I work at a small international pre school where we have 1 hour of writing time each afternoon after our lunch playtime ends. I have anywhere between 5-8 students of varying ages and writing and reading abilities. We have been utilising workbooks that fall around their ability of both. Most I would say are just tracing the English alphabet and moving to copying sentences and identifying pictures and the letter they start with. Some of our older children have more difficult workbooks as they can both read and write English.
I find motivation for this writing time ebb and flows. Some students can be quite motivated and just do work on their own. Some need lots of attention and help which is totally fine.
I have a few questions.
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Is this type of writing age appropriate? I can see some benefit in it as many can write their name and the alphabet quite well even at age 3. They spend 5 hours a week doing this so I feel you’d hope they could. I just find this type of work a little mundane and potentially outdated? I understand it’s an international school and all these kids are Japanese and their parents would like to have some proof that what we are doing is working but is there a better way?
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If the answer to 1 is yes, do you have any other ideas of how i could better utilise this time or at least change it up and keep it fresh?
I have spoken to the owner of the school and they seem open to ideas if I’d like to make changes to this writing time. They see this time as part of the children are here to learn English and writing is part of learning.
For more context, everything we do is in English, we have “lesson time” twice a day, we have a Japanese assistant if needed but they usually only assist during toileting and lunch.
Im open to hearing any comments, positive or negative about this as i am on the fence about how beneficial this time is.
by Party-Highway2050