Understanding the World

Our curriculum helps children to explore and understand the world around them. They have become very familiar with the school learning environment and this week they have been labelling the different places around the school and making comparisons. We introduced the following vocabulary;

Place – an area or space

Compare – to look at similarities and differences

Natural – occurred from nature

Human – people

We asked Why and Where questions. Why do we not have grass inside the classroom? and ‘Where would you find a door?

We introduced the children to Paddington the travelling Bear. They took him on a tour of the school, talked about what they could see in the different places and took photos on the iPads. The children then made a close comparison between an inside and outside area; their classroom and the Woodland Camp. They enjoyed sorting their photographs and talking about what makes a place the way it is.

Reading for Pleasure - Mystery Reader

The children always look forward to mystery reader and this week they were treated to a story read by Mrs Ellery from the school office. She read the story ‘You can’t take an elephant on the bus’ which was very funny. One of their favourite parts was when the giraffe was flying an aeroplane and the pig was riding a skateboard. There are many other stories written by the same author in this collection that you might like to enjoy with your child. Check your local library for these titles.

The Little Red Hen

At Preston Primary we foster a love of reading. This week we introduced the story of ‘The Little Red Hen’ to support our leaning ‘Marvellous Me - being a good friend’. We read the story aloud and the children loved joining in with the actions and the repeated phrases. We will continue to immerse the children in the story next week by rereading, making a story map, using drama and making our own bread.  We will share the learning on Seesaw with you.

Maths

We had lots of fun in Maths this week! We were introduced to the concept of ‘whole’ and ‘part’. First we used a teddy bear to talk about the whole teddy, and then we talked about the different parts that made up the teddy bear, e.g. “The leg is part of the teddy bear.” “The 2 ears are part of the teddy bear.” We also used Mr Potato Head to explore parts of the body.

We discussed how the size of the object did not matter – it was the fact that whole meant ‘complete’ or ‘all of it’.

We talked about how a ‘whole’ object could be split into two or more parts. We further applied this idea through fruit at our snack time, e.g. “This is a whole apple.” “I have eaten part of my apple, I have part left.” “Would you like a whole pear or part of a pear?”

We will be using this knowledge to split quantities of objects into parts for example 3 objects can be split into 1 and 2 (1 is a part and 2 is a part, 3 is the whole).

The Brush Bus

We are committed to improve the oral health and well being of young children, which is why we are so passionate about the Brush Bus scheme. It is essential for children to understand the importance of keeping their teeth clean and becoming more independent. This week the children have been brushing their teeth after lunch in school. Children are supervised by an adult and have their own toothbrush stored in a bus. They brush their teeth to a special song for 2 minutes. Next week the children will be bringing home a free goodie bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste and sand timer, so they can continue the good brushing at home.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask us.

Home Learning

• This weeks RWI sounds are ‘l’, ‘h’, ‘r’ ‘j’ and ‘v’. Use your handwriting booklet to practise writing these sounds.
• Use the RWI review videos on Seesaw to practice your sounds. If children practise daily it will help them to speedily recall sounds to help them learn to read.
• Enjoy the story Aliens love ‘Underpants' by Claire Freedman. Read by Mrs Bastin.
• Listen to The Little Red Hen story with Mr Tumble. Click on the link https://youtu.be/HEJPSPNv3Do

Dates

• Half Term – Monday 24^th October – Friday 4^th November
• Room on the Broom theatre trip payment deadline – Friday 11^th November
• Puffins Online Parent meetings – Monday 14^th and Tuesday 15^th November
• Penguins Online Parent meetings – Tuesday 15^th and Wednesday 16^th November (More information regarding parent meetings will be sent out closer to the time)

Kind Regards, Mrs Bastin, Mrs Clague and the Foundation Stage Team.