We just want to say a warm welcome to all of our new families who have started with us this week, and to welcome back our familiar faces who are starting their second year. It’s been a busy couple of days as we’ve been learning new faces and helping the new children to settle into their new routines.
There have been lots of activities on offer so that we can observe children and find what their interests are. Particularly popular have been the dinosaurs and the large vehicles. We have also been asked for cars, trains and pirates - so these are all themes we will visit next week.
There has been lots of painting and craft – we do encourage children to wear aprons, but these don’t always stop all of the paint – so we do suggest you send children in clothes that can get messy since encouraging independence and messy play is all part of their learning.
The playdough has also been a popular activity – the children have enjoyed using it in the home corner and using it to ‘cook’ with. It was encouraging to hear children talk about sharing in this area, ‘once you finish, it’s my turn’ – learning to share and take turns is an important pre-school skill that we encourage.
The children have been listening to the story ‘Owl Babies’ – this is a story about 3 baby owls who awaken to find their Mother has gone! They discuss where she might have gone, as they huddle together and wait for her to return. She soon swoops back and tells them that ‘she will always come back!’ This story can help children to understand that at preschool, when Mums and Dads, or Nans or Grandads leave them… they will always come back!
Finally, we have also re-introduced Bear this year! Bear will be coming home to visit children over the year – we would love the children to share what adventures they have had on his return to Squirrels.
Ideas to continue this week’s fun at home:
Talk to your child about their first few days at Squirrels; what did they enjoy playing with the most, did they play inside or out in the garden? Even if your child doesn’t speak yet, you talking about things they have done, having snack, singing songs, listening to stories, playing in the garden – it can help their language and communication to develop.
There have been lots of activities on offer so that we can observe children and find what their interests are. Particularly popular have been the dinosaurs and the large vehicles. We have also been asked for cars, trains and pirates - so these are all themes we will visit next week.
There has been lots of painting and craft – we do encourage children to wear aprons, but these don’t always stop all of the paint – so we do suggest you send children in clothes that can get messy since encouraging independence and messy play is all part of their learning.
The playdough has also been a popular activity – the children have enjoyed using it in the home corner and using it to ‘cook’ with. It was encouraging to hear children talk about sharing in this area, ‘once you finish, it’s my turn’ – learning to share and take turns is an important pre-school skill that we encourage.
The children have been listening to the story ‘Owl Babies’ – this is a story about 3 baby owls who awaken to find their Mother has gone! They discuss where she might have gone, as they huddle together and wait for her to return. She soon swoops back and tells them that ‘she will always come back!’ This story can help children to understand that at preschool, when Mums and Dads, or Nans or Grandads leave them… they will always come back!
Finally, we have also re-introduced Bear this year! Bear will be coming home to visit children over the year – we would love the children to share what adventures they have had on his return to Squirrels.
Ideas to continue this week’s fun at home:
Talk to your child about their first few days at Squirrels; what did they enjoy playing with the most, did they play inside or out in the garden? Even if your child doesn’t speak yet, you talking about things they have done, having snack, singing songs, listening to stories, playing in the garden – it can help their language and communication to develop.
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