The fun and learning continues...

ENGAGING IN LOTS OF MARK MAKING

One of the focus areas was mark making this week and it was very pleasing to see children showing interest and maintaining their concentration with these activities.

Mark making doesn't need to be permanent - salt in a shallow tray proved to be popular every day.

A great deal of mark making took place on vertical surfaces which also helps to strengthen arm muscles.

This little superstar had a go at copying, instead of tracing, letters from her name. She looked looked closely at her name card and wrote recognizable letter shapes 

for the first time!

PLAYING AND WORKING TOGETHER

The children are only into their second week this term and are still getting to know each other, but there have been many times when I have seen children initiating play with others and building relationships. 

There have been some great conversations where children have had the confidence to speak and have listened and responded to each other.

ENJOYING THE WEATHER, HAVING A GO

GROWING AS WE MEAN TO GO ON

We love growing flowers, fruit and vegetables over the year. We enjoyed a lovely strawberry harvest in the Summer from our huge and very hardy plants.

Numerous runners had grown and so each child has gone home this week with their own little strawberry plant to care for and hopefully have their own harvest next year.

Next week... 

The children will having their own fruit and vegetable shop in the classroom, complete with till and real pennies, of course! Happy buying!

What a great start to the new term!

SETTLING IN WEEK

The wonderful children in Little Conkers have wasted no time in trying out 

all of the activities and having lots of fun!

We've enjoyed some lovely weather this week and the children have made the most of it!

 This was the first time these children had been on the trim trail, but their confidence was a treat to see.

The children are already demonstrating what great little learners they are in their eagerness to have a go and also persevere with activities that at first seem a bit of a challenge.

 This was a very popular activity, especially when the children discovered that they could send tiny pieces of straws flying across the room when they snipped them!

The children have been learning a great deal this week and it has been pleasing to see how well they are following new routines and building new relationships.

We have more new children joining us next week 

and we are looking forward to another exciting week together.

Remember your sun hats, children - the weather forecast is sounding good!

Great last week of term

POTATO HARVEST!
We planted two seed potatoes back in April and this week it was time to discover what had grown. We talked about where the potatoes had been growing and how it was different to the strawberries and peas which we had seen growing on the plants.
We all guessed how many potatoes may have grown - the numbers ranged from thousands to two! The children were very excited as they spotted potatoes poking out if the compost when we tipped out the bag.

The children were fascinated by the extremely tiny potatoes and just when we thought we had found the tiniest, a tinier one appeared!

Back indoors children wanted to count the potatoes and this offered plenty of opportunity for discussion about the sizes and estimating amounts. Some of the children wanted to sort them into their sizes. One child announced "I need to see these more closely!" and skipped off to fetch a magnifying glass!

We finally counted 45 potatoes! What a great harvest!

Two willing volunteers washed the potatoes. The children knew they needed to be clean before they could be cooked and eaten, and a deep discussion about germs ensued!!

 One child said he had found some paper - it was in fact the very thin skin - this prompted a great deal of interest with the other children and they wanted to peel off the skin too.

Mrs Courtney took the potatoes home to cook, and the next day we talked about the photos and the changes to the potatoes.

 

 And then came the tasting! It was especially pleasing that every child at least tried the mashed potato, even those who said they didn't like it - and some found they liked it after all!

WONDERFUL CLASS!

19 of our children will be moving up into the reception classes in September, so this was the last week they were together.

 What a great year it has been, with super children full of fun and eager to learn!