What is happening at Stepping Stones?
In the Yellow Room
Over the next two weeks in the Yellow Room, we will be introducing more sensory experiences, such as the sensory hoop and bags. We will also be introducing the babies to creative play, making things such as Mother’s Day cards and other paintings. We will also be focusing on eye to eye singing to develop closer bonds with our children.
In Red Room 1 & 2
In the next two weeks in Red Room 1 we will be celebrating World Book day, which is on March 1st. We will be using puppets to re-enact the books, encouraging interest and supporting the children to imitate and repeat words and sounds. We are also dressing up with the rest of the nursery as our characters from our favourite books.
We are also going to be getting prepared for sports week, where the children will be taking part in a mini obstacle course. We will be using both outside and inside to encourage the children to be more physical, using balancing beams, hula hoops and tunnels, aiding in increasing the children’s balance and hand eye co-ordination skills.
In Green Room 1 & 2
In Green Room 1 and 2we are going to be making Mother’s Day cards for our special carers. On the 9th March you are welcome to come in for an hour to stay and play with your child and take part in the fun activities we are going to be doing in the morning, such as playdough and painting.
In Green Room 2 we will be creating our own pirate hats and telescopes ready for World Book Day. Both rooms will also be practicing for our obstacle course which we will be taking parts in for Sports Relief.
On 1st March all Children are welcome to dress up as their favourite characters for World Book Day, our staff will be dressing up as characters from their favourite books as well.
We are having a Mother’s stay and play session from 10-11am on Friday 9th March, unfortunately this will only be for children who normally attend that session
Please can all parents please sign up for parents evening as soon as possible (21st & 22nd March 2018)
Pre-School Easter Bonnet Competition – Can you and your child make the best Easter Bonnet Stepping Stones has ever seen? Entries must be in by 29th March 2018. (Discuss with Pre-School Room Leaders)
Please also note near the main entrance there is a board which shows all our upcoming important dates and events, with another board through the first door into the Pre-School on the left-hand side
In the Pre-School
Book
In Blue Room 1 we are going to be reading ‘Don’t call me Sweet’, we are going to be making monster themed playdough and masks and talking about what kind of foods a monster may eat.
In Blue Room 2 we are reading ‘Chicken Licken’, we will be looking at some key words (squawking, clucking, and chandelier), we will also be food tasting and discussing our favourite fruit and vegetables.
In Blue Room 3 we are reading ‘Jack and the Bean Stalk’, we are even going to try and grow our own magic beans, we will also be developing a story board and re-enacting our favourite scenes from the book.
Letter/Phoneme
In Blue Room 1 our letter of the week is Mm In Blue Room 2 our letter of the week is Hh In Blue Room 3 our letter of the week is Dd
We are all trying to think of lots of things beginning with our letters/the sound it makes, what items do you have at home beginning with our letters? What can you see beginning with our letters on the way to nursery? Can you bring anything in to show us beginning with our letter? We are using our new phoneme bags which are just next to reception, we will also be learning an alliterative rhyme that matches our letter (for example ‘C’ Carol the Cat clicks her castanets). We will also be learning the jolly phonics action.
Number
In Blue Room 1 our number is 10 In Blue Room 2 our number is 10 In Blue Room 3 our number is 7
Talking to your child about these numbers will really reinforce our teaching, helping your child’s ability to recognize numbers and aid in their mathematical development, in all rooms we will be counting to our number, the different ways we can make our number (for example 5 = 3 + 2, 4 + 1, 5 + 0 etc.) Looking at where it is on our number line and which numbers come before and after it.
Skill
In Blue Room 1 we are looking at comparative measures, we will be drawing around each other and measuring parts of our body such as our hands and feet, comparing the sizes throughout the room, who do we think has the biggest hands? We will also be making a height chart.
In Blue Room 2 we are going to recognize and order numbers, we will be using number lines and hands, reinforcing our number of the week, we will be looking at the value of 10, how to make 10 and what comes before and after it.
In Blue Room 3 we are looking at ordinal numbers, these are numbers which tell the position of something. We will be playing racing games and talking about who finished in what position to re-enforce the idea of the words; first, second, third, fourth etc.
Homework sheets for the Pre-School are available in both the rooms and on the door in a plastic wallet. Please ask your room leader for a sheet if you cannot find one.