Good morning parents and children,
It’s a strange feeling to be posting the last home learning blog before we’re all together again at school. You have all been amazing and I shall miss hearing about the children’s antics at home. However, I will certainly continue to post blogs on the class page and I hope we can still work together to create a history of your children’s achievements through their Learning Journals on Tapestry. We always enjoy sharing home learning activities with everyone in class.
Personal, social and emotional development
Managing emotions
I know a lot of the children are excited to be returning to school, as indeed I am! This week we have focused on the children’s well-being to make sure everyone is ready. I hope the strategies suggested will help those that may need a little extra boost. However, please feel reassured that we will start our week at an easy pace, playing together and getting used to being at school again.
As well as the top ten comforts mentioned yesterday, having a toolbox of weapons against those times when anxieties feel overwhelming is extremely helpful.
If your child is super-creative, encourage them to use that. The positivity of their creativity is by no means limited merely to situations when they need to manage their worries about school and the new normal. With their creativity often comes a wonderful sense of humour, there’s nothing more therapeutic than laughter. Let their imagination run wild, as long as the focus is positive; really encourage their magical thinking, it will go such a long way in helping them through.
Suggest going to different lands, visiting imaginary friends, being any animal they like. Your child could write, draw, daydream, whatever they want. If your child is feeling at all worried, use their stories to create fantastical imaginative solutions. Perhaps your child is superhero who saves the day and everyone is safe and together again.
We would love to see any pictures created by the children at home. If you haven’t had a chance to create a ‘happy box’ with your child yet, a picture to bring into school and share with their friends will be just as good.
Plan activities to do in the evenings and at weekends for the first few weeks, to give them
something to look forward to and remind them they will have time to spend with you.
Establish a routine ‘family feedback’ time which makes it normal for everyone to air and
share worries from their day, as well as the fun things. This could happen over dinner time
and involve questions like, ‘What was the silliest moment of your day? What was the most
interesting thing you did today? Did anyone say anything kind or mean?” This also
encourages your child to talk about their feelings.
Story books are also a good way to support children with a range of emotional issues.
Stories can give a child a framework so they know what to do when confronted with certain
situations.
You can search on Book Trust for story books about worries or anxiety.
https://www.booktrust.org.uk/what-we-do/programmes-and-campaigns/bookstart/
Classroom video
I will post a video later today for the children to see our classroom. Hopefully this will help children feel excited and confident, knowing what to expect on the first day. It should also provide an opportunity to talk about any specific worries.
Religious Education
The joy of gathering to listen to God’s word
We will be exploring this story at school. I thought it may be nice to introduce it to your child to give a little head start and help your child feel confident to join in with our discussions.
The picture below shows a story from the Bible, Mark 10: 13,14-16.
Jesus loved everyone, he was kind and gentle. Parents and carers brought their children to Jesus for him to bless. Some people thought the children should not be bothering Jesus. But Jesus loved all the children and said ‘Let the children come to me.’ So the children gathered round Jesus and loved being with him. Jesus loved the children.
Questions to ask your child:
Why did the children want to be near Jesus?
Would you like to be there too, why?
What did some people think?
What do you think Jesus said to the children?
What does the story tell you about Jesus?
Enjoy your weekend and see you soon!
Nicola Palmer