The children have really enjoyed dressing up and role play so this term we are going to listen to some fairy tales ( some from around the world ) and do some drama! We will be acting out our favourite well-known tales such as "Goldilocks and the Bears", " The 3 Little Pigs" and so on.

We are continuing to count the children here each day and learn about correspondence of amount and number by stopping at 5 and then 10 looking at how many children there are before counting on. The children will also have some problems to solve and will need to help teddy who can't remember how to count.

We are also singing "I can sing a rainbow" - a fun way to learn about colours. We are keeping a daily check on the weather.

Everyone is trying to be polite, to share, take turns and to tidy up so please encourage this at home.
The children will be finding out what effect exercize has on their body. You can join in at home by running on the spot or doing star jumps, then stopping and listening to your breathing, seeing if you feel hot, tired etc. You could even count the jumps so that the children learn about numbers and counting.

This term we are extending counting by counting all the children who are here each day. The children are using their fingers to learn correspondence of number and amount. You could have some fun counting cars (trees or whatever you like) on the way to Pre-school and let us know!

For our display, the children are going to paint pictures of their friends. We will also be helping the children accept the needs of others, sharing and taking turns by playing a game with puppets. We are encouraging children to tell us when there is a problem. Being kind to each other will make the Pre-School a happy place to be.

We will then go on to learning about how to take care of ourselves by playing with teddy and her wash bag and dressing her appropriately. Janet Williams ( our friendly Oral Hygienist ) will be visiting us on February 11th and she will explain how to look after your teeth. If you are having problems getting your child to clean their teeth, let them choose a brush and use some flavoured toothpaste. Why not sing along to make it fun, or better still clean your teeth at the same time. We are learning a toothpaste song for Janet - the words will be on the Notice Board if you want to join in at home.

We are starting Jolly Phonic songs and playing a rhyming word game using the song "Miss Polly had a Dolly".

Please continue to encourage your children to tidy up.

Later in the term the children will be making models from recycled materials. Please let us have your cereal boxes, smaller boxes, paper towel tubes for this activity. We cannot use egg boxes or toilet roll tubes. Our Book Box will be outside so please encourage your children to choose a book to read at home. Don't forget to return and exchange the book when you have finished.

Don't forget to let us have any photographs or drawings for our Sharing Board. The children love to show the others and talk about their families.

This term, as well as free imaginative painting and gluing the children are making rockets for Bonfire Night and Christmas Crafts.

We are counting 1-5 then 1-10 using our fingers so that children can learn correspondence. Staff will be modelling using fingers to represent numbers during play.

The children will be solving number problems in a fun way with a three bears' picnic game. We are introducing recognition of shapes - circles and squares by singing a song and "drawing" the shapes in the air. The children are going to be asked to let us know when they find a circle, square or any shape. Please join in with this activity, you may find it easier to concentrate on one shape for your shape search. A circle is round and doesn't have any corners; a square has four corners and four sides all the same size; a rectangle has four corners, two long sides and 2 short sides; a triangle has three corners and three sides.

The children are learning the days of the week song so that they can complete our weather chart showing what the weather is like each day. We are also singing the ABC song so that the children learn the letter names first, and looking at the letters that go with the names in the second week. We will the concentrate on listening skills and differentiating sounds.

As well as talking about feelings we are having a Road Safety Week during Week 4 23rd - 27th November. We are learning about traffic, holding hands and stopping. The children will be getting a free reflector to wear on their coats.

Once again, we are having a stall at the Infant School's Christmas Fete. We will be making rocking robins and having a lucky dip. Please come along to support us, and the Infant School.

Towards the end of term we will introduce photographs of Gary the Musical Clown and try out our dancing skills. If your child is frightened of clowns please let us know.

Our Christmas Parties are on Wednesday 16th December and the children will be taking part in a Nativity Play on Thursday 17th December.

The last day of term is Friday 18th December - have a lovely Christmas break and see you again on Monday 4th January 2010.

We would like to welcome those returning to us, new children and their families. Our aim is to get to know you and to support your children to progress through the Early Years Foundation Stage towards the Early Learning Goals.

Your child's Key Person will gradually introduce our routine and encourage them to learn staff and children's names, to make friends and feel a sense of belonging. We will be teaching, modelling and praise sharing, taking turns, being kind, being polite and listening to others, and would ask you to join in with this at home.

The children will be singing nursery rhymes from our core selection, copies of which will be displayed outside, so that you can join in at home. If you have a favourite song please let us know.

