Chinese New Year

Hello everyone,

Last week we learnt all about different types of birds and how to look after them in the winter. The children made bird food to bring home with a bird tally sheet for the big garden bird watch. Some children have made winter pictures using different collage materials. (These are up in Classroom 1) We looked at the RSPB Website and learnt about different birds in particular blackbird, blue tit and robin. We then made our own birds with wings. (These are flying from the ceiling in Classroom 2). On Friday afternoon the children painted a big picture of what winter meant to them. They worked as a team to achieve this piece of art work and were very proud of it. It is fantastic, please take a look. It is in the messy area. We have been making patterns with our body sounds this week and using our voice to sing fast, slow, loud and quiet. 

This week we are going to be finding out about Chinese New Year.  We will be trying out some different Chinese food and talking about what they taste like and if we like it. In our role play area we have a Chinese restaurant for the children to explore. We will be making some Chinese lanterns and dragon masks. We will be using our dragon mask to make up a Chinese dragon dance in the hall. We are going to go to school and use the musical instruments to make some Chinese music. We will be watching on the interactive whiteboard some Chinese celebrations and how they celebrate new year in China. We will be looking at the globe and finding out where China is on the map. We have got some Chinese new year stories and poems to listen to. 

On Tuesday morning we are having a joint morning with reception to celebrate Chinese new year and have some lovely activities planned. 

Jennie Jigsaw

Talking about what we would like to do when we are older. Children will be dressing up in different occupations that they may like to do one day.

Letter and Sounds

Exploring different instruments and performing in groups a short instrumental piece to other children based on the theme of   celebrating Chinese new year.

Home Learning

If you have completed your bird tally, please do bring them in to show at pre-school and so we can record how many of each type of bird we have seen.

If you have something you would like to share about our learning of Chinese new year, please do bring it in. 

Notices

Stay and play is on Wednesday 1st February from 8.30 till 9.00 ish, would be lovely to see you there. Siblings very welcome to come to. 

There are few letters coming out this week regarding parents evening after half term, Library trip and Story telling evening. Please look out for these. 

Julia and Pre-school team

winter weather and looking after the birds during the winter

Last week we read the story of  penguins in the fridge which the children really enjoyed listening to. The children then cut out their own penguins which you can see these on display in classroom 2. Once down from our display, the children can take them home and put them in their fridge ! The children were very good at using the scissors.  We talked about where penguins and polar bears live and what they can do, and have learnt some penguin songs. We used the programme purple mash on the computers to colour in our own hats, gloves and boots. We filled up different sized containers with water and placed them outside to see if Jack Frost would come overnight and then when they came to preschool the next day we explored what had happened to the water which had turned into ice.

This week we will be continuing to talk about the winter weather and how we can care for birds during the winter. We will be making bird food for the pre-school and birds in our gardens at home. The children will be bringing home some bird food to hang in the garden or a family members garden. We will also be making jelly this week. We will be making some winter pictures using different materials.

Jennie Jigsaw

This week Jennie Jigsaw will be asking us what we are good at and we will be displaying our answers on our jigsaw board.

Letters and Sounds

We will be looking at body percussion with activities including copying a sequence of body sounds, identifying body sounds, our voices-quiet, loud, fast,slow.

Home learning:- Children will be bringing home a bird feeder and garden bird watch tally sheet to count how many different types of birds in your garden. The big bird watch can also be done in an open space e.g. local park. Please fill them in and return to pre-school. We will showing our friends what birds we have in our gardens or open spaces.

Notices

Stay and play this week will be on Friday 27th January from 8.30 till 9.00ish. Hope to see you there.

Thanks

Julia

Cold places, penguins and polar bears

Hello everyone,

Last week we listened to the story of The three little pigs and joined in with the repeated refrains. We have acted the story out with the puppets, straw, sticks and bricks. We made piggy biscuits to take home. We predicted which objects would blow in the wind and why they may blow in the wind. We used the hairdryer to see which items would blow in the wind. On Friday afternoon we were able to find words which rhymed with pig, pot and stick. We have also made a display of the three little pigs. For our display we made the three pigs and the three different types of houses. Some of us did the writing for the display and other children helped to put the display up. Please take a look at the display in the classroom.

This week the children wanted to learn about the cold, penguins and polar bears. We have decided to do this over two weeks. We will be looking at places that are cold, cold weather, Winter, penguins and polar bears. On Monday we will be brainstorming all about what we know about the cold and what we should wear to keep warm in the cold. We will be using the computer to colour in our own hats, scarves and boots. We will be exploring ice and how it freezes and melts. We will be reading some penguin and polar bear stories especially the story of Penguins in the fridge followed by some activities. We will be making jelly and seeing how it sets when it goes into the fridge and lots more.

