Newsletter 12.05.17

The F2 children have enjoyed revamping their role play area this week. With Ms Y's help they created lovely brick walls, and added some different furniture. The children have thoroughly enjoying breaking in this new space and we are hearing a lot of great conversations, based largely on the children's own experiences of home life and holidays.

In the soft play room and big playground we have been learning about positional language. We used the parachute to explore the concept of 'on' and 'under' (it is a common mistake for the children to say 'in' when they mean 'on'). Some of the children are learning to explain more complex ideas using baskets and a ball - inside, beside, next to, in between, in front of and behind.

We have been reinforcing some core PD skills such as walking up and down stairs using alternate feet, using gross motor movements to draw large circles and lines and reminding children to sit with their legs at the front, both on the carpet and in their play.

Many children sit with their legs in the 'W' position (see photo). But we are trying to break this habit because 'W' sitting increases the risk of the child’s hip and leg muscles becoming short and tight which can then negatively affect their coordination, balance, and the development of gross motor skills down the road.

There are several other developmental reasons we discourage 'W' sitting including; developing core upper body muscles, the ability to shift weight from one side to the other and the ability to rotate the upper body.
  You can help at home by reminding your child to move their legs to the front. 

Our construction area has been a hive of activity as the children practice taking turns with the large construction vehicles; diggers, dump trucks and bulldozers. We are noticing a marked improvement in the children's turn-taking abilities both waiting for a turn and giving up a toy to let others have a turn.

The children have enjoyed the book 'Duck in the Truck' this week and have been using the using the box 'trucks' to recreate elements of the story as well as attending to a few emergencies and taking friends away on holidays. With support the children are learning to hear and recognise rhyme and alliteration. We will continue with this over the rest of the term. Our next Literacy focus is looking at traditional tales, which ties in nicely with the up and coming EYFS show.

The children have enjoyed another shapes focus this week as we use shapes for creative activities tying into some of our PSED goals. Most children are now able to identify and name different shapes in the environment as well. Using the different shapes to make faces - happy, sad, surprised and cross we talked about our own feelings. We encourage the children to talk about how they are feeling and let them know that there is no such thing as a bad emotion, it's ok to feel cross or sad.

During snack on Thursday afternoon, the children undertook a wee perseverance challenge - to peel a hard boiled egg.  Encouraging your child to persist when faced with a challenge (whether it's putting on their socks, completing a puzzle, finishing a board game or peeling an egg) is an essential skill to foster. The children were so proud of themselves, even if their eggs weren't quite perfect :-)

We finished off the week with a bit of Friday schnanagins - learning an exciting new song about a family of sharks with Ms Precious.  Check it out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqZsoesa55w

Notices:

Late Slips - Please be reminded that we take our register at 8.15am. If you arrive after 8.15am please collect a late slip from the office so they know to update our class register. This is important for safeguarding the children in case of an unforeseen emergency or a scheduled fire / lock down drill.

Library - Please return library books on Tuesday so your child can choose a new story during our Library session.

Sleeping at school - We have noticed a number of children are not falling asleep during rest time, or are taking a long time to fall asleep.  If you'd like to discuss your child's sleeping or stop their nap time please talk to a teacher after school or drop us an email.