Nursery

Well we have reached the end of our first half term and all the children have settled really well - I am very proud of them!

Last week we learnt the formation rhymes for the numerals 4 and 7. 

We continued with Environmental Sounds in phonics - I hope you have managed to do some of the activities I have suggested, both on the blog and on the hand outs, with your child/children.

We learnt a new song and dance in Squiggle Whilst You Wiggle and will learn the squiggles when we come back after the holidays, as well as continuing with the two we are more confident with.

I hope you are enjoying the break and look forward to seeing everyone next week.

Nursery

Maths

In maths we have been looking at the number 1. So that you can help your child with forming and writing the number 1 correctly please have a look at the formation number rhymes posted on Tuesday 25th September by Mrs Foster.

Phonics

We are currently focusing on Phase 1 Phonics, Aspect 1 - Environmental Sounds. You can support your child at home by:

• talking to your child about the sounds they can hear in different places, e.g. in the kitchen, at the shops, at the park.
• going on a listening walk.
• Filling a shoe box with with objects that make sounds at home - children can then listen to a sound & guess what object is making the sound.

Autumn

On Tuesday morning last week we braved the weather and went on a nature walk on the field to look at the changes that are happening. Lots of children have also been bringing in Autumn leaves for us to look at and talk about. 

You can support your child by talking about the changes that they can see happening, e.g. the leaves changing colour and falling off the trees, the changes in the weather and what clothes we wear in Autumn.

Nursery

Morning routine

We were very aware of the congestion around the door & cloakroom in the morning when you bring your children in to Nursery so we have been trialing the new system of entering through the pencil area and exiting through the door by the cloakroom. 

We feel that this is working well and would appreciate your comments/feedback on this matter.

Many thanks

Phonics Play

Next week in reception we will be practising blending and segmenting sounds to help with reading and writing. The following website has some great games that we use in the classroom. The children especially like the Buried Treasure and Dragon's Den!!!

Go to

• www.phonicsplay.co.uk
• Click on Free PhonicsPlay
• Click on Phase 2 (these are the sounds we have learnt so far)
• Then select the game you wish to play.
• When you have selected your game it will ask you again what Phase you want to use, select Phase 2 again.
• Finally click on "Revise all Phase 2"

Have fun

Meet The Characters....

Here is some background information I thought you might like about the characters......

 

 

Kipper is five years old and the baby of the family. He is very mischievous and is always getting into scrapes. He has a good imagination and loves the world of make believe. He takes his teddy bear 'Teddy' everywhere with him.

Biff is seven years old, like her twin brother Chip. She has good ideas but is sometimes bossy. She is an action girl but can be very clumsy; if there is a hole to fall into, she will fall into it!

Chip is seven and Biff's twin brother. He is quieter and more cautious than the others but is good at stopping their quarrels. Chip likes to take time to think about a problem. He is artistic and funny.

 Mum is the practical one of the family; if something needs fixing she is the one to do it whether it's unblocking the sink or building a new shed. She is patient and kind and can tell if any of the children are unhappy. Mum can often sense trouble coming before it happens!

Mum calls Dad the 'fourth child of the family'. He's always messing about and loves practical jokes.
Things often go wrong for Dad and he's a bit of a bodger around the house, but he's great at telling stories and organising games.

Floppy is a clever dog. He is called Floppy because he looks floppy and flops down to sleep when tired. He often gets muddy and likes to chase cats. Floppy carries 'The Magic Key' on his collar but would rather be burying a bone or having a nice snooze than going on adventures; he knows there will always be trouble, with a capital T!

Gran is an energetic, eccentric and wacky grandmother and can be a bit of a rebel. She lives in a cottage in the country and the children like to stay with her. She can be a worry to Mum and is sometimes embarrassing; she often acts as if she is a child herself!

Wilma is eight and the oldest of the children. She is very determined and likes to boss the gang around. Wilma is practical with bright ideas and common sense, but she always thinks that she is right. She likes to try to do things in the neatest possible way.

Wilf is seven years old. He is clever, in fact he is a walking encyclopaedia of facts! - but not a know-it-all. Wilf has a good imagination and likes to perform; this can be useful if the children find themselves in a difficult situation!

Hope this helps :-)

Jayne Atkinson

Reading Book ideas

Hi,
Some of you have been asking for ideas to use when your child is discussing their reading books with you at home. These early discussions about books are very important as they help promote language skills and develop good comprehension, as well as encourage an enjoyment in reading. I have included some ideas that you could try at home after you have read through the story.

