This seemed like one of the fastest weeks we have had since September! We have been so busy that the week flew by – so quick, that we did not manage to do our regular library session – apologies for this. I promise we will get to do it next week!
We started the week off with our phonics learning. We were focusing on the sounds g,o,c,k, learning the name and the sound, learning the letter formation, recognizing it when reading and using it in our writing. It is such a special moment when children are able to apply their learning independently, I feel especially proud when I can see the children read simple words, spell the words using magnetic letters and then write the word……in a sentence! Wow!
Danielle was also in this week and the children were keen to get stuck into their Pantomimus sessions - there was lots of careful listening going on!
I am sure I have mentioned this before but I absolutely love listening in to the children during role play activities – listening to how they perceive the world around them. Well, this week, nearly all the babies in the home corner were sick and needed to see a doctor – hey presto – a doctor surgery was opened the very next day. Word spread quickly that the doctor was seeing patients and within minutes the waiting room was full. The poor babies were suffering with all sorts of ailments and each one needed a bandage and an injection regardless of what the illness was and even better – they all felt instantaneously better! Listening to all their talk is just wonderful and always makes me smile – however, I do not underestimate how seriously they take it – the phone calls they make, the appointment system they created using a calendar, the way they questioned each other in order to establish what was had caused the illness. I think my favourite quote had to be “Next passenger please”…..Patient….next patient I gently reminded them!
the doctor seeing to his patient…..
a quick check in a non ficton book as to what the illness might be!
a very busy waiting room
preparing for an injection!
We also took advantage of one of the milder afternoons we had and opened up the outside stage area. We continued with the learning that Danielle had introduced earlier in the week and held a pop concert (a rather noisy pop concert). Some children started to make tickets for the concert – I have to be honest and admit I was slightly put out when I had to buy a ticket for £1 which would give me entry to the concert only and yet Mrs Stephenson was given a ticket at the reasonable rate of £100 only to find out that it gave her access to EVERYTHING. I was not even offered that ticket! As teachers we often have to wait to be invited into the children’s role play activities and when it happens - my goodness it is magical.
Mrs Stephenson’s ticket to EVERYTHING being made!
Tickets for the pop concert only
On Friday, Mrs. Crawshaw revisited our RE question this term “Is the word God special?”. Two weeks ago you may remember that Mrs. Crawshaw brought in her special object which was her food blender, this week some of the children brought in their special objects. We had helmets, favourite toys, a brush and mirror belonging to parents when they were little, pencil case and drawings, cushions, photos of family and pets, candles – it was a fascinating lesson with so much information shared. It was interesting to listen to how often the children linked their objects to their families – we did not ask them to! For example we heard “Mummy made my pillow and that makes it special”, “my candle has a picture of Grandad on it”, “Grandad wore the helmet in the war”, “Nanny and Grandad gave me this toy”.
I hope if you can, you share this page with grandparents too – show them how special they are!
We can’t wait for more children to bring in their special items next week.
And finally, Mrs. Crawshaw, Ms. Reynolds and Mrs. O’Hagan introduced the children to fruit salad. They discussed the equipment needed and the ingredients. All the children were able to use the knife competently and confidently – the smell of all the fruits was delicious – I hope the fruit salads tasted as good as they looked – let us know!
Next Week
In Phonics next week we will be focussing on the sounds ck, e, u, r. You might want to support this learning with some pre learning at home – can you think of words starting with the sound…….r, can you spot ck in your reading book – where is it in the word – beginning, middle end?
Have a lovely weekend and see you all on Monday.