Wonderful Weather

This half term we will be learning about our 'Wonderful Weather'.  It is a science-based topic and the children will learn about pushes and pulls through stories and through the weather, such as the wind blowing a hat off your head!  The children will explore floating and sinking, learning to sort objects using simple criteria - floats / doesn't float.  Changes will be investigated through the experiment 'can we make ice?'  The children will investigate where ice can be made and will learn what happens to ice when it is no longer frozen.  Let's hope we get some frosty days to help us to investigate this fully!

Maths
We will use our birthdays to look at and begin to recognise numbers of significance and the children will continue to work with numbers up to 3 to ensure they are solid in their understanding and ready to move onto larger numbers.  The children will learn to touch count small quantities of objects using one-to-one correspondence.  Through games using dice, the children will begin to see the patterns in numbers and begin to subitise 3 things, recognising small quantities without needing to count. 

Through shape hunts and sorting activities the children will explore different shapes and begin to recognise and name them within the classroom.  

The children will use shapes, beads and coloured objects to copy and continue repeating patterns.

Communication and Language

Communication and Language will continue to be a key focus for this half term.  We have created a language-rich environment for the children to develop awareness of stories, rhymes and words.  The children will have small group activities which target specifically any gaps they may have.  Listening attentively will be a priority, helping the children to learn the importance of good listening.  Daily Monster Phonics activities promote good listening in fun and interesting ways and extend the listening so the children learn to not only name the sounds they hear but learn to talk about how sounds,are made, eg loud/quiet, fast/slow, long/short.  You can support your child at home by reading the library book each night, encouraging them to join in with any repetitive language and answering simple questions, such as 'where did the man/lady/rabbit go?'

Personal and Social Development 
Now that the children are settled into Nursery we will continue to observe them to see how they interact with other children, playing alongside them and extending play and ideas.  They will play games in small groups, taking turns.  If conflicts arise they will work with adults to resolve them, asking for help when they need it.  This will help the children to develop their negotiation skills and to solve problems using words rather than actions.  The children will also work on their feelings, learning to regulate themselves with adult support.

Physical Development                                       

Mark making will remian a key part of our continuous provision.  This half term we will encourage all children to choose their dominant hand and develop and comfortable pencil grip.  Finger Gym and Squiggle While you Wiggle activities continue to target the devlopment of fine and gross motor control in a fun way.  The children will work independently and with adults to develop more control when mark making and be able to produce recognisable shapes including a circle and a person with 2 to 4 body parts.  The children will be supported when learning how to hold and use scissors effectively, learning to cut across a piece of paper.  

If you'd like to support your child with their fine motor control, have a look at the link below.  It gives you ideas of things that can help.