What a chilly start to our Spring term! The children have really enjoyed exploring the outside area this week, and all that Jack Frost had to offer! Ice became like gold dust as the children collected it to make all sorts of potions and delicious treats in the mud kitchen. Incy Wincey spider also seemed rather grateful that the children had freed him from his icy guttering! Experiments and investigations on how best to break the ice had the children highly motivated and using critical thinking skills. Even the hobby horses were thought of in the cold and windy weather, as oats were brought out to keep them well fed!
In PSED, Harold reminded us about his scarf that he wears, which helps him to remember some important things! The children remembered how the red part of his scarf means Safety, the yellow means Caring, the blue means Achievement, the green means Resilient and the purple part means Friendship. This week, we looked at the red part of the scarf, and thought about how to keep our bodies safe. The children discussed how soap keeps us safe from germs, and warm clothes help us when it’s frosty outside. Choosing time had many of the children continuing their thinking, as our class puppets were enthusiastically looked after by doctors, and friends worked together to draw around each other’s bodies to label the different parts.
We’ve been reflecting on the new year and the exciting possibilities it brings. The children shared their hopes and dreams for the year ahead, which we called our “New Year Wishes.” They had some wonderful ideas, including learning to ride a bike, visiting Legoland, and trying their hand at baking. Each child had a “New Year Wishes” stick, which they added to the vase as they thought about their hopes and dreams for the year ahead.
The children loved their first P4C session this week! In Philosophy for Children, the children are able to discuss big ideas, to think, to speak and to listen together. This week, the children thought about how best to help Humpty Dumpty. Many ideas were eagerly shared, such as sticking him together with sellotape or glue, or even placing down trampolines or soft beds so that he didn’t hurt himself in the first place! It was great to see the children sharing their thoughts, agreeing or disagreeing with each other, and even building on what others had said. It really did have us all wondering whether it was better to fix a given problem, or to prevent the problem in the first place… what do you think?
It has been brilliant to see how keen the children were with their literacy this week! We have started to read our new focus text, The Magic Paintbrush, by Julia Donaldson. In the story, the main character Shen is given a paintbrush that brings anything she paints to life! This got us thinking about what useful things we might paint if we wanted to help someone… the children drew all sorts of things, from food, books and warm clothing, to fires to get rid of rubbish and horses to help someone who was tired of walking! It was lovely to hear the children think carefully about specific objects, and give reasons as to why they were helpful.
In maths, we are continuing to think about different ways we can represent numbers. We also were introduced to the concept of ‘zero’ and have enjoyed using number gloves to sing our favourite counting songs from five to zero!