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