Blog 16 - 3rd Feb

Well, we've been a hive of activity this week in Apple Class. So much thinking, planning, doing, writing, drawing, painting, cutting, sticking, dancing, singing... the list is endless! Our learning has mainly centred around winter. We've looked at pictures of wintery scenes, we've been out and about looking for signs of winter on our field. We did discover though, that some plants don't loose their leaves in winter, these are called evergreens.
 
Here are some of the highlights:
 
Name Writing: 
We've had a real focus on name writing this week. Some children have been finding and arranging  magnetic letters to make their name while others have had a pen in hand with super tripod grip to overwrite their name or have a go at copying from their name card. The children have all done a really good job! We will keep working on our pencil grip every week. Could your child have a go at writing his/her name at home? We would love to see a picture of this on your child's journal.
 
Ice experiments
 We had a such an interesting time predicting and talking about what was happening to the ice in our warm classroom. We discovered that if we squeezed the ice or pom poms in our warm hands, they began to melt and water dripped from our hands back into the tray. We talked about what the ice looked like and how it felt. 
Our important words were: 
 
ice
frozen/freezing
melt/melting
smooth
slippery
water
cold
 
Could you explore ice at home over the weekend? Maybe we'll be lucky enough to see some outside over the weekend!
 
Musical Apples 
 
We very much enjoy our sessions in the hall on a Wednesday. 
We always begin with ring a ring of roses and all of the children are now able to join in with the words. How we enjoy 'all falling down!'
This week, we moved like birds. We hopped, we pecked, we flew and then we learnt a new word... we soared. 
We enjoyed moving to the music and then flying to our nest when the music stopped. 
Many of the children find hopping difficult. Have a go with your child over the weekend and if they are struggling, hold both of their hands to give them some support as they practise. 
Ribbon time is always so much fun. The children used the ribbons to fly and we practised making big circles with the ribbons as we imagined the birds flying around and around and around!
 
The children have enjoyed making lots of models and collages on our creative table, they have enjoyed making wintery sculptures with playdoh. 
 
We have spent lots of time outside this week and lots of children have found it a bit tricky putting their coats on, fastening them up and also putting them back on their pegs! This is a really important part of becoming independent and I urge you to encourage your child to do this themselves. Keep practising Apples!
 
We've added some new photos to our 'Remember When' board. As you can see from the photos these have been very popular with the children's. They have been learning to wait their turn and pointed out themselves to their friends! They really have enjoyed reflecting on previous months. 
 
Have a great wekeend 
 
Mrs F and Mrs G