Welcome to Mountain class
In Mountain Class we work closely with parents/carers to set the foundations of children’s first steps in their learning.
During this half term we welcome new children and recognise that children come to our setting from various starting points and having had various experiences. We will use this half term to observe, Interact and build strong relationships with the children and families. When considering the curriculum in the early years, it is important to think about the knowledge that children may already have.
We will continue learning all about ourselves and families, our local community and developing strong relationships with Key people at school .
Each week one child will take the ‘family box’ home where they can put photos and special objects in to share and talk to their class about themselves, the people important to them, their culture and community and then put up on display.
This term we have lots of fun and engaging activities planned to help the new children settle and become familiar with their new routines and environment.
Please check our nursery news page and Home Learning page for some great learning activities for you to enhance your child’s learning journey at home.
The topic for Summer One is ‘Nature Detectives’.
There are lots of reasons why it’s good to get children outside, exploring their environment:
· It helps them form an understanding of the natural world, the plants and creatures that inhabit it, and how everything links together.
· It fosters curiosity, creativity and independence, and supports the development of critical thinking skills.
· It promotes well-being by giving them more space to develop their natural curiosity and freedom to explore .
Some of the planned activities include engaging with wildlife,printing and painting with natural objects, experimenting with weather with wind toys,rainy day exploration,sun prints,shadow drawing and rain painting. We will also be tending our garden, growing vegetables and flowers and introducing the compost bin,teaching children about sustainability and natural lifecycles.
We will spend lots of time playing and talking to develop confidence and enhance learning. This will involve frequent and high-quality interactions between adults and children with
oral storytelling, shared reading, songs and rhymes.
We will continue to share lots of books and activities around nursery rhymes and books about our topic as well as continue to build up our collection of favourite stories and books .
Nursery rhymes help children develop vocabulary. Rhyming helps children learn about words, sounds and language formation. Hearing and using rhyme, rhythm and repetition helps children develop early literacy skills. The repetition of words, ideas and skills is important for early brain development. The bouncy rhythm catches the child’s attention. Repetition and familiarity help the child to remember and supports language development, whilst engaging a child and fostering social development.
Children are also encouraged to take books home from school for carers to read to them to begin to instill their love for reading and sense of exploration.
Exciting times for everybody!