Reception class update Friday 16th January

Our focus this week has been on the sense of hearing and we went on a sound walk around school on Monday afternoon. We heard many sounds they hadn't focussed on before especially the train. This goes past regulary during the day and it was only when we stood quietly and listened that they actually heard it and where very excited. I guess it depends which way the wind blows. We heard all the usual things like cars, people talking, lots of birds, a tractor, the church bells and the wind rustling the leaves across the playground. I taugh them the parts of the inner and outer ear and how the sound travels to the brain. I am hoping they acted this out for you.

In Maths this week we worked on addition and for some children we are still consolidating number recognition and matching object to number. Our writing was three short sentences describing their looks: eg: I have blond hair. I have blue eyes, I have a dog. Some children still find holding a pencil difficult and need to work on strenghthening their hand muscles. This will come in time but playing with playdough and basically squishing things will help those muscles. 

Their painting of things they like and don't like are now on display in the class and their painting techniques are developing beautifully with many children using more texture and different brush strokes. We put a few embellishments on them and please feel free to pop in and see them if you wish too.

We continue to do My Happy Mind on a Friday and again this week we did a short meditaion session which most of them really enjoy and engage in. In PE they are using the gymnastic equipment in the junior school hall. They are using the monkey bars, spring board and balance beam and impressing Mrs Murdock with their improvement each week. Last week we won the school trophy for best behaved class in PE. 

We have snack at 10 am every morning and if you are sending in a snack, please make it a healthy one. We have a good range of fruit for them to choose from too. 

This coming week we are going to learn about the sense of touch so we have a lot to get our hands stuck into. We will be making bird feeder shapes for our class tree. I have made a huge batch of playdough today (I have the best recipe if you want to make some at home) and we are also model making.