Encourage children to talk about what the characters might be saying to each other on each page. Cut out speech bubbles and record what the children say. You could then blu tack these into the book and try re-reading the story again (remember to remove them before bringing the book back to school)

Ask questions such as asking children to;
Name characters e.g. who is looking out of the window? (use key words)
Describe characters e.g. what is Biff wearing?
Using prepositions e.g. where is Kipper's teddy?
Making suggestions e.g. why is Kipper the last one to get dressed?
Explaining e.g. how did Kipper's teddy get in the Lost Property?
Predicting e.g. what do you think Biff said when Kipper got his teddy back?

To check understanding you could also ask memory questions such as;
What colour was Biff's scarf?
What was Floppy doing?
How many........?

To practise initial sounds play I spy whilst looking at the pictures of the book (use letter sounds rather than letter names e.g. eggs would be "eh" rather than the letter "e"

Hope these help :-)

Reception this week

In Reception this week....
We will be looking at 2D shapes - circle, triangle, square, rectangle, star. It is important that children are able to identify and correctly name these shapes in their environments so we will be going on some "shape hunts" in the classrooms. If you have cameras at home, a fun way of doing this is to encourage children to take photos of the different shapes they find around the house in order to compare the pictures afterwards, or even make collages of the pictures of different circles, triangle etc they found. (Please bring these into school if you do!).

Some shape songs we will be learning are;

Circle (tune of round and round garden like a teddy bear)

Round and round the circle (draw it on hand)

Draw one in the air

Stop, look, find one

Circles everywhere (children point to circles they see – e.g. clock)

 

Triangle (tune of 3 blind mice)

Tri-an-gle, tri-an-gle (draw it in the air)

Three straight sides, three straight sides

It isn’t a circle (draw circle in air), It isn’t a square (draw square in the air)

You can see triangles everywhere,

You can even hear if you listen with care

A triangle (play instrument - the triangle)

 

Square (tune Frere Jacques)

Find 4 corners, find 4 corners (Make L shape with finger and thumb and trace the corner with other hand)

Sides the same, sides the same (point 2 index fingers vertical, then point them horizontal)

Put them all together, put them all together (draw square in the air)

Square’s my name, square’s my name (draw square in the air)

 

Can you see me? Can you see me?

Anywhere? Anywhere?

Hiding in the classroom, hiding in the classroom,

Over there! Over there! (point to square shapes)


In literacy we will be learning the letters e, h, b, f and the tricky words I, go, no as well as practising our blending for reading using "sound buttons." When learning the letter e we will be decorating hard boiled eggs that the children can bring home.

Jayne Atkinson

13th October

This week Nursery have been continuing with our 'squiggle whilst you wiggle'. This is a movement-based programme which is designed to develop gross and fine motor co-ordination. The children need to have mastered whole body movements before the brain is able to transfer the actions into the fine motor skills required for writing.
We use music, rhythm, story, song, rhyme, sensory play and dance to teach the essential skills necessary for handwriting.
So far we have covered the first story 'Sandy Hill'. The children love the dance and enjoy 'squiggling' on paper. This week we have learnt the story, song and movements for 'Kringeli-Krangeli' and next week we will add the squiggles too.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

See you next week!

Dinner today 8th October

Dinner today was:

Sausage Roll, Potato Waffle with Carrots or Broccoli

or

Spaghetti Bolognese and Garlic bread :)

In Nursery we have been practising counting to 20 while we do different actions, such as jumping, star jumps, claps, etc. The children love this and are very enthusiastic (and noisy) counters!
We have learnt a new counting rhyme:

1, 2, scooby dooby doo
3, 4, knocking on the door
5, 6, doing magic tricks
7, 8 stop and wait (pause)
9, 10, lets do it all again!

Please encourage and support your children with their counting at home - count everything! I hope you enjoy doing the rhyme.

Nursery message books

Our message books have finally arrived! Apologies for the delay and thank you for your patience.

This week in Reception...............

Phonics: This week in Reception we will be learning the letters 'p-k and e. We will also be learning our first digraph (two letters that make one sound) 'ck' and finding out that c,k and ck all make the same sound. We will continue practising blending for reading using the words in, it, is and at and also introducing a new High Frequency Word 'and'. We will send these words home with their reading books so you can help them practice too. In addition to this we will also be introducing the children to 'segmenting' sounds to spell out simple words. We will be encouraging children to listen to the sounds in words and select the letters they hear to spell them.

