Mini Writers Club

Thank you to everyone that has joined the Year 1 Space Camp.

So far we have practised sounds and blending during astronaut training, the moon and on board the International Space Station and earned three mission patches.

⭐️ Catch up on the missions by commenting SPACE CAMP and get ready for our final mission after half term.

Space Camp is closing to new members tomorrow but if you are signed up you can use it in the run up to the Phonics Screening Check and beyond.

The Phonics Screening Check is just around the corner! Half term is the perfect opportunity to build confidence, track progress and identify gaps in your child’s learning using the space-themed games.

Comment SPACE CAMP for the link.

With two weeks left until the end of Year 1 Phonics Screening Check, grab a copy of Space Camp for fun ways to recap and practise.

Head to my stories or comment SPACE CAMP for the link.

Closing to new members on Monday.

Full of activities to keep your child entertained over half term.

Comment SPACE CAMP for more details.

We asked people to share their favourite places to buy school uniform. Swipe through to find out where they picked and why!

came out as number one in the votes and usually has 20% off school uniform in June. Sainsbury’s TU was highly recommended and currently has 25% off.

Remember to check out places like PTA sales at your school, eBay, charity shops and for bargains too.

Let us know if you spot any more sales. Tag a friend who is shopping for school uniform too.

👕 We’ve put together a few top tips for when it comes to buying school uniform 👞

I highly recommend for labelling uniform. Head to my stories for a discount code.

Sainsbury’s TU currently have 25% off school uniform.

Let us know if you have any top tips in the comments.

Comment SSC to join the free starting school FB group.

Is your child in Yeqr 1?

Discover space themed games to help your child practise blending to read.

The sounds and types of words included replicate the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check that takes place just after half term. But instead of lists of words to read, they are included in fun games and activities 🙌🏼

Comment SPACE CAMP for more info and to save your seat before the doors close on Monday.

👀 If you have a child starting school this year, give me a wave below and keep your eyes peeled for updates. 👋🏼

It’s going to have free, fun and helpful activities.🧡

Are you wondering what your child will learn when they start school?

We’ve put together a handy post to give you an outline of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum that is followed in Reception in England.

Although it is the first year of primary school, it is still part of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) & not the National Curriculum. EYFS is split into 7 areas of learning rather than the traditional school subjects e.g. geography and science etc.

That not only makes it different to the rest of primary school but in our opinion as experienced Reception teachers, it also makes it a very special & exciting year full of learning through play. ♥️

Let us know if you have any questions.

Join our free Starting School Club Facebook group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/startingschoolclub/?ref=share_group_link

Are you looking for ways to make reading fun?

Is your child finding it tricky to spot digraphs/trigraphs within words?

Do you want to check your child understands what they are reading?

If so the Reception Phase 3 Sentences pack contains games that will help!

The question cards can be sounded out by your child. The digraphs and trigraphs are underlined to help them spot where 2 or 3 letters are working together to make one sound. Then use the yes or no game to check their understanding.

The question in the photo might have a different answer now than if you played during winter! I’m loving the lighter nights… but it does mean my children want to stay up later 🤪 How about you? Vote below!

Comment SET 4 for the link to the flashcards.

Wishing everyone good luck🤞🏻 If you don’t get the place you’re hoping for it’s 100% worth getting on your preferred school’s waiting list.

So much can change from now until September, people move, change their minds, accept offers... which mean that places can pop up from now until well into the first term.

Comment SSC to join our FREE Starting School Club FB group.

I can’t believe it’s time to open the doors to our FREE Starting School Club again! Over the next few weeks and will be sharing tips and answering your questions.

As tomorrow is National Offer Day we thought we would start with a little bit of information about what to expect. We will be doing an IG live on Thursday to chat to you about what happens next - click the reminder if you want to join us.

Give us a wave below if you’re waiting to hear which primary school has offered your child a place and leave some emojis to let us know how you’re feeling.

Join our Starting School Facebook Group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/startingschoolclub/?ref=share_group_link

MWC members your Homework Club email is in your inbox (or possibly your spam folder!)

I’ve sent a spelling idea for the week and a times tables game.

Comment JOIN THE CLUB for details about how to become a member and access to games to support phonics, spelling, handwriting and times tables.

MWC members I sent my first Homework Club email out yesterday. Let me know if you haven’t received it and vote below to let me know when you would prefer to receive it?

Want access to the members area? Comment JOIN THE CLUB for more information.

Leave me a Space emoji if you have signed up 🙌🏼🧑‍🚀🚀 I can’t wait to get started tomorrow!

Head to www.miniwritersclub.com/spacecampsounds if you want to join us.

We will be looking at the end of Year 1 phonics assessment and playing games to see how your child is getting on. Then I will share a couple of ways to support them with any sounds they are finding tricky to remember.

Did you know your child will do the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1?
I've put together a free guide if you want to know more about it.

Download your guide here:
www.miniwritersclub.com/screeningcheck
Make sure to check your spam folder for the email with the pdf.

Year 1 Screening Check Guide | Mini Writers Club

I loved doing the phonics club live in the Facebook group this morning. Thank you so much to everyone that joined me and especially to all of the children that had a go sent in guesses and answers.

If you missed it you can catch it on replay in the Facebook group.

www.facebook.com/groups/phonics.baffledtoprepared/?ref=share_group_link

Pop the 7th of April in your diary for the next one.

“Not sure where to start”
“Confused!”

When I asked the people joining my free Facebook group how they feel about phonics these were a few of the responses.

So if you are feeling baffled by phonics, you are not alone. I am here to help!

On the first Sunday of the month, I will be going live in the FB group (time tbc) to play a couple of phonics games that your Reception and Year 1 children can join in with. For most games, they won’t need any resources.

