. In addition to this, your child should now have their Study Ladder user name and password. By logging on to www.studyladder.co.uk your child can access curriculum-based interactive activities that have been especially selected by your child’s class teacher. There are also many other activities that your child can choose from and various rewards for motivation.

We are also in the process of each class setting up a blog, through which your child can add their ideas or answers to questions set by the class teacher. They can also read and comment on their peers' postings. The tasks on the blogs will also become increasingly challenging.

 To further help your child you could also:

• Look in explanation books with your child and discuss the different features of how they are organised.
• Compare different explanation texts.
• Find examples of causal connectives in their reading (but, so, because).
• Have a go at writing some sentences with causal connectives.
• Practice telling the time on analogue and digital clocks.
• Extend your child by asking what the time was half an hour earlier or what the time will be 15 mins later etc.
• Make sure your child knows the basic time facts. E.g. There are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, 52 weeks in a year, 365 days in a year etc.
• Help your child to search for things that interest them about our Light topic. E.g. Why do some animals see better in the dark? Why do you sometimes only see part of the moon? What is the time difference between 2 countries? Etc.

• Make sure that your child knows the alphabet. Then choose a few words for them to put into alphabetical order. Challenge them to put words beginning with the same initial letters in alphabetical order.
• Look at different information books. Look and discuss the use of a Glossary, how it is ordered and use it to find the definitions of unknown words.
• Encourage your child to make a note of two or three words they do not understand when they are reading. Help them to look up the definitions in a dictionary.
• While reading, look for connective words that join two sentences (but, so, because, and, if, when, although etc). Encourage your child to use these connectives in a sentences of their own.
• To develop empathy, discuss how characters in a book might be feeling. Encourage your child to say why they think a character might be feeling a certain way. Also ask them to imagine they were the character. How would they feel in the same situation? Why?
• Review and help your child with their Maths and Literacy and Personal targets.
• Help your child to make a tally chart. They could make one to show the number of items in your home, e.g. the number of windows, doors, beds, rooms etc.
• Have a look at and discuss different methods of displaying information, for example simple charts and graphs and tables.
• Do some cooking with your child. Let them measure out the ingredients.
• Have a look at different containers with similar capacities. Ask your child which container would hold more water. Then check to see if you were right.
• Select some objects and let your child feel how heavy they are. Ask them to put them in order from the lightest to the heaviest. Then weigh the objects to check.
• Ask your child to estimate how long or wide something is. Help your child to measure these things with a ruler or a tape measure to see if their estimation was close.
• Use appropriate vocabulary, mm, cm, m and km for length, g and kg for weight and l and ml for capacity. See if your child can pick the most suitable unit of measurement for specific needs.

• Keep reading with your child.
• Make up a story based on characters or events in one or some of the Traditional Tales that the children have been reading at home or at school.
• Whilst reading, look for connectives (words that join 2 sentences together) such as, 'but', 'and', because', 'if', 'so', 'although', 'while' etc.
• Visit this site http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/phonics/sandcastle/flash/game.shtml to help with phonics.
• Do some cooking with your child. Let them measure out the ingredients.
• Have a look at different containers with similar capacities. Ask your child which container would hold more water. Then check to see if you were right.
• Select some objects and let your child feel how heavy they are. Ask them to put them in order from the lightest to the heaviest. Then weigh the objects to check.
• Ask your child to estimate how long or wide something is. Help your child to measure these things with a ruler or a tape measure to see if their estimation was close.
• Use appropriate vocabulary, mm, cm, m and km for length, g and kg for weight and l and ml for capacity. See if your child can pick the most suitable unit of measurement for specific needs.
• Have a look for different light sources around the home. How many can you find? Maybe make a list of them.
• Help your child to find out about things that interest them about 'Light' at home using books or the Internet.

• Make up a story based on characters or events in one or some of the Traditional Tales that the children have been reading at home or at school.
• Whilst reading, look for connectives (words that join 2 sentences together) such as, 'but', 'and', because', 'if', 'so', 'although', 'while' etc.
• Visit this site http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/phonics/sandcastle/flash/game.shtml to help with phonics.
• Do some cooking with your child. Let them measure out the ingredients.
• Have a look at different containers with similar capacities. Ask your child which container would hold more water. Then check to see if you were right.
• Select some objects and let your child feel how heavy they are. Ask them to put them in order from the lightest to the heaviest. Then weigh the objects to check.
• Ask your child to estimate how long or wide something is. Help your child to measure these things with a ruler or a tape measure to see if their estimation was close.
• Have a look for different light sources around the home. How many can you find? Maybe make a list of them.
• Help your child to find out about things that interest them about 'Light' at home using books or the Internet.

