Preschool News 18.03.22

And just like that, it is Friday again! The weeks are flying by and we have been as busy as ever...

During our HeartSmart session to support our personal, social and emotional development, we have been focusing on being a good friend. This week we learned to work cooperatively with each other and played the 'Sharing Island Game' (which is a little bit like musical chairs). The children had to swim around, then when I shouted shark, they ran to stand on a island (hoops). After each round, islands were removed, it was explained that unlike musical chairs, the aim of the game was not to be out every time but for the children to invite others onto their island so that everyone is included. We were fantastic friends and made sure that everyone managed to get on a island – even if it was a tight squeeze. Boris says, "Sharing and playing together makes games more fun."

To support our communication and language development, we have continued to listen to the story 'Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs'. We know this story very well now and are confident at answering questions about the story and joining in with familiar words. One child commented that this was her favourite story ever! We have also played a memory game, a variety of items were placed onto a tray, then we had to close our eyes whilst one item was removed and guess the missing item. We were very good at this game, what wonderful memories we have!

During our literacy sessions, we began our T4W unit. We listened to the text of 'The Little Green Dinosaur'. Next, we created our story map (please see the pics) and added actions to help us recall and retell the story. We focused hard on using intonation for the different characters. During our writing activity, we drew a picture of the character 'The Little Green Dinosaur'.

We have loved the warmer weather this week, this has allowed us to spend lots of time outside. To support our physical development, we have been balancing, kicking balls, using a bat to hit a ball, jumping of tyres, climbing trees, running, rolling, chasing each other – we haven't sat still! To support our fine motor development, we have used scissors to snip and cut and used cotton buds to trace lines. Our skills are improving each week.

During our mathematics sessions, we were introduced to number 4. We became 4 detectives and found lots of different representations of 4 throughout the week – we are number experts!

For our understanding the world development, we have taken part in science week. As part of science week, we looked at "Smashing Stereotypes" To begin our week, I asked the children two questions.
1. What is a scientist?
"Someone who makes potions in little pots and things." A scientist makes volcanoes." Makes dinosaurs." "They mix colours together.".
2. What does a scientist look like?
"He wears a white coat and goggles." "He wears shorts and a short jumper." " A scientist wears goggles." "A man".

After this, we discussed if scientists were men or women, most children replied, "It's a man."We then continued our learning on Mary Anning and discovered that anyone can be a scientist. By the end of the week, the children were able to answer that anyone can be a scientist, "Even me".

As the main theme for science week was 'Growth', we began our learning exploring signs of spring. Each day, we went on a walk around the school outdoor environment to hunt for signs of spring and discovered that spring is the time that everything begins to grow. It was fun exploring new language, such as, bud, blossom, seedling and daffodil.For your home link, can you find signs of spring in your garden or go on a walk and add photos to Tapestry, to share next week. Throughout the week,we also took part in two experiments, we made erupting volcanoes and turned skittles into a rainbow.

To support our expressive arts and design development, we have been busy making crafts to give to special people on Mothering Sunday. We have also been singing lots of nursery rhymes, 'Wind the bobbin up' was a particular favourite this week.

On Thursday we cerebrated St Patrick's Day – please see our earlier post. And today, we dressed in fancy dress to raise money for Comic Relief, thank you for all your donations.

Have a fantastic weekend everyone, I hope the sun continues to shine

See you next week
Tara