In year 2 , children will be assessed on everything they've learned, including whether they can write in a cursive manner. Giving your child the opportunity to tell stories orally is a great way to get them used to structuring their ideas and using adventurous language.

I wonder why the author has chosen to describe the castle as “gloomy”? I wonder what that tells us about what might happen there?’ 3. Try some real-world writing Continue to encourage your child to draw, colour, paint, and do crafting activities at home using a range of different materials. These activities all provide opportunities to develop control, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination. We have a wide range of handwriting activities and resources to help your children improve their penmanship. Paper should be placed on the table at a slight angle to the left or right depending if you are right or left-handed. This make your handwriting more upright and it's a much more natural way to position your hand and wrist. Try writing with the paper straight and then at a slight angle. Can you see the difference in your handwriting? Sitting on the line

Give your child the chance to make their very own book! Fold a few sheets of paper in half and staple down the length of the fold. Suggest that they fill it with their own story and pictures. It could be based on one of their favourite stories.

If your child finds it useful to plan out their story first, try our free Story mountain to make a great plot or use our Character profile activity sheet to come up with an interesting lead character.Your child will practise holding a writing tool correctly with these fun Fantasy Handwriting Worksheets. They’ll be developing their fine motor skills by making small movements with their hand and wrists to trace the different patterns. To give you a bit of inspiration, we’ve provided a handy breakdown of some of the resource types that are available. Plus, we’ve even included a few of our favourite handwriting resources for you to take a look at. Best of all, our KS2 handwriting resources all come ready-made as standard, taking the stress out of planning and preparing lessons. This also means you can focus all your efforts where they matter most: delivering fun, effective handwriting teaching. It's also a great way to get the children working on one skill whilst thinking it's another. Students who need that little bit of extra spelling practise won't even realise what they've been given as you make sure they do their handwriting. In Year 2, your child will learn to form letters at the right size and to join letters when appropriate. Read on to discover the National Curriculum expectations for handwriting in Year 2, and to find out how you can support your child at home.

When you read, occasionally talk about why the author has decided to include something and how they written it. For example: Add some writing to the crafts – can they write with chalk, paint brushes or crayons? Can they make an attractive sign for their door or books? Write about personal experiences- For example, what they did on their holidays. This can include writing about real events or using their imagination.

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While children do learn new language and ideas from speaking and listening, the type of language we use in writing is often very different from that in speech. Reading regularly to your child, especially longer chapter books that they might not be able to yet read independently, is a great way to support their writing. Form capital letters and digits of the correct size, orientation and relationship to one another and to lower-case letters To emphasise the importance of improving handwriting during KS1, celebrating achievements and milestones is crucial. We've designed beautiful certificates you can use to congratulate children on their new skill for life.

Handwriting warm-ups: Before diving into writing, it's important for children to prepare with handwriting exercises. Try out these Fine Motor Handwriting KS2 Warm Up Exercise Cards to help get your pupils up on their feet and warmed up for their writing lessons. Leave enough space for a letter o between your words. See how many o's you can place in between your words. You only need to fit one in. So if can add lots of o's then make your gaps smaller.Writing for different purposes- Writing can be about personal expression, providing information, being persuasive or telling a story. Children all develop at different speeds when it comes to handwriting. You may find that whilst some year 2 children are confident with cursive writing, others need a little extra support with their pencil grip and control. If you would like more resources to help your Year 2 children with their handwriting practise, we have plenty more for you to explore such as this Handwriting Exercises for 7-Year- Olds Activity Booklet.