At Rachel Keeling we support children to develop all the building blocks for reading.
We start with supporting children to develop their listening and attention, tuning into words and language. Exposing children to a variety of rich and exciting literature: from information books to traditional tales to more complex stories from around the world. Recognising rhyme and syllables as well as discriminating sounds are really important to developing skills as an early reader. This week Maria has been working with groups of children to further develop phonic awareness. They have shared some Nick Sharratt rhyming books and reinforced previously learnt sounds S/A/T/P/I/N and introducing CK/G/D. Our Rachel Keeling Values were focused on when reading The Shopping Basket by John Burningham. And this talk influenced play in the garden with children talking about 'respecting' everyone and everything. Once children can identify the sounds in these words and begin to recognise the letter, we can begin building small words to read! Look out for lower case letters on your travels with your child! At Rachel Keeling we are keen advocates for cycling. We think London can be seen best by bike. We have worked hard for some years developing the skills of staff and children as well as our provision and teaching. This has resulted in many children leaving our school able to ride a two wheeler bicycle with confidence and skill. In addition all children have had support to develop skill using our balance bikes.
As our next step we wanted to ensure children are able to maintain their bikes. Children keep the bikes clean and in good order. Children are regularly involved in the checking of the bikes each day before they ride: A - Air: checking the tyres are firm and pumped up. B - Brakes: checking the cables are attached and brakes are effective. C - Chain: checking the chain is attached and free of excessive dirt or obstructions. We also do visual checks of the metal work and pedals. Next, before we get on the bike, we check our helmets. Children know how to check them and ensure they fit correctly. Children also check the saddle height is correct and their tiptoes can touch the ground. In the garden we have our Bike Maintenance Posters that the children have made so children can refer to them. If you're a cyclist, make sure you're doing your checks on your bike too! Happy New Year friends!
Children have returned happy and engaged, full of their news. We have also started to welcome new friends to nursery and we look forward to getting to know all of our new families well over coming weeks. The learning that has started this week has included sustained model making: children have talked through their ideas and drawn up plans. Next they selected the resources they needed and used a variety of methods to attach pieces. Children were able to sustain concentration and share resources. In Bluebell class, some of the more experienced children have been supported in mark making: many have been interested in writing sounds they have been focusing on in their phonics groups at story time. Our Shoppers of the Week were supported to write their shopping lists, count their money and do our shopping locally. This really is a great opportunity to share talk and build confidence. In the garden there has been focused work around bike maintenance: see separate blog! |