

St Mary's Pre-School Yate
Home School Literacy bags
Home School literacy bags can provide families with structure and guidance necessary to foster skill development at home yet also the freedom to make it work for families individually. For years, educators have stated the importance of the home environment in a child’s life and education.



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. Home School literacy bags are used to encourage children to develop a love of literacy and reading.





Home–school literacy bags provide a strong foundation for family involvement at home and at school, they help parents become essential partners in their children’s literacy development. Using home–school literacy bags, children and parents learn how to combine expressive arts and emergent literacy strategies including alphabet recognition, phonemic and phonological awareness, and oral language fluency.
We use all our literacy bags in our setting, as well as sending them home with your child for your child to share with you.
*Encouraging children to engage in literacy learning at home with their families is an excellent way of reinforcing skills learned at Pre-school. Researchers* have shown the use of literacy bags to be highly successful, not just for academic gains but to encourage families to be part of the child’s educational process.
The benefits (according to research
For parents/carers:
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Many parents are not sure how to help their little one learn; these packs have all the resources they need and relate to what their child is learning in the classroom.
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Encourages parents to read aloud with their child. Reading aloud is one of the most important activities for a child to successfully learn to read.
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Over time parents gain ideas to engage their child in literacy learning using their own books or library books. (Or they just use ideas from this blog post!)
For relationships:
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Reading together is a social event
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Positive interactions encourage a love of books and reading and can improve a child’s attitude towards school
For learning:
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Children learn more effectively when information is presented in a variety of ways (called double coding)
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Reading aloud allows children to:
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learn how books work
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learn how stories are put together and retell them
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have discussions about the text and illustrations
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use new and varied vocabulary (an important predictor of long-term academic success)
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Shared reading allows children to develop:
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alphabet awareness
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vocabulary
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comprehension
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phonological awareness (how sounds work: syllables, rhyme…)
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print awareness (pages, covers, reading left to right…)
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visual and auditory memory
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Additional activities help develop:
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fine motor skills
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time management skills and the ability to complete a task
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writing and drawing skills
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story sequencing
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number confidence if the story relates to math as mine shown above does
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HOME SCHOOL LITERACY BAGS AVAILABLE TO BORROW
Handa's Surprise, Were going on a lion hunt/ Were going on a bear hunt, The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom, The Hungry Caterpillar, , Whatever Next, Owl Babies, Paddington Postcards, Shaun The Shy Shark, Alan's Scary Teeth, The Tiger who came for Tea, Oliver Vegetables, Duck in a Truck, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Shark in the Park,



The bags are available to take home for a week at a time, for children to share with their families.



We also have a wide range of books that focus on inclusivity, these book bags were put together by a local lady Esther, below is a note from Esther regarding the books that she has put together to promote inclusivity,
'I'm Esther,
A local mother, publishing undergraduate and advocate for BIPOC. Inclusivity is crucial, and I believe diverse picture books knit together children's lives and are critical to everyday living. I've worked closely with the Centre For Literacy In Primary Education (CLPE), reviewing and analysing the quality of diversity in children's publishing. My passion is advocating for diversity and inclusion within EYFS settings. I share the books we love at home with the community by providing book bags for the children to enjoy at home. For book reviews please follow @motherworkshard on Instagram'


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References:
Brand, S.T., Marchand, J., Lilly, E. & Child, M. (2014). Home-school literacy bags for twenty-first century preschoolers. Early Childhood Education Journal. Vol 42: 163-170. DOI: 10.1007/s10643-013-0603-8
Grande, M. (2004). Increasing parent participation and knowledge using home literacy bags. Intervention in school and clinic. Vol 40, No. 2, 120-126. DOI: 10.1177/105345120404000209016
Identi-Play home School learning bags
We also have several identiplay bags, which can be taken home to borrow.
Identiplay is an educational play approach that helps establish a shared focus.
Identiplay helps develop imitation skills, which in turn builds children’s confidence as they practise a new skill
Identiplay should be used for any pupil who needs to develop their play skills and is currently working at a parallel play level in isolation.
0It was initially devised for pupils presenting with or diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
The idea is to set up a parallel play scenario with toys that meet the pupils play development and motivation. Have two of each item with a clearly defined play area for the pupil and yourself. Playing alongside each other with no interference from the adult will helps encourage the pupil who finds interaction difficult, to learn new play skills. The adult needs to provide a very simple narrative to match the play actions to provide the pupil with structure, consistency, and an understanding of what is happening. Always allow the pupil to explore the toys first before modelling your play sequence.
To watch a video go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkyfP_kxFTs – An example of Identiplay teaching.
Borrowing Library

PRE-SCHOOL LIBRARY
We have a few books that can be borrowed at your leisure, if any books are not returned there will be a £20.00 fine. If you would like to borrow a book please speak to Rachel.
BOOK TITLE DESCRIPTION OF BOOK
· Where there is no child psychiatrist – A mental Healthcare manual – behaviour, anxiety
. From Vacant to Engaged - Putting Child led learning at the heart of your planning.
. The Nursery Year in Action - Following Children's interests through the year.
· For the Sake of the Children – Shared parenting for parents who live apart, separating.
· Involving Parent's in their children’s learning - Parents and education/health professionals working together.
· My social stories Book - Teaching social and life skills (Autistic spectrum)
· The social play record – Toolkit for assessing and developing social play
· No Drama Discipline – Nurturing children’s developing minds.
· The Whole brain child – nurturing children’s developing minds
· Listening to young children – mosaic approach, listening to young children.
· Out of Sync Child – Sensory processing disorder
· The story of childhood – Growing up in modern Britain
· Her name is today – Modern Childhood
· Ido in Autismland – what is it like to be autistic by Ido
· Carly Voice – Autism by a parent of a severely autistic child.
· Understanding processing disorders in children
· The parent’s guide to Occupation Therapy – Autism and sensory disorders.
· M in the middle – What is it like to be autistic and in school.
· Sensory Activities – Activities for sensory seeking children.
Uniquely Human – a different way of seeing Autism
· My son is not rainman – parent story of his autistic son.