Numeracy: This week we will continue to accurately count sets of objects and order numbers up to 10. We will also be introducing the idea of combining two groups to find a total, which is the beginning of early calculation. At home you can continue to count lots of objects and practice forming the numbers correctly. If you have any 'wow' moments at home with your children we would love to hear about them. You could leave a comment on here or speak to your child's class teacher

We all enjoyed an autumn walk last week (on the school field!!) we found lots of leaves, some small pine cones and even a couple of acorns!! The children really enjoyed this experience, especially because it was really muddy and we got to put our wellies to good use!! I have spent my weekend on a quest to find a conker tree near where I live, but had no luck :( If you have a conker tree near you we would love some in school, especially ones still inside their shell!!

Don't forget our Harvest Concert on Friday this week 9:30am in the school hall!!

See you all tomorrow :)

Dough Disco

The children have really enjoyed doing dough disco over the last couple of weeks. It's a great, fun way to develop fine motor control and helps the brain develop control over the fingers. All your need to do is get a small piece of dough, some lively music and let your fingers dance in the dough!

Play Dough Recipe

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup warm water with a splash of oil added (and food colouring if desired)

1. Put flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Stir the oil, water & colouring to mix together.
3. Add water mixture to flour and salt gradually. Stir & kneed until a good consistency is formed.

We have learnt the following rhyme for each of our fingers:

Tommy Thumb up, Tommy Thumb down, (move thumbs up and down)

Tommy Thumb dancing all around the town. (dance thumbs about)

Dancing on your shoulders, dancing on your head, (place thumbs on shoulders and head)

Dancing on your knees and tuck them into bed (place thumbs on knees and then tuck them under your arms)

This rhyme can be repeated for your other fingers:

Peter Pointer

Toby Tall

Ruby Ring

Baby Small

If you would like to see an example of Dough Disco in action follow the link below. If the link doesn't work (because adding a link is a new skill for me!) google Shonette Bason Dough Disco.

http://www.shonettebason.com/Dough-Disco(2684813).htm

Have fun!

Debbie Firth

Phonics actions and song (again)

In case the link doesn't work on my previous post (It was uploaded using a mobile)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djz82FBYiug

Dinner Today 3rd Oct

Dinner today was:

Roast Chicken with Roast Potatoes and Sweetcorn

or

Fish Fingers, Chips and Spaghetti Hoops

The chicken was VERY popular!! :)

Reception phonics songs

During our phonics lessons in reception we have been learning songs and hand actions for each letter sound from the jolly phonics programme, which the children are really enjoying. If you would like to learn them to practise at home you will find a video of the whole alphabet on this link from you tube.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=Djz82FBYiug 
Have fun!!
Jayne (Miss Atkinson)

Spare clothes............

We know there has been an issue with some children going home wet and soggy at the end of their session. We do apologise for this and we  are endeavouring to make sure that this doesn't happen again.

We are severely lacking in spare clothes, especially tracksuit bottoms, socks and underwear. It would be really helpful if you could pop some spares in your child's book bag, so we can ensure that your child remains dry and comfortable during their day with us. We would also appreciate any old spares that you no longer need at home that you don't mind donating to school.

The children are loving our Outdoor Classroom (especially in the rain!!) and it is developing all the time. It is a statutory requirement of the EYFS that we provide access to outdoor learning at all times. The waterproofs are really helping us fulfil this requirement - so if your child hasn't got a set in school already it would be great if you could provide this as soon as possible - Thank you :)

Setting up the new Foundation Stage Unit is a big task and I would like to thank you all for your support and patience whilst we iron out all the niggles!! We have already come a long way in the last four weeks and it has been great to see all the amazing learning development that's already happening!!!

Your comments are always welcome and once again here is my email for you to contact me directly with and questions or worries.

r.foster@tlydesley.wigan.sch.uk

Thank You :)

Dinner Today 2nd October

Dinner Today was :

Cheese whirl with Mash and Carrots

or

Chicken Chunks with Wedges and Spaghetti Hoops

:)

Welcome from Nursery

Welcome to all Nursery parents. Keep checking the blog for regular Nursery updates. We would love to hear your comments.