Hello from Lilac and Willow, what an amazing week it has been in Reception.
This week
The children have enjoyed learning about different types of houses and homes. We started our week by learning some names of various houses including: bungalow, detached, semi-detached, terraced and flats. To help the children remember their names and their features we played a game called Houses and Homes. When the children heard a different house name, they had to make different actions.
We spent some time looking at what buildings would have looked like in the past. The children then made observations and compared buildings from the past to today, talking about what was the same and what was different. The children were fascinated to discover some important facts about Victorian houses including: Victorian houses didn’t have hot taps so they used to boil water, the toilet would have been outside, houses didn’t have electricity and there were blankets in bedrooms instead of duvets.
Later in the week, the children spent some time considering how we change over time. We learnt about the different stages of human growth and the different characteristics of each stage of life. The children thought about things they can do now that they couldn’t do when they were babies, as well as considering what they may like to do when they grow up. We also enjoyed sharing lots of wonderful pictures of the children to see how they have changed over time. Thank you so much to those of you who were able to provide photographs of your children, we all enjoyed sharing them together and trying to guess who each baby was.
In our Literacy this week, we continued with our learning about the traditional tale ‘The Little Red Hen’. This week, the children were asked to see how much of the story they could remember, and try to retell it themselves using a story map. We were so impressed with how much of the story the children could remember. Below is an example of what a story map might look like.
In Phonics, the children continued in Phase 2 by learning the new sounds i and n. The children had lots of opportunities to practise blending for reading using these 2 new sounds as well as the previously learnt sounds s, a, t and p. The children enjoyed playing a game called Buried Treasure to help support the blending for reading. In the game children have to look at a word, sound it out and blend the sounds together. Once they have read the word, children have to decide whether it is a real word or an alien word. Alien words are words that are not-real but contain real sounds. The children have been working very hard on their blending for reading – well done everyone!
In Maths this week, the children have been revisiting their prior learning and trying to apply what they know but to a deeper level. This included trying to identify from various amounts which is more and which is less, identifying and explaining the criteria for sorting objects into groups, looking at patterns and trying to see when it is not being followed and by making comparisons about different lengths, heights and weights.
The children have been learning about the Zones of Regulation (or ‘Zones’ for short) as part of our whole school curriculum of study to support pupil wellbeing. There are 4 coloured ‘Zones’ that the children can use to describe how their brain and body feels. Zones is designed to support children as a tool for self-regulation and emotional control. Being able to recognise and manage our feelings can come more naturally for some, but for others it is a skill that needs to be taught and practised. The children have spent time learning about:
- Identifying and describing their feelings and how others feel,
- How other people feel when we make good or not good choices,
- How our feelings can change at different times of the day,
- Identify things that make us anxious and try to avoid them, and
- Using tools and techniques to help us feel calm.
The Red Zone: A person may be experiencing anger when in the Red Zone. The Yellow Zone: A person may be experiencing stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, the wiggles, or nervousness when in the Yellow Zone. The Green Zone: A person may be described as happy, focused, content, or ready to learn when in the Green Zone. This is the zone where optimal learning occurs. The Blue Zone: A person in the blue zone might be sad, tired, sick, or bored.
The children can tell us how they are feeling throughout the day by ‘checking-in’ and putting their name up on our classroom display to show which of the ‘Zones’ they are in.
Next week
- We are going to be learning all about the seasons, in particular Autumn.
- We will be learning about our 5 senses and use them as we go for a walk looking for the signs of Autumn.
- We will learn about what happens at Harvest time as well as how it is significant to Christians.
- We will find out about churches as a special place of worship for Christians.
- We will enjoy our own Reception Harvest Festival in class.
Supporting your child at home
- Talk to your child about the ‘Zones’. Encourage them to think of ways they can ‘calm down’ in order to get themselves back to the green zone.
- Re read the story of The Little Red Hen and encourage the children to join in with repeated refrains. Perhaps you could read other stories or traditional tales and see if your child can spot any more repeated refrains to join in with as your read the story.
- When reading with your child, why not try asking the following questions:
– (Whilst looking at the front cover) What do you think the story is about?
– (Whilst looking at the illustrations) How do you think that character feels, and why?
– (Pausing halfway through the story) What do you think will happen next?
– (At the end of the story) Which was your favourite part, and why?
Any other information
- READING BOOKS AND MONSTER PHONICS FOLDER – Please can you ensure that your child’s reading record, wordless book, picture book and monster phonics folder are in school every day.
- COATS & WATER BOTTLES – Please ensure that your child has a coat and water bottle in school every day.
- PARENTS EVENING – We look forward to seeing you for our first Parents Evenings. They are taking place on MODAY 18th OCTOBER 5:00 – 8:00PM and TUESDAY 19th OCTOBER 4:00-7:00PM. This will be a brief opportunity for teachers to share with you how your child has settled into life at Samuel Lucas.
- PARENT TRANSITION QUESTIONNAIRE – We would very much appreciate you giving your feedback on our transition process. You should have received a parent mail with the details. Any problems please let us know.
We hope you have a lovely weekend.
Mrs Fisher and Mr French
Willow and Lilac Class Teachers.
