Blog week ending 18th Sept
*PE has started this week so please could I request that children come in full PE kit next Friday the 25th of September (P.E t-shirt under school jumper, jogging bottoms and trainers). My apologies ... I wondered why so many people had forgotten this week but it seems I did not mention this on the class newsletter!*
What a fantastic and busy week it has been! We hope you are all ready for a relaxing weekend - we certainly are and we will be back raring to go on Monday. We have had lots of busy fingers and busy brains in the classroom this week, you may have heard about all of the new learning that has taken place?
Within the classroom we have taken a giant leap into Read Write Inc this week and the children have 3 sounds firmly under their belts! We’ve focused upon ‘a’ ‘m’ and ‘s’. This week we have been introduced to the legendary Sally Sounds. She is a great lover of all things red, but the children will tell you, she isn't the best time keeper. Ask your child to demonstrate the sounds they have learnt for you and they will also be able to show you the written sound using there pointy finger pencil.
I have also attached the sound sheets from this week and it would be great if you could reinforce these sounds by either having a go at forming the letters or looking for items in your house that start with these sounds. Please use the little rhymes that I have included on the document below. This will ensure that they get the formation right and is crucial!
In our mathematical work, we’ve been careful counters this week. One of our jobs was to be a farmer and count 5 animals into the field. Later on in the week, we looked at some images which represented either the number one or two. We had some great discussions about these as the children sorted. It was interesting when we looked at a picture of a nose- some of us thought it represented one- there was one nose. Others saw a representation of 2- there were two nostrils. Our mathematical work throughout Swansfield places such importance on the ability to sort and explain and this starts in earnest in the early years. If you are out and about at the weekend, look at objects and artefacts and talk about the numbers and amounts that you see- 3 windows on a door, 6 eggs in a box, 5 buttons on a cardigan. Number is everywhere!
In our topic work we have been thinking 'all about me!' and thinking about what it is that makes us similar to others or different. We have been considering our faces and what we look like - the things that we all have in common: two eyes, one nose, one mouth, but also how we all have different coloured eyes and different length hair and some of us are small and some of us tall. We have been creating natural faces using outdoor resources but also using loose parts. In Pear class we do lots of loose part play as this improves children's problem solving and theoretical reasoning. Loose parts also tend to enhance children's ability to think imaginatively and see solutions - a toy rabbit will always be a toy rabbit, but a stick can be so much more than just a stick.
From here we moved on to talking about our homes and our families. We have discovered that many of us have brothers or sisters and live in similar types of houses, but we also found there was something about all of our homes or families that made us unique. Identifying and explaining similarity and difference is a crucial skill to master in Reception and we’ll revisit it in many contexts throughout the year.
Our book of the week was a lovely story called The Invisible String, a story about the invisible connection of love. We created wonderful paintings about far off places that our string could stretch. We also created bamboo hearts and used string to work our fingers and tie leaves on, whilst the children also told me who their string connected them to. A heart will hopefully have found its way home to you and this is tied by an invisible string that we keep in Pear class so the children know even when they are not with you, you are all connected.
Well done to Ruby who is this weeks 'Star of the Week' for her determination and kindness!
*Now that there are restrictions in Northumberland, please remember that only someone in your family bubble or support bubble can pick up the children from school. We will be collating pick up information on Mondays from now on so that we can keep up to date of any weekly changes.*
Mrs H-S
Meeting Sally Sounds!
Pear class dancing!
Making houses!
Making faces and exploring time!
Magic maths!
Loose part family portraits!
RWI sound sheets!