Over the last few weeks we have been learning about the moon and space. Our interest started when we read the story 'Whatever Next' - about a teddy who flies to the moon in a box. We have been asking questions to learn more, such as, could we fly to the moon? Who can fly to the moon? Can people live on the moon? Can people live in space? How do astronauts get into space? How do they get back?
We have learnt how to make rockets out of card, we've learnt how to smudge chalks and pastels to make space pictures and we've built rockets and space-scapes in construction and small world amongst other exciting things.
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Chinese New Year is on the 12th February this year. It is different every year depending on the new moon. We have been learning the celebrations so we can understand how another culture is different to ours - or similar. We have absolutely loved making dragons, rabbits (it's the year of the rabbit) and lanterns to decorate our classroom. These activities are developing our fine motor skills as well as our imagination.
This week we have been reading stories about foxes and it seems the more we read about them the more we learn of their sneaky character! Children have loved the stories and this has been reflected in their play; making traps to catch the fox in construction, drawing and writing foxes on WANTED posters, drawing and labelling maps of Rosie the hen's walk. During their play children have been using new vocabulary, such as, sneaky, sly, gobbled, coop.
I have also been impressed with children practising their reading and writing independently. Every day we learn phonics so we can develop the skills to become readers and writers. Here is a sample of books that show children practising new sounds and learning to spell using Fred Fingers.
We have been learning to make and describe patterns using shape, colour and size. Look out for the one where the boy made a pattern of shapes and told me "it's hexagon, square, rhombus."
The children have naturally been excited about Halloween and Bonfire Night this week so we have put some enhancements in their play to not only engage with their interest, but also develop their Maths skills (counting objects accurately), imaginative skills (making spooky potions) and fine motor and language skills (drawing fireworks). We have also discussed safety on bonfire night so I hope you all have a lovely celebration and we'll look forward to hearing the children talk about it next week!
I just want to say a massive thank-you to all the children who have worked incredibly hard this term. Moving to Reception class is an important and big transition for four year olds but your children have done it and made really good progress in their social skills, independence skills, phonics, writing, Mathematical skills and creative skills. Enjoy half-term everyone - it's well deserved!
Here are some photos from children playing this week. When children play they feel more confident to express themselves and try ideas because they are the boss of their own play - there is no right and wrong. In this way, children learn through trial and error and they deepen their thinking skills. In play, children also develop key social skills, such as sharing, turn-taking and conversation - they learn from each other. Our classroom is organised in such a way that children can make decisions and choose what they want to play with; they also know how to put things back and this develops their independence and self-esteem.
We enjoy learning new poems every week in Bear Cubs but this week we did something extra special to celebrate National Poetry Day - we learnt a new poem and performed it to the rest of school. This was a brave thing to do but we all did it and enjoyed the challenge!
We have continued thinking about what helps us to stay healthy so we have been practising washing our hands properly, brushing teeth (we know we should brush them every morning and night), talking about the importance of sleep and thinking which foods we should put in to our bodies.
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May 2024
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