Foundation Stage
Summer Term 1 2023
Minibeasts
Eric Carle
During this term we will be exploring the natural world through the works of children's author and artist Eric Carle. Best known for books such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Bad Tempered Ladybird, Carle's books are a wonderful way to inspire the chidlren to take a closer look at the creatures that inhabit the environment. Along the way we will meet and care for some exciting creatures such as our very own in class caterpillars, giving us the opportunity to observe the life cycle of a butterfly as it happens! Through dance, drama and music we will create our own representations of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, explore sound and instruments with The Very Quiet Cricket and develop perseverance and resilience like The Very busy Spider. We will also be creating our own colourful collage and tissue paper artwork inspired by the art work of Eric Carle.
The children will also be celebrating the upcoming coronation of King Charles lll through his love of nature and the outdoors. We will be out in our garden tending to the flowers already in bloom and learning how to plant and care for new seeds. We will make nature crowns to celebrate the big day and enjoy an outdoor picnic.
The Very Busy Spider is our Talk for Writing text for this half term. We will sequence and retell the story using props, actions and role play. The children will explore mark making and writing in different forms such as creating story maps, character descriptions and writing captions for pictures. This term we will be focusing on writing the beginning, middle and end of a story.
RE - New Life
We start the half term deepening our understanding that we celebrate Easter because Jesus rose from the dead and that we celebrate Jesus is with us. We will think about the good news that the angels brought that day and share our own good news with each other. The children will begin to understand that Jesus gives a special gift of joy and peace and how we can give this peace and joy to others. We will share the story of Jesus going back to his Father in heaven but be aware that Jesus is still with us.
PE
Reception - Thursday - Please ensure your child has a PE kit with them on this day - a white t-shirt and black shorts, clearly labelled with your child's name.
Nursery - Friday - Please wear suitable comfortable clothing.
Please ensure your child brings their book bag and water bottle to school every day.
Additional resources for EYFS children
https://hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk
https://www.parentclub.scot/articles/play-talk-read
In Nursery and Reception we cover a variety of topics over a two year period. Please have a look at all the things we will be learning about over the next two years. You can also see what we are focusing on for this term.
Early Years Foundation Stage Long Term Planning
Planning subject to change based on children’s interests and learning needs.
Two Year Rolling Cycle
Year A | Year B | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Support your child's development at home...
Playdough Recipe:
- 1 cup of flour
- 1/2 cup of salt
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 tbsp cream of tartae
- 1 cup of boiling water
- Food colouring of desired choice.
Tips for Communicating with your child:
https://www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/media/20506/summer_talk_-_2012_version.pdf
http://www.home-speech-home.com/how-to-improve-communication-skills.html
Check out the New government site Hungry Little Minds for activities to support children's Language development from Birth to 5 years. There are loads of Great activities ideas that are easy to do at home. https://hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk/
Phonics:
In Nursery and Reception children are working towards or within the Read Write Inc Phonics scheme. Children who are not yet ready to access the scheme fully will access some Phase 1 phonics activities from Letters and Sounds to support them in developing their early phonics skills.
(Please see the Reading page for more information on Read, Write, Ink phonics)
In Phonics children learn the skills needed to read and write successfully and get the opportunity to apply their learnt skills. At home please make sure children in Reception regularly look at their phonics sheets in their homework file and practise saying these sounds.
Also regularly look at their reading book, which is phonetic, not forgetting to look at the questions in the covers of the book too.
Support Number:
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?Subject=16
Number recognition games can be very exciting for your child and free too!
Reading numbers on doors, car registration plates, on letters, on clocks, on calendars. Going on number hunts around the house or garden area are great fun!
Counting games can be done whenever and wherever. Whilst waiting in queues, out shopping, sitting in the car or even at mealtimes.