What a busy week.....

This week Management have attended ABC training. 

https://abcdoes.com/

The main focus was 'Getting ready to write'

Writing is ‘talk that comes out of a pencil”

If you cannot talk you cannot write.

There are 3 main strands to writing: 

1.Talk 

Children need to hear a new word 40 times in context for it to ‘stick in’ 

Hear it, understand it, rehearse using it.(Listening and Attention - Understanding - Speaking)

2.Physical 

Did you know that standing at an activity is better for children's physical development. Standing/ floor work at an activity develops the upper body muscles, hand eye co-ordination and allows children to cross their mid line. 

We have reviewed the environment to see which areas we can remove chairs. We now promote standing or floor work  in the following areas: 

construction/ small world

creative area

role play (limited chairs)

malleable

3.Pre Phonics

There is no need to try to teach children phonics before they start school. However there is lots that you can do as a parent to help them become ready for phonics when they do start school. In a nutshell: read lots of books, listen to all kind of sounds in the environment, make all kinds of sounds and talk about all kinds of sounds. I will blog more about pre phonics. 

Using a telescope to find 'The Shark in the Park'

 

Following an interest in Helen's keys and a conversation about the different sizes, Helen gave the children  some different sized keys and they went on a mission to find which key opened which lock.....