Reception April 2008

Welcome back.  The children have returned with such enthusiasm and we are looking forward to being outdoors for many of our activities.

Our theme this term is See How They Grow!

Our Knowledge and Understanding work will be gardening and growing plants, looking at growth of humans and animals, and life cycles.  We have started with 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and already have some  wonderful pictures and writing!  The children want to make our Indoor Role Play Area into 'Jack and the Mother's House'.  They are making decisions about what we need, how we will organise it and how we will use ICT.  If you have any Giant sized dressing up clothes, beards, large boots, etc. we would be grateful to borrow them!  We will develop an outdoor 'Garden Centre' where we will plant our beans and other seeds, and enjoy digging, weeding and watering!

In Personal, Social and Emotional Development, our theme is 'Relationships' and we will use circle time activities and role play to explore this.  We will work on turn taking, co-operation and consideration for others, as well as exploring our own feelings.

In our Literacy work, we will continue Jolly Phonics, and work with sounds made by 2 letters, e.g. sh, th, ng, ai/ay, oy, ee, etc.  Children we be encouraged to write their own , using sounds they know, and to write for many different purposes, lists, captions, speech bubbles, etc.  We will practice the correct formation of letters.  Our story focus is linked to our theme of growth- Jack and the Beanstalk; Jasper's Beanstalk, the Titch books, The Little Red Hen, The Enormous Turnip, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Please continue to help your child read and write the 'Tricky Words' they bring home.  It is paying dividends!

We will link our Creative Work to these stories, e.g. making bread, pictures of Giants, plants, as well as model making from different materials.  Children will be encouraged to explore their own ideas in 2D and 3D picture making and construction using a variety of materials.  We will use musical instruments to retell stories, and make animal sounds.

Our Numeracy work will include many practical activities where the children use the vocabulary involved in adding and subtracting and relate addition to combining two or three groups of objects.  We will count in twos and tens, learn doubles of numbers, and work with teen numbers.  We will make comparisons about volume (filling different containers), weight, length and seize, and find out more about regular 3D shapes.

Our PE days are Monday (outdoor PE with small apparatus), Thursday (multi skills) and Friday (gymnastics).  Plimsolls or trainers would be useful for Monday sessions, please.

Useful websites at home are www.parentlink.co.uk and www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/numberjacks.  Please come and chat with us if you have any questions.