If you would like to join in
1) Scroll to the bottom of the website and add your email address to sign up to my mailing list so that I can send information about the live on Friday.
www.miniwritersclub.com

2) Join the free FB group as that is where the lives will take place.
www.facebook.com/groups/phonics.baffledtoprepared

Phonics Tour of York Stop #4

This is where we went for breakfast on my birthday and it feels apt to share it on pancake day because they serve delicious stacks of fluffy pancakes! 🥞 It’s clearly a popular spot as we got there earlier and queued to get in and people were queuing the whole time we were there. They also have a bake shop a couple of doors down.

Benji and Sophie shared a stack with crispy bacon, syrup and honeycomb butter. It was so huge they could have shared a half stack!

I had one of the daily specials - Brioche French toast with apple, mascarpone and granola 😋 and Craig had a sausage sandwich.

Check out the size of the hot chocolate! They couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the cream well full of marshmallows! ☕️

⭐️ Can you spot a different way to write oo and ee in Brew and Brownie? ⭐️

Let me know in the comments below or tag a friend to enter. At the end of my phonics tour of York I will pick someone from the comments throughout the tour to win a prize/have your order refunded if you have ordered something during my birthday sale.

The sale is on until the end of this week if you want to grab a bargain.

Get 20% off with the code BDAY.

T&C: Not affiliated with Meta, IG or Brew and Brownie. Winners will be announced in my stories and contacted by this account only. UK residents only.

Here’s a quick game for pancake day.

Select some of the Phonics Flashcards. I chose the phase 3 tricky words but you could use sounds/words from any phase.

Pick two cards and place the rest in the mixing bowl. Read the words then choose one of the words to be the target word. Shuffle the 2 words cards then place them face down in the frying pan.

Take turns to use a spatula to flip one of the cards over. If you find the target word you can keep it. Continue to play adding new sets of words to the pan until you run out of cards. See who can find the most target words.

You could also play this game using the sound cards. A fun, quick paced way to practise any words and sounds they are having trouble remembering.

20% off Flashcards until the end of this week.
Code: BDAY

I will be coming on to chat to you about the new club tomorrow 🧡

*greatest of all time

I only learnt that abbreviation the other day! It’s my 40th birthday today and I’m definitely too old to know the current slang words. Slay. IYKYK. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤣 (pretty sure theyI use emojis differently now too 🥴🤣) Also it might be a sheep in the picture not a goat?! 🐐

Anyway, one thing I’m sure about is that mini writers club flashcards are the G.O.A.T (greatest of all time). I used my years of teaching experience to make sure they are simple yet packed with helpful features like sound buttons & lines to help spot digraphs e.g. g-oa-t.

I’d love to hear what you think makes them great.

I planned to hand my notice in at school for my 40th birthday. Life happened and I ended up making the jump a couple of years earlier than planned. It’s my 40th Birthday on Sunday so as a big thank you for helping to making Mini Writers Club what it is, I am offering 20% off all products on the website this weekend.

At the code at the checkout. UK only.
Code: BDAY

We are off to York and I’m SO excited about the food! I’ve got my sights set on a delicious hot apple crumble! Let me know what your favourite birthday meal would be in the comments below.

Are you looking for fun and effective ways to help your children master their times tables? Look no further!

The Times Tables Club is launching on 8th February and it includes printables and exciting games to support your child’s learning journey.

The Times Table Club covers all the times tables from 1 to 12 with helpful tips and tricks. New activities will be added each week to help your child understand the underlying concepts behind multiplication and to reinforce their times table knowledge.

The Mini Writers Club reopens to new members tomorrow until Wednesday 7th Feb. Write Times Tables in the comments below if you would like to know more.

👀 Time to stop tweaking and get making! 👀

⭐️ FREE PHONICS CHECK-UP ⭐️

Join me as I show you how to find out how your child is getting on with phonics and some fun ways to support them.

Before Christmas I covered sounds and blending. All the posts are saved in my highlights.

Next week I will be focusing on tricky words, what the are and how to help your child read and spell them.

Leave me an emoji to let me know if you will be following along. Please share/tag anyone who might find it useful.

📷 Be in the photos this Christmas 📸

When we were clearing the loft ready to move house I found some of my childhood toys (how scary was the clown 😳 I loved that so much it came to my Aunty’s wedding when I was a bridesmaid!). As I looked through my boxes of photos I found one of the Christmas when I got Rub-a-dub doggy. My mum died when I was 13 so photos of these moments mean everything to me.

One year we spent Christmas Day with Craig’s family. I looked back through the photos on our phones and there’s one of me yawning on the sofa once we got home and Sophie and Benji were in bed and that was it.

I chatted to Craig about how I wanted to be in the photos too. I want Sophie and Benji to be able to look back and see me. This is partly my own fault as I often move out of shot or say don’t take a photo of me because I need to wash my hair etc. He’s been really good at remembering to take them ever since. This year we are spending Christmas Day at my parents and my (step)mum is famous for taking photos so I will be in plenty!

If you’re always the one taking the photos or stepping out of the frame, make sure to be in a few photos this year. Your children won’t care if you’re in pyjamas or if your hair isn’t done. They will love looking back at the photos one day. They won’t focus on the bits you see when you look at them. Instead the photos will jog their memories. 📷🥰

Save any Christmas biscuit or cracker inserts for after Christmas! They make great ice skating toys. 🧊

Do you want to draw a snowman? ⛄️ 🖍

Hold a paper plate on your head. With your other hand try to draw a snowman.

It’s harder than it looks and funny when you take it off you head and have a look at what you have drawn.

Check out my “10 Christmas Games” post for more ideas. Head to the website and the link is on the homepage. www.miniwritersclub.com