Home learning:-

From our topic of cold places, penguins and polar bears can you bring something in that you may have made, a book you may have or a picture you have found.

Notices:-

Stay and Play is on this week on Thursday 19th January from 8.30 till 9.00 ish. Hope to see you there.

Thanks

Julia and the pre-school team

The Three Little Pigs

Hello everyone, 

Last week we talked about what we did in the Christmas holidays in circle time. We then draw a picture related to the Christmas holidays and recalled what we did with our key workers. These are now on display in the classroom. 

We read the story of The Gingerbread Man which the children really enjoyed and were joining in with the repeated refrain "run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me I am a gingerbread man." Some children have made their own gingerbread men to bring home. We have also sequenced the order the people and animals chased the Gingerbread man. We had an experiment to see whether the gingerbread man would sink or float. The children predicted what would happen and then we talked about what happened. They really enjoyed this. We have played the gingerbread man game on the interactive whiteboard which involved matching quantity to numeral. 

The children have also used the puppets from the story in the puppet theatre to act out the story. 

We have set ourselves a challenge of using our good listening ears during circle time for next. We have been talking about names that begin with different letters. 

This week we will be finishing off our Christmas holiday writing and the story of the Gingerbread man on Monday. From Tuesday we will be doing the story of The Three Little pigs as some of the children like Pigs. In the role play area we will be having the three little pigs building site. The children will be organising what they need to make a building site and collecting the resources for this. Some children will be making some piggy biscuits to bring home to share.  We will be reading the story of The three little pigs and the children will be joining in with the repeated refrains and talking about the characters, setting and storyline. We will be sequencing the order of the story of The Three Little Pigs. We will be making predictions about which objects the wind would be able to blow and lots more. 

Jennie Jigsaw

We will be continuing to set ourselves some challenges to achieve at Pre-school.

Letters and Sounds

We will be using repetitive story phases and suggesting a person who has a name beginning with a given letter and playing some sound and letter games on the interactive whiteboard. 

Home Learning

It has been lovely to see all the lovely things our families have been doing during the Christmas holidays. If your child made a gingerbread man last week and decorated, it would be lovely to see some photos. 

If your child has a story about pigs or a version of The three little pigs, it would be lovely to bring these into pre-school.

Notices

Stay and play is on Wednesday 11th January from 8.30 till 9.00 ish. It would be lovely to see you there and don't forget siblings are very welcome to come and play to. 

We have two students this term called Valerie and Ellie who are from The Thomas Hardye School studying a course in Childcare. They will be at pre-school on a Thursday and Friday.  

We have a volunteer called Colleen who is also studying a course in Childcare and she will be at pre-school on a Friday.

If you have a WOW you would like to share with us at pre-school, please fill on in and hand to one of the pre-school staff. We love to hear about your child's achievements and what they have been doing at home. 

Have a great week.

Julia and the Pre-school team 

New Year and The Gingerbread Man

Hello everyone,

Thank you for all the lovely gifts and cards at Christmas which we have all enjoyed. I hope you all had a lovely and restful Christmas and we all wish you a Happy New Year.

This week we will be talking about what we have been doing during the Christmas holidays and how we have celebrated Christmas.  30-50 Months UW 1:3 CL:- Speaking 

We will be reading the story of the Gingerbread Man which we saw at the garden centre at Christmas. We will be talking about the story setting, events and principal characters and joining in with repeated refrains. We will be cooking our own gingerbread man to bring home, acting out the story of the gingerbread man and moving in different ways. We will also be using the wooden blocks to make a bridge for the gingerbread man to cross.

Jennie Jigsaw:- 

This week with Jennie Jigsaw we will be talking and setting ourselves challenges. What challenges have you done at home?

Letters and Sounds:- 

We will be using repetitive story phases and suggesting a person who has a name beginning with a given letter. 

Home learning:-

It would be lovely to hear all about what you have been doing during the Christmas Holidays, so please do share with us what you have been doing. Also you may have a WOW from the Christmas holidays you would like to share. 

If you have a story of the Gingerbread man you are very welcome to bring it in and we will share it with the group.

Notices:-

Stay and Play will starting again next week on Wednesday 11th January 2017 at 8.30 onwards till 9.00 'ish. It will be lovely to see you there. 

Please do come and see me if you have anything you would like to discuss.

Julia and Preschool team