• Whilst reading with your child, look at how speech is recorded in books. Draw their attention to how speech is punctuated, e.g. open speech marks, capital letter to begin, ending with a comma, exclaimation mark or question mark followed by the closing of speech marks when the character has finished speaking. After the speech there should be a lower case letter, and each new speaker should begin on a new line.
• Share a selection of traditional tales with your child. Pretend to be different characters and read what they say with expression. Discuss how you know whether to shout, sound angry or happy, etc.
• Look at 2D and 3D shapes and their properties, e.g. 2D - the number of sides, corners, lengths of sides, or 3D the number and shape of faces, number of edges and vertices.
• This week we have been looking at number facts to 10 and 20. Say a number to your child, e.g. 16 and ask them what they need to make 20.
• Also help your child recall the x2, x5 and x10 multiplication facts. E.g. What is 2 x 8? You could make posters with the information on so they can revisit it throughout the week.
• Have a look in magazines or on the Internet at different holiday destinations. Discuss what makes a good holiday and what things tourists or holiday makers need to have a comfortable and enjoyable stay.
• Have fun talking about a disaster holiday! What would that include?

• Whilst reading with your child, look at how speech is recorded in books. Draw their attention to how speech is punctuated, e.g. open speech marks, capital letter to begin, ending with a comma, exclaimation mark or question mark followed by the closing of speech marks when the character has finished speaking. After the speech there should be a small letter, and each new speaker should begin on a new line.
• Share a selection of traditional tales with your child. Pretend to be different characters and read what they say with expression. Discuss how you know whether to shout, sound angry or happy etc.
• Look at 2D and 3D shapes and their properties, e.g. 2D - the number of sides, corners, lengths of sides, or 3D the number and shape of faces, number of edges and vertices.
• This week we have been looking at number facts to 10 and 20. Say a number to your child, e.g. 16 and ask them what they need to make 20.
• Also help your child recall the x2, x5 and x10 multiplication facts. E.g. What is 2 x 8? You could make posters with the information on so they can revisit it throughout the week.
• Have a look in magazines or on the Internet at different holiday destinations. Discuss what makes a good holiday and what things tourists or holiday makers need to have a comfortable and enjoyable stay.
• Have fun talking about a disaster holiday! What would that include?

Thank you to those of you who have helped their child to talk to their grandparent/s or you to find out about how holidays have changed.

If you haven't please could you support your child with this by helping them think of some questions about what they would like to find out. E.g. How did you travel to your holiday destination? How often did you go on holiday? Where did you go? What did you do on holiday? etc. After your child has found the answers to their questions, help them to think about the similarities and differences between their grandparents' and their own experiences. Children - don't forget to tell your teacher what you found out!

Please do prioritise the above task, but here are some things to do if you have time:

• Read a selection of traditional tales to your child.
• Talk about what is happening in the traditional tales you read and discuss the good and bad characters. How do you know that they are good or bad? What do they say or do that helps you decide?
• Ask your child to retell the story. Do they retell the story with the events in the correct order?
• Find and name different 2D and 3D shapes around the house.
• Look at the shapes properties, e.g. 2D - the number of sides, corners, lengths of sides, or 3D the number and shape of faces, number of edges and vertices.
• Look at hot and cold countries and discuss the differences between them. What things would you need to take with you? What activities could you do there? How would you get from one place to another? What animals live in the hot/cold? Etc.

Thank you to those of you who have helped their child to talk to their grandparent/s or you to find out about how holidays have changed.

If you haven't please could you support your child with this by helping them think of some questions about what they would like to find out. E.g. How did you travel to your holiday destination? How often did you go on holiday? Where did you go? What did you do on holiday? etc. After your child has found the answers to their questions, help them to think about the similarities and differences between their grandparents' and their own experiences. Children - don't forget to tell your teacher what you found out!

Please do prioritise the above task, but here are some things to do if you have time:

• Read a selection of traditional tales to your child.
• Talk about what is happening in the traditional tales you read and discuss the good and bad characters. How do you know that they are good or bad? What do they say or do that helps you decide?
• Ask your child to retell the story. Do they retell the story with the events in the correct order?
• Find and name different 2D and 3D shapes around the house.
• Look at the shapes properties, e.g. 2D -  the number of sides, corners, lengths of sides, or 3D the number and shape of faces, number of edges and vertices.
• Look at hot and cold countries and discuss the differences between them. What things would you need to take with you? What activities could you do there? How would you get from one place to another? What animals live in the hot/cold? Etc.