Nursery w.c. 11th March 2013

The children have begun to practise writing their name each day. I am really pleased with the way they have now settled in to this new routine and many children have come on leaps and bounds. This has had a great impact on mark making in general and children are showing a real interest in writing and drawing. When practising at home it is important that they use lower case letters except for the initial letter.

Maths

The children will be learning early calculating skills this week. For most children this will involve separating a group of 3 or 4 objects in different ways, beginning to recognise that the total is still the same. Some children will continue to make comparisons between quantities, saying which group has more/lots, and some will be finding one more from a group of up to 5, then 10, objects. As with many number/counting objectives, these can be reinforced through many everyday activities at home, e.g. by comparing amounts, using language related to more and less, asking 'If I have one more... how many will I have?'

Phonics

We are continuing with oral blending activities. Most children are able to blend body-coda words, e.g. ca-t, pe-g, so we will be breaking words down into their individual sounds for the children to blend, e.g. c-a-t, p-e-g. Here are some activities for you to try:

Oral blending

Make time for your child to listen to you modelling oral blending before they are introduced to letters. e.g. when asking questions or giving instructions you could segment (break up) the last word into separate phonemes and then immediately blend the sounds together to say the word (e.g. It’s time to get your c-oa-t, coat! or Touch your t-oe-s, toes! Can you stamp your f-ee-t, feet?)

Use oral blending when sharing books, particularly rhyming books where the last word in a rhyming couplet could be segmented (broken up) into three separate sounds and then blended by the adult.

•  a fish on a d – i -sh

•  a goat on a b – oa – t

•  a dog on a l – o – g

Clapping sounds

Think of words using the letters ‘s, a, t,’ ‘p, i, n’ (e.g. sat, pin, nip, pat, tap, pit, pip) and sound them out (segment/ break up) clapping each sound with your child, then blend the

phonemes to make the whole word orally.

As they develop their confidence, ask them to show  this activity to friends or family.

Nursery wc 4th March 2013

Maths

This week we will be looking at measure through the story of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'. We will be making porridge, looking at the language involved in comparing size and sorting objects according to size. Try to use lots of different words for big and small at home. Choose an object and see if you can find objects that are bigger than/smaller than it.

Phonics

We are moving on to Aspect 7 which is Oral Blending and Segmenting. This week we are focusing on blending sounds together to make words.

Children who can hear sounds in words and sound them out will develop the skills they need to be successful readers and writers. Segmenting and blending individual sounds can be difficult at the beginning so we will begin by segmenting and blending syllables. Once the children are familiar with this we will practice with individual sounds.

Rhyme is an important aspect of blending because it is essentially the blending of a new onset to an old rime, e.g. c-at and h-at. So keep sharing rhyming stories, songs and rhymes at home.

However, for blending, it is better to divide the syllable in a different way, e.g. di-ce, swee-t,

ca-t. When doing this, make sure that after you have segmented the word you blend it together so that your child hears the complete word, e.g. Would you like a swee-t, sweet?

Here are some activities you can do at home to support your child's learning:

Play toy talk with your child where the last word in an instruction would be said in toy talk.

Eg, stand u-p, tap your fee-t, pat your ba-ck, touch your hea-d, wiggle your chi-n, pinch your chee-k.

Try and use toy talk at different times of the day. For example:  if you are on your way out you could ask your child to go and get their coa-t or when they are in the bath ask them to pass the soa-p, before bed ask your child for a ki-ss or a hu-g.

As your child becomes more confident with this you could move on the breaking up the words into their individual sounds, e.g. c-oa-t, k-i-ss, h-u-g.

Top tips for listening:

•  Your child may already be interested in hearing the initial sounds in words and know that sounds the letter makes when written down are called so you can help them by making the links with print in the environment.

•   It is important only to segment (break up) and blend (put back together) the last word in a sentence or phrase and not words that occur at the beginning or middle of the sentence. Over time and with lots of repetition, your child will be able to orally blend and segment words. eg: put your hands on you h-ea-d, touch your f-ee-t.

•  It is very important to pronounce the sounds very clearly and not to add an ‘uh’ to some (e.g.‘ssssssss’ and not ‘suh’, ‘mmmmmmmm’ and not ‘muh’).

 

Come and speak to a member of staff if you want to know more about this. 

I hope you find this useful :-)