Southern Road Nursery
This half term our topic is ‘Animals’. Below are some of the core books we will be focusing on during the next 6 weeks
The Early Years Framework consists of 7 learning areas which are:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)
- Communication and Language (CLL)
- Physical Development (PD)
- Literacy
- Mathematical Development
- Understanding of the World (UW)
- Expressive Arts and Design (EAD)
Below is a brief explanation of what your child will be learning in each of the 7 areas and how you can help them at home.
PSED
This half term children will be learning to identify and moderate their own feelings socially and emotionally and think about the perspectives of others. We will continue to work on them being independent, selecting their own activities, giving things a go and managing their own needs. We will continue to use the class bears Bubbles, Squeak and Sam to help the children understand to be kind, gentle and to look after things in the nursery. They go home with children who follow our class rules.
At home you can help by encouraging your children to be as independent as possible. Allow them to select what they may need to go out for example. Help them think about their feelings by stating it for them, “I know you are feeling happy because you are smiling.”
CLL
In this area children will learn how to ask questions using the question words ‘Who’, ‘What’, ‘Where’ as well as understand ‘Why’ and ‘How’ questions. We will continue to encourage children to speak as much as possible.
At home you can help by speaking to your children about everything. We have said this many times but we cannot stress how important it is for your child’s language development. Speak to them about anything that you are doing; getting ready for dinner, getting clothes ready. Explain why you do things to model to them longer sentences… “I am wearing a hat because it is cold.”
PD
In this area children will learn to progress towards a more fluent style of moving with developing control and developing their overall body strength, coordination, balance and agility. They will participate in dance on Fridays and P.E activities on Mondays and Wednesdays, in the hall if we are able to. The children will continue to develop their fine motor skills so that they can use a range of tools including tools for drawing, painting, scissors and knives.
At home you can help by ensuring that you take your child out often to move and develop their muscles. Children need to be active for at least 3 hours a day (NHS guidelines). Ensure that they are walking to and from school every day and not using pushchairs.
Literacy
In this area children will learn how to enjoy and take part in some rhyming activities. They will be encouraged to join in stories and poems. This half term there will be an emphasis on children making marks and talking about what they have written and using some print and letter knowledge to develop early writing. We will continue to practise their phonological awareness, focusing on initial sounds when the children are ready.
We will be celebrating World Book Day on 2nd March and getting children excited about the joy of reading.
At home you can help by reading to your child daily. Your child can borrow a book from the class library on Tuesdays. You can help their phonological awareness by bringing their attention to sounds you hear while you are out and about and bringing their attention to rhyming words in songs and in stories.
Maths
We will continue our work on numbers, ensuring children say one number for one item. We have done some work naming 2D shapes and we will be comparing them with 3D shapes too. We will be linking our maths to different stories that we read.
You can help at home by counting all the time with your child and counting actual objects, touching each one as you do. Use number rhymes with your children (one is below), helping them to use their fingers as they count.
UW
Children will learn about some of the things they observe in their environment such as plants, animals. They will be encouraged to talk about how things work and how they change as well as show care and concern for living things in the environment. We are very excited to have some real animals come into school so the children can see them and touch them. We will be learning about how people celebrate Easter and making pancakes among other things. We will think about the past and learn how dinosaurs lived on earth a long time ago.
At home you can help by taking your child to a museum or to the farm to explore different animals. Most farms have free entry. You can also discuss with your child the changing seasons.
EAD.
Children will learn how to describe the different textures of objects. We will encourage them to draw with increasing complexity, putting a bit more detail into the marks they make.
You can help at home by encouraging your child to draw as much as possible.
Greetings
Please encourage your child to say ‘Good morning /afternoon’ when they are greeted at the front gate and to say goodbye when they leave. It is important that your child feels confident to talk to all adults around the Nursery.
Attendance
It is very important that your child attends nursery every day, if they are unable to attend due to an appointment or illness, please ensure that you let the office know.
Please also ensure that you arrive on time for school, 12.20pm for the afternoon children. This helps get them in routine and they can carry on with their learning.
Keeping Safe
Please ensure that when you come out of the nursery building, you hold your child’s hand. This will avoid children running out of the gate on their own down the street or into the road.
Parent’s contribution
We would also like to thank all parents who are contributing £1.00 every week, children are really enjoying the equipment we buy and the cooking we carry out. We collect on Mondays.
If your child does a piece of work or says something amazing at home, please can you share this with the class teacher. You can upload photos and videos on Tapestry.
Please encourage your child to be as independent as possible, e.g.putting their coats on themselves, trying to dress themselves, putting on and taking off their coats independently.
Can you please also label all of your child’s clothing and bring in a spare pair of clothes.
Some Rhymes to sing with your children.
