This week we have been having a super time exploring our Reception garden whilst learning to “build constructive and respectful relationships,” Development Matters 2021.
We have been learning how to use our activity zones including the sand and water, role play area, mud kitchen, writing area and construction area. We have been thinking about the different skills we can use in each one and how we take care of them. The Reception adults have been extremely impressed and very happy to discover how good the children all are at tidying up our Reception environment.
Well done, Zebras and Elephants, for remembering the Golden Rule ‘do look after our property’. Let’s keep it up!
In our Literacy lessons we have been learning the story of ‘The Little Red Hen’ and enjoying telling it together using actions. Have a look at the link below to retell the story together:
We have made a great start to our daily phonics lessons too; learning the phoneme (sound) and grapheme (written symbol) for the following letters s,a,t and p. These are taught first so that simple words can be built using them e.g.; sat, tap, pat The children have been really quick to pick up sounding out simple cvc (consonant-vowel-consonant) words like these, using their robot arms and blending hands. Do ask your child to demonstrate this to you at home.
In Maths we have been “learning to subitise;” say what we see without counting (Development Matters 2021). The focus for this week has been learning to subitise small sets of objects (perceptual subitising) which will prepare the children for recognising small groups within a larger set (conceptual subitising) e.g: seeing 6 on a dice as two groups of 3.
The activities we have carried out have given children the opportunity to
- name quantities with number words e.g. I can see 3,
- represent a given number with different objects e.g. stones, fingers, cars
- match sets to numerals
- make their own arrangements that can be subitised.
How you can help at home: Provide opportunities for promoting tolerance of others and turn taking through the use of board or card games, “my turn – your turn, ” activities such as turning pages in a book or putting items of clothing on or away. Also to practise subitising by playing dice games such as snakes and ladders.
We have been singing Incy Wincy spider this week. Here is the link so you can all sing along:https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-incy-wincy-spider/zr4yt39
This week we have spent some time considering the changes that may be ahead following the sad death of Queen Elizabeth II but also the changes and new beginnings that will come into effect. We have wondered what coins and money will look like and stamps on letters. Many of the children in Reception commented on the news over the weekend and some knew that King Charles III would be the new monarch. It is a confusing time for some and change can be unsettling. If your child has questions the following ppt may be a useful talking point: