Nursery
Welcome to week 9. It’s hard to believe that we are entering the month of June and our last 4 weeks of nursery.
In the month of June our topics in nursery are mini-beasts and transitioning to Primary 1.
We look back at all of the shapes we have learnt about over the year and look at all the colours of the rainbow.
We spend the month consolidating key numeracy and literacy skills and think about how we can develop our independence further in preparation for Primary 1.
Over the third term we are given lots of opportunities to make our own choices and have free access to many resources which would have been limited earlier in the year.
Starting Big School
Very soon your child will be finding who their teacher is going to be in primary one.
Normally at this time of year we invite the P1 teachers from Maghaberry and other local schools to come and visit our pupils at nursery. They love to have a chat with the children and spend time playing with them in the children’s familiar environment. Unfortunately this won’t be possible this year.
We are still planning to help provide children with a smooth transition from this school year, as unusual as it has been, to their new school year. It is important where possible:
- Take a walk past Maghaberry Primary. Also have a look at the primary 1 pages on our school website. On the staff pages you will see photographs of our primary 1 teachers and support staff.
- Parents should discuss the move to primary school with the children. This would usually take place alongside class discussions in nursery however, being unable to do this, it is important that you reassure your child. Talk about how nice the primary 1 classrooms are, how friendly their new teachers will be, how their nursery friends will be with them and how they will meet new friends.
- Nursery staff will share with the primary school any information that is to be passed on concerning the child’s progress, any SEN, medical or individual requirements.
To help prepare your child for a good start you can:
- Develop the children’s independence skills and encourage them to dress themselves, look after their own property e.g. put dirty clothes in the hamper etc.
- Help them to recognise and write their name in lowercase letters.
- Involve your child in getting ready for school by helping choose the things they will need. Lunchboxes and schoolbags can be bought online.
- If possible, create a “classroom” at home. Provide the children with an older sibling’s school jumper, school bag, pencil case, lunch box and books. Play schools at home.
All About Me
With the help of mummy or daddy you may like to fill in this sheet telling the primary 1 teachers all about you. It’s a bit like the book mummy filled in, when you were coming to nursery. If you post to the primary 1 teachers in Maghaberry Primary school, they will get it when they are in school. (Apologies for the spelling of ‘color’ it’s from an American website.) The link below will give you three different sheets to choose from.
All about me
Art
In the third term and especially in June a lot of our art is free. Children are encouraged to pour their own paint and can access a whole range of resources. Over the year the children have learnt many skills but now is the time to really focus on their individual creativity.
Ways to promote art at home:
- Provide a creative space that children can return to at different times to complete or alter their work. This could be a desk or easel in their bedroom or a spare room. This could be a box of resources to be kept and used outside in the garden. Set up what works for you.
- Make a range of good quality materials, media and tools freely accessible to the children and adding to or changing these over time. Provide them with a box, a drawer or a pencil case for pencils, pens, crayons, a tub for chalk or pastels.
- Prepare a paint area for them to mix their own colours, squeeze their own paint and choose different sizes of brushes. Explore colours and textures, for example by mixing paints and with sand, glitter or glue. Paint on different surfaces like card, fabric or wood. Set aside a specific time during your week to paint and create together.
- Create pictures by printing using everyday objects, blow / bubble painting, using wax resist or experimenting with shaving foam.
- Allow children to choose their own activities and implement their own ideas. Encourage them when they are at a loose end, to access their art materials and create something – some children will need a prompt for example, a bed for a sleepy dinosaur, other children will be able to come up with something you couldn’t even dream of lol!
- Provide opportunities to work indoors and outdoors, at times creating ‘temporary pictures’ from loose materials such as stones, sticks, feathers, beads, buttons, shells, cutlery, cups, saucers etc.
- Investigate different ways of joining materials, including different sorts of glue, tape and staples, elastic bands and paper clips;
- Value the work of the children by displaying it attractively. This could be on the fridge door, in a scrapbook, in a frame or take a photo of their work to keep their art collection in a digital album.
Information taken from The Northern Ireland Preschool Curricular Guidance and adapted for our nursery home-school links.
Animals
- Looking after our pets. Now that time is in abundance, it is a great opportunity to give the children more responsibility at home – feeding, washing, caring for pets we have.
- Looking after wild life. Begin in your own garden and go on a mini beast hunt. You could also look online for inspiration for bug hotels, bee boxes, bird houses, hedgehog hibernation pods, frog ponds etc. most of which can be created using items around the home.
- Looking after wildlife – further afield. Once out and about, talk about the wildlife all around, whether in the countryside, on a forest walk or down at rock pools at the beach. Explain to the children why it is important to take care of the environment, reducing litter and waste, so these animals have a happy home.
- Looking at life cycles. There are many examples of lifecycles available online for children to look at and talk about. Some people may also be lucky enough to have caterpillars or frogspawn in their garden.
Construction Challenge
Can you make something to invite creatures to live in your garden? It could be a stick pile for bugs, a house for birds, or grow wildflowers for bees.
Super Worm Play Dough
This Julia Donaldson book is always a huge hit in nursery. It talks about how long and strong Super Worm is.
With the dough we get busy making Super Worm and his friends.
It’s a great activity for working on our mathematical language associated with size- long, short, fat, thin
Comparative language is also used in this activity eg which worm is longer, shorter?
Add some leaves to the activity and prepositional language can be explored eg Can you put your worm on the leaf, under the leave?
Finally don’t forget to count how many worms you have made.
Water
- What do we use water for at home? Allow the children to do a “treasure hunt” to find different sources / uses of water at home. Provide opportunities for them to help you with water around the home e.g. cooking, cleaning.
- Where does water come from? Explore the environment and experience the weather. When given the opportunity to experience different weather outside – enjoy the sunshine, run through the rain, splash in muddy puddles. This can be extended by talking about the weather and the seasons throughout the year.
- Why does water change? Explore the properties of water through every day objects. Watch for steam rising from the kettle as you make a cup of tea. Enjoy an ice lolly and notice how it starts to drip and melt.