We will also be painting, joining in with action songs and singing some number songs. We hope to display cut-outs of the children's and adults hands to make a friendship tree.

All children are different, so please don't worry if your child does not join in at first, they will when they are ready. Please share with us any family occasions, photographs, drawings etc. so that we can all see them on our Sharing Board.

If you have any worries or concerns, please chat to your child's Key Person, the Supervisors - Pat Stevens, Jean Scarff or Jane Gooch or the Manager, Marion Wessel.

This term we are following the children's interest in the seaside. They have also been pretending to be hairdressers and cutting "dough" hair so we are changing the home corner into The Owl Beauty Salon. If you have any resources you think will be suitable we would be pleased to have them.

Some children are still enjoying searching so we are going to hide Sid the shark for the children to find.

As well as a choice of free painting or collage, the children are making Fathers' Day cards, creating a seaside collage ( using a pincer movement to tear the tissue which helps with pencil control) and making wave sand patterns.

There are lots of songs and rhymes about the seaside for the children to learn and we are displaying the words for "The sun has got his hat on" and "We do like to be beside the seaside."

We are continuing counting, problem solving and looking around us for shapes. Please join in with us at home and out and about. Look for shapes and ask your children to count out a certain number of items for you e.g 3 apples. Remember to start with one shape e.g. a circle, which is a round shape without any corners. Encourage them to draw cicles in the air, in sand and big cicles on paper. We are also including colours and patterns. After week 3 Key workers will begin their Leuven Assessments and then chat to you about your children's progress. If you child is moving onto school, the recording books will be passed onto you to share with your children's new school.

This year our Teddy Bears' picnic is on Tuesday 14th July and information will be available nearer the time. All the teddies and children will have a lovely time with songs, games and a picnic.

This term, we are following the children's interest in the taste and texture of fruit and exercise with the theme of "My Body".

As well as free painting and gluing, they can make a collage by cutting out pictures and designing their own outdoor play areas. We are also going to draw round the children and cut these out so that the children can paint and decorate the cut-outs to look like themselves.

We hope to have good weather this term and spend lots of time outside so do make sure that your children are wearing suitable non-slip shoes and cloths so that they can take part in all the activities.

The children loved the CD "Whole World" and this term we have a new one "Here we go round the mulberry bush" and we are sure they will have fun learning the song and doing the actions. We also have lots of other songs and rhymes about fruit, vegetables and exercise. They will be encouraged to think about what we can eat lots of, which will make us fit healthy and strong and what we should only eat sometimes or a little of. Also, how we can exercise or move to make us fit, strong and healthy. We have a new keep fit CD and have downloaded different dance tunes for the children to move and groove to! We have a little exercise song to sing and will display the words to that you can join in at home.

This term the children are taking part in the sponsored Obstacle Course. It takes place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the 5th, 6th and 7th May. As well as having lots of fun they are raising money for new resources for the group. Mums, dads, granddads nannas are all welcome to come and watch and perhaps lend a hand! We will be asking the children to put their own coats on and giving lots of praise to encourage independence and pride in their achievements. Please join in at home by letting your children try to dress themselves and put on their own coats, shoes etc. You need lots of time and patience!

During this term, we are learning about wild life, where animals live and the names of their young. We hope to have a visit from a badger expert. The children will be encouraged to look after their environment by spotting litter in our play area and asking the staff to pick it up. We are on the look out for Spring changes, please encourage your children to look around their garden at home. We are also singing "We can sing a Rainbow" a fun way to lean colours.

Also this term, the children will be drawing pictures of themselves and their families for display as well as making Mothers' Day and Easter crafts. To familiarise the children with numbers we are counting all the children present at register time. The children are also using their fingers to record as they count. We are playing a number game to find out the total number of objects in 2 groups.

To bring stories alive and help children's recall, they are acting out some well-known stories such as "Goldilocks and the 3 bears". They will be listening to, and joining in with poems. This term we are focussing on the initial sounds of children's names. We are also singing out favourite nursery rhymes so that the children gain an understanding of rhyming words. you can join in by singing the songs and stopping to see if your children can sing the last rhyming word. Our favourite rhymes will be on display to help.

Towards the end of term, your Key person will use the Leuven Scales to assess your children's well-being and involvement in our activities. You will then be invited in to see how your child is progressing in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

On the last week of term, the children will have great fun hunting for the hidden Easter Eggs.