Good morning Reception parents and children,
Thank you for your feedback regarding the ebooks I shared on the Memo Section of Tapestry yesterday. If you have not accessed your child’s ebook yet, please note you will need to register to get onto the website, Oxford Owls. However, it’s free to subscribe and a fairly straight forward process!
Mental Health Week – Personal, Social and Emotional development
“Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” read by author Carol McCloud
This heartwarming book encourages positive behaviour as children see how rewarding it is to express daily kindness, appreciation, and love. The book is based upon an ‘invisible’ bucket to help children understand the effects of our actions and words on the well being of others and ourselves.
I thought it would be nice for the children to see a ‘real life’ author and hear Carol McCloud read her own book.
As a visual reminder, parents could use a small bucket/bowl and cotton buds, beads or a similar small object. Each time your child shows an act of kindness, pop a cotton bud into the bucket to recognise their thoughtfullness. You could also encourage your child to do the same for you!
Letters and Sounds/Literacy
Let’s go shopping!
This is an idea that I hope will inspire your child to write for fun. Set up a shop – this could be any shop that your child chooses eg. sweet shop, shoe shop, fruit shop, ice cream shop. Search around the house for resources that could represent the various items, a box for the till, upside down box covered with a cloth to display items, paper and pens.
Writing ideas your child could contribute: shop sign, open and closed signs, shopping list, labels for the items, price tags. Can you child write some rules around the shop? For example, wear a face mask, keep your distance – No Kids Allowed! (From our Jack and the Beanstalk story.)
Remember, encourage your child to ‘have a go’ at writing. Promote independent writing and confidence in writing skills. Encourage your child to ‘sound out’ words and use their sound mat to find the sounds they can hear. Celebrate emergent writing, your child may just begin by only writing some of the sounds they can hear.
Maths ideas: writing numerals for the price tags, counting the correct amount of items requested by the customer, deciding upon open/closed times. Perhaps you could add some real money (1p, 2p or 5p coins) or decide upon something to represent the money eg. beads.
Maths
Roll a dice and balance game
You can use the ‘beanstalk in the clouds’ suggested yesterday for this game. Or just use a cardboard tube standing upright and balance a paper plate on top.
What to do:
- Gather together a collection of small objects eg. small bricks, miniature toys, pieces of pasta.
- Roll a dice – how many dots can you see?
- Balance this amount of objects on the plate.
- The challenge is to balance the objects without the plate falling off the tube.
- Keep going until the plate falls.
- How many objects did you manage to balance?
Recognising a small number of (a group of items) at a glance without counting is a key mathematical skill. Playing games with dice really helps develop this skill. If you have any board games, these are an excellent resource to support the development of maths.
You could extend your child by using two dice and encourage addition.
Celebrating our learning
Thank you to those parents who responded to my email regarding home photos. I’ve decided to delay this week’s learning celebration until I have gathered together the responses. Watch this space!
Have a wonderful day
Nicola Palmer