New Educational Developments for 2018 – Update!
New Year, New Developments
As announced in the last newsletter, we have started implementing our new educational curriculum. We are providing the children with seven key stages of learning in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework. The intention behind this new structure is to help the children to develop their knowledge by reinforcing their understanding through varied and innovative approaches to key topics.
Pre-schoolers Explore Winter and the Arctic
Our busy Pre-schoolers have been looking at the Winter and the Arctic this month. They have participated in a variety of activities, from drawing polar bears to group discussions about animals that live in the cold, such as, reindeer, arctic fox and walrus. They’ve also been experiencing the cold (but not quite Arctic!) weather outside in the nursery garden, describing what it feels like, and taking part in sensory play, for example, putting Arctic animals in ‘snow’ (flour) – all of which help the children develop a better understanding of these topics.
In other news, our creative Pre-school Team are working hard, both individually and collectively, updating each key learning area within the room. For example, Jasmine has come up with some brilliant ideas to develop the construction area and is busy sourcing materials to bring the concept to life. Watch this space for further updates and photos!
A string of happy painted pengiuns!
Millicent’s marvellous Polar Bear painting.
Evie’s chilly Polar Bear!
Toddlers Practise Counting and Colours
Our toddlers are practising their counting by making colourful playdough cakes and putting on pasta shapes (pretend candles!) to represent their age.
To help develop their fine motor skills, we’re also encouraging the children to learn how to cut paper with child-friendly scissors and apply pencil control by copying their names. Their inquisitive natures are responding to our colour mixing activities as well. We’re asking them to predict what colour is produced when they mix different colour paints together. They’ve created some wonderful artwork in the process too.
The Toddler’s creative colour mixing.
More of the children’s colour mixing.
Babies Paint and Play with Fruit
The new babies who joined us earlier this month have settled in especially well. The walls are already covered with their paint prints using pieces of real fruit. They’ve also been exploring the weather and, when it’s been warm enough, we’ve been outside to see what the weather feels like and explore garden textures, such as grass, leaves and stones.
