Nursery Seahorses Newsletter Autumn 1 2018
What a way to start the year, giving children time to learn and talk about themselves! Young children LOVE it when it's all about them and this topic gives them the chance to tell us all about them. They will learn about what makes them the same and what makes them different to others, building up the vocabulary, allowing them to describe their appearance, family, likes and dislikes.
Here are some word mats with some vocabulary you can share with your child, encouraging them to use a wider range of words to describe their hair, family, pets and activities they like to do at home.
We want the children to confidently talk about their family and their community, finding out what they like to do at home. We love to see your posts on Tapestry and these significant events give the children something to talk about at news time and helps them to develop a deeper understanding of the world around them.
As the new Seahorses arrive and afternoon children change to a morning session, the children learn to adapt to changing situations. Older children will take on the role of 'big' Seahorses, helping younger children to settle in and find their feet. Independence will be a priority once again, with adults being at hand to support children only when they need it. We appreciate your support in this area and would say that it is perfectly fine to take a step back when bringing your child into school, allowing them the opportunity to take off their coat and hang it up by themselves. You will be surprised! The children love to be able to do things for themselves, even trickier things such as turning sleeves the right way round or fastening and unfastening buckle on a brand new pair of shoes. Watch out on Tapestry for observations showing you just what your child can do. In the meantime, have a go at the 'dress a bear' game and have a chat about the parts of getting dressed your child finds difficult.
In order to develop Personal and Social Development, the children will be encouraged to share how they are feeling in a variety of situations, talking about things that make them happy, worried, scared etc. They will also be encouraged to think about others as well as themselves, learning to think about other people. Play can often be isolated in nursery, so more collaborative play will be encouraged. Sharing resources is expected and children need to be able to think about the feelings of others and the impact their behaviour has on one another.
Number will be a priority area, in particular number recognition and awareness of 'how many' is in a set. When the children are ready, they will begin to match numerals to quantities within 10 and beyond as they gain confidence. Children will learn to count out a specific number of objects, stopping when they get to the right number. The children will compare quantities, knowing when there is more or less and will become more confident in simple place value.
Here are some maths games to play together which involve careful counting and matching. Click on the question mark to hear instructions of how to play each game.
Good Listening and Attention is at the heart of all learning so we have high expectations! Learning is often practical and interactive and children are encouraged to join in, answer questions or explain what has happened and why. Stories are often used as an introduction to a topic or theme and the learning follows the interests of the children to maximise their engagement. Throughout the topic we will be exploring themes such as similarities and differences, pets, birthdays, likes and dislikes. We may ask for some things from home such as photos of pets and favourite things to be sent in to school for the children to share and talk about. Please continue to share with us on Tapestry any family days out or special events so the children can develop their awareness of People and Communities.