Early Years 2018/2019
Firstly, welcome to the Early Years web page. We have provided an insight into what is happening in school for your child and a general overview of the key information you need to know. Term 3 topic -'Traditional Tales' in the Early Years..
We have enjoyed meeting Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and re-enacting the story, with our porridge being "too hot, too cold and just right!"
We met The Big Bad Wolf and told him how the Three Little Pigs felt as he "huffed and puffed and blew their houses down".
We designed new shoes for The Elves and the Shoemaker
We explored the Green Zone, laying trails of birdseed to follow, just like Hansel and Gretel
We were challenged to build a bridge strong enough for the Billy Goats to escape the troll.
In other news...
We have learned about the Chinese New Year- year of the pig.
We made lanterns, wrote in Chinese lettering and became a Chinese dragon. We tried fortune cookies and made some animal masks.
We have been weighing different objects and measuring things using cubes, tape measures and rulers in different sizes.
We have tried some adding and subtracting using objects and our fingers to help us.
We have set up our own class shops and bought and sold things using the money.
We have learned all about St. Valentine and created and wrote in our own cards.
We visited Deal Gymnastics Club to work on our core and strength skills - balancing beams, trampolines and the rings.
Next term...Space!
Term 4 Home Learning task
We visited Deal Library and the beach. We had lots of fun finding sand to draw in.
Reading / Phonics
As part of the children’s journey into reading, all children will be given core phonic texts. In class we will be learning to recognise, sound and write initial sounds e.g. s,a,t,p,i,n,m,g,o,c,k and then they will begin to blend into words. It is important that you spend ten minutes a day reading with your child. This may at first be difficult for them but as you keep scaffolding their learning you will see big improvements over a short period of time. We expect you to read the book a few times until your child can read most of the words in the text by sight or is able to blend each sound into a word e.g. C-A-T = CAT. If your book has no words then encourage your child to make up their own story based on the pictures they are looking at. Please remember it is also important to read stories and books that they are interested in to develop a life-long love of reading.
We will change books when we feel children are becoming more confident. Please write comments in their reading record to tell us if they have read with you and please inform us of any improvements or difficulties. To consolidate their learning please also practise the high frequency words in your reading record. These are key to their progression in reading and you will find that many are words that can only be read by sight e.g. the, I, you, go – these are words you cannot sound and blend. Please choose a few words a week to learn and then tick or highlight once they have been learnt. We will send home, next week, the ELG word list (45 words) that your child is expected to know by the end of the year. These will be regularly assessed in school
Each day we will teach a phonics lesson and the children will learn new Letters and Sounds. We will post on Tapestry the Letters & Sounds that we learn each week. At home, please practise writing the letters and words, remembering to practice each phonetic sound that is learnt. It is important the children become confident with holding a pencil and forming their letters correctly but we are all aware that children do develop at different times and different rates. We will be holding a Reading Seminar at the end of Term 1. This will provide you with ideas on supporting your child with their reading and also teach you how to recite the phonetic alphabet and learn how to sound and blend words. Details will follow shortly so please keep a look out in your book bag.
Maths
The main focus this term is ‘number recognition and counting’. The children will learn how to recognise, order and sequence numbers to 10 and then onto 20. Keep a look out for numbers all around you and encourage your child to count and sort using numbers and objects. At home try to use mathematical language to help sort and count different objects. Cooking and shopping are two excellent ways to introduce practical maths. We will also be introducing 2d shapes such as squares, circles, triangles, rectangles.
PE / Outdoor Learning
Each week your child will be taking part in indoor and outdoor activities. Gymnastics and dance will take place every Wednesday and it is really important that your child has shorts, a tee-shirt and plimsolls in their locker. Outdoor field activities will take place on a Thursday (weather permitting). We will also be attending Deal Gymnasium once a term where the children will have a fantastic opportunity to use their facility. We will be sending you more details about this next week.
The children will be spending lots of time in our Green Zone and will be participating in lots of fun forest school activities. The first sessions will be held on Friday 12th October & Monday 15th October. The children can arrive into school wearing their warm, messy clothes and their wellies (they can keep these in school). A letter will follow next week.
General
It is really important the children stay hydrated through the day so please ensure they have a water bottle, which is correctly labelled, in class (We do have a water fountain outside if they forget). The bottle will be kept in school throughout the week and sent home on a Friday. Please make sure all the clothes and footwear are correctly labelled with your child’s name as they do have a habit of going here, there and everywhere! Fruit is provided for morning break but your child can bring in a piece of fruit of their own, if they wish.
One last thing, Friday is ‘Golden Time’ so the children are allowed to bring in their own toy from home, to play with (make sure it is not too big, expensive or precious!)
Hopefully this has given you an insight into what’s happening this term. We are really excited to welcome your child to our Early Years setting and we cannot wait to start our learning adventure. We hope the children will have a fantastic time and that they really enjoy their time in early years. We will provide a caring and happy environment, which will enable your child to explore, create and become inquisitive and independent learners.
Thank You
Mr Cooke / Mrs Palmer
