29/10/2018 – Stepping Stones – The Next Fortnight

Updates and Notices

On the 31st of October, across the nursery all children are welcome to come in in fancy dress, there is a voluntary donation of £1 which will go straight to The Harley Jae Trust our charity partner, our staff members will also be dressing up and there should be plenty of decorations up across the nursery.

We are having a pumpkin carving competition, it is £1.50 to enter and all proceeds will be going to The Harley Jae Trust our charity partner at Stepping Stones, there are even prizes for 1st 2nd and 3rd places up for grabs! Please see our signs in Reception and throughout the Nursery for more information, or even ask your Room Leader!


In the Yellow Room

 

Over the next two weeks in the Yellow Room, we will be taking part in Halloween activities such as Pumpkin Painting. Please feel free to dress your children up in any fancy dress that you like.

We will be focusing on a new Makaton symbol ‘please’. We will be introducing the sign throughout your child’s day at nursery and encouraging the babies to copy and learn it. There will be lots more physical activities such as walkers, rockers and tunnels for our babies to work on getting their first steps!

Four our younger babies there will be more tummy time and sensory activities set out to encourage them to build upper body strength and help them explore their senses.


Red Room 1 & 2

In the next two weeks in Red Room 1 we are also learning the Makaton sign ‘please’, we are also still using ‘Thank You’ and ‘drink’. We will be using fresh vegetables in our play this week, such as carrots, parsnips, cabbage and potatoes. This allows the children to use their senses and encourages healthy eating. Pumpkins will be used in exploratory play as we celebrate Halloween, we will also be painting pumpkins, using the seeds and the insides for sensory play and we will also be adding them to water.

For the next two weeks in Red Room 2, we will be focusing on our sign of the week which will be ‘drink’. We will also be focusing on mark making using a variety of tools, such as painting, chalking and drawing to encourage children to talk about the marks they are making and use their palmar grasp. We will also be focusing on sensory play and using pumpkins to encourage the children to enjoy the sensory experience. Interact with others during their play and incorporating the first 100 words.

More information on Makaton can be found here.


In Green Room 1 & 2

In the Green Rooms, we will be focusing on the Makaton signs ‘look’ and ‘listen’. We will also be doing lots of activities for Halloween & bonfire night, these include decorating both biscuits and pumpkins!

We will also be using the story sacks ‘Monkey Get’s Dressed’ and ’10 little fingers, 10 little toes’ to introduce some more words from the first 100 words; monkey, stripy, head, pant,s spotty, socks, hands, shoes, trousers,  littles, babies, ten, fingers, toes and sneezes.


In the Pre-School

During half terms, our children in the Pre-School remain on the same activity cycle as the previous week which can be found below or on the previous news post.

Fortnightly Book

In Blue Room 1 ‘Each Peach Pear Plum’ is our fortnightly book. We will be using rhyming games, fruit tasting and creating storyboards.

Blue Room 2 will be reading ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’. The children will be making a storyboard, doing outdoor role play, bear hunt yoga and even doing a sound walk.

‘Down by the cool of the Pool’ is Blue room 3’s book, they will be discussing the animals that live in the pool, talking about the life cycle of frogs and creating storyboards and animal masks.


Letter/Phoneme

Pp is the letter of the week in Blue Room 1

Our letter of the week is Ii in Blue Room 2

In Blue Room 3 our letter of the week is Nn

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

Our number of the week is 4 in Blue Room 1

In Blue Room 2 our number is 4

5 is the number of the week in Blue Room 3

Talking to your child about these numbers will really reinforce our teaching. This helps your child’s ability to recognize numbers and aids in their mathematical development. In all rooms, we will be counting to our number. Talking about the different ways we can make our number (for example 5 = 3 + 2, 4 + 1, 5 + 0 etc.). Also looking at where it is on our number line and which numbers come before and after it.


Skill

In Blue Room 1 the children will be studying patterns. We will be looking at hand printing patterns, body patterns, shape patterns and even Duplo patterns when building.

In Blue Room 2 our children will be looking at patterns. We will be listening and making pattern songs, hand printing. Creating Duplo patterns and using our peg boards to copy patterns and make our own.

Shapes are the focus for Blue Room 3’s children. The children will be looking at different shapes, we will be looking at our everyday world to find how shapes are all around us.


 

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.

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