Learning focus at the moment
Preschool
In our forest garden the children were delighted to discover that we have some tadpoles in our pond, this sparked lots of interest around life cycles and they are now patiently watching as the tadpoles grow in to frogs. The children have also been practising their physical skills by creating an obstacle course. This enabled them to balance, run, hop and jump.
We have also spent time talking about where we live and some of our favourite places. These conversations helped the children recall and enjoy sharing their experiences with each other. Many children talked about the beach being a favourite place to visit, so we created a beach sensory tray for the children to explore and provide further opportunity for them to talk about their favourite place.
Our big focus this term will be around starting school as many of our children will make this transition in September. We will be chatting about our new schools, our uniforms and what to expect and generally building up that reassurance and excitement to ensure the children cannot wait for their next adventure to begin. Please can we ask that you let us know which school your child will attend as soon as possible.
Our Graduation will be on the 16th July, the preschool staff will be in touch to let you know the plan for the day soon.
Toddlers
The children love exploring the garden, so to extend this learning we will be having trips into the forest garden. On our first visit we looked in the pond at the tadpoles, scooping some in to a dish for a closer look. We also took the magnifying glasses so we could search for mini beasts and have a closer look at them too. We talked about recycling and how small things help to keep our planet safe, and the children helped to put the waste peelings from the kitchen in to our composter.
We also talked about the plants that are beginning to grow in our planters and the children filled their watering cans and carefully watered the plants. We will be checking them every time we visit the forest garden to check if they need more water to help them grow. We extended the children’s learning by talking about what might be growing, our favourite fruit and vegetables and why eating lots of fruit and vegetables keeps us healthy.
Mud, mud glorious mud !! The children love getting messy in the mud kitchen. They used the rain water to pour and mix.
We have also been using our gross motor skills to gather some sticks to make dens. The children worked together to find and pick up the sticks and transport them, and with a little help we carefully placed them to make the roof of our den.
Babies
The babies have enjoyed focusing on the change of seasons, we have embraced the rain looking out of the window and watching as the rain poured down, we used our listening skills to hear the sound of the raindrops and we chatted about the clouds and then when we went out into the garden to play we jumped in the puddles making a big splash!
As the weather improved we used the garden at meal times too, enjoying our food in the fresh air, and because some of our older babies are getting ready to transition to the toddler room we have had a strong focus on self-care. The children have been encouraged to pour their own drinks and wipe their own hands and face. We even extended our focus on self-care by bathing the dolls in the garden and the children used the cloths to wash and dry the dolls.
The older children in the group have taken an interest in bug hunts and enjoy exploring the willow garden looking for as many bugs as they can. Whilst our younger babies enjoy looking at the books and with the support of their key person have the opportunity to babble and develop their language.
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