Starting School 

The children have had a great start to the school year. We have been exploring mass and capacity in maths through our provision using the vocabulary of heavy / light, full / empty / half empty. The children have loved playing in the provision, meeting new friends and learning the new routines. 

The Mixed Up Chameleon

Our class text is Eric Carle's book the Mixed Up Chameleon. The children have enjoyed reading the story together, learning about all the different animals, which make up our class groups.  The Mixed Up Chameleon feels a little upset in the story but he goes on a journey to love himself. So, we talked about, what we're good at, like the Chameleon and how we feel in different situations. The children enjoyed making their own chameleons and re-telling the story in the small world area. We have also been reading different Eric Carle books as we learn about the author himself. 

Phonics

This half term, the children have been learning the sounds of the alphabet and practicing writing the letter formation. Using the first 6 sounds; m, a, s, d, t, i the children have been making CVC words using magnetic letters. 

Maths - Subitising to 5 

We have been learning how to 'subitise' (knowing how many objects are in a set without counting). The children have been making different arrangements of 3 using the paint pens. We also practice making the different numbers 1-5 using our fingers whenever we are lining up. 

Goldilocks And The Three Bears

After reading the story, the children loved acting out the story using the puppets and drawing the key events of the story on large scale paper together on the carpet. We have been ecnouraging the children to use story language and we have modelled how to use different expressive voices for the characters. 

The Colour Monster

During our circle times, we have been reading the story 'The Colour Monster' which explains how we can feel all different emotions and how colours can represent these emotions. We have based our circle times on how we feel in different situations and how we can make ourselves and our friends feel happy. The children have also made their own colour monsters. Finally, we linked the Colour Monster to the '5 point scale' which is our whole school approach to expressing our emotions. 

Art - Kandinsky

This half term in Art, we have been learning about the artist Kandinsky. We started looking at his artwork and discussing what we liked or disliked about it and what the children notice about his paintings and the man himself. As Kandinsky loves bright colours we used the primary colours to make handprints, mixing two colours together to make a secondry colour. The children loved getting messy, predicting which colour they would make and seeing their outcomes. 

Next, we had a go at colour mixing by choosing paint colours and spinning a paper plate so the colours mix together. This created a circle painting, taking inspiration from Kandinsky. 

Composing numbers 2, 3, and 4

In Maths, we have been looking at how a whole number can be made up of different parts. For example, the number 3 can be 1 + 1 + 1 as shown with Goldilocks and the 3 bears. The children have had fun using shapes to make their own subitising cards while talking about the different parts that make up the number. 

Mapping our way to school

After looking at some maps of the local area, we enjoyed drawing our houses and our route to school. Some children were able to write their name for their house and draw who lives in their house. We also thought about which landmarks we pass on the way. 

Exploring Autumn 

After reading a non-fiction book about Autumn, we went on an Autumn walk to see what features we could find. The children loved collecting red and brown leaves which had fallen from the trees as well as harvesting apples from the orchard. 

Apple Cookies

After picking the apples in the school orchard, we decided to make healthy apple, oat cookies. The children loved learning how to chop and grate the apple. They were able to follow a simple recipe, working as a team, mixing the ingredients and baking the cookies. And of course they loved eating them!