We welcome Raul to the Acorns room and hope he will be very happy here at Broughton Cottage.

The Oaks have been very busy this week continuing their ‘All About Me’ theme. Some of the children have taken it upon themselves to learn about measurements. Taking a metre-long measuring stick, Belle first measured herself to see whether the ruler was longer or shorter than her. She then decided to make comparisons with the other children by comparing their heights, thinking ahead and changing her strategy when an obstacle arose – e.g. when her peers stood on logs instead of the ground, allowing for the additional height and then realising she would have to subtract the difference. Some of the children proceeded to do the same to one of the adults and determined that they needed 1 and a half metre long sticks to accurately measure them. This showed good precision and critical thinking whilst furthering their understanding of shape, space and measure.

In addition, the Oaks have been closely focusing on the rules and boundaries they recently agreed together in the Oaks room. The children have been fantastic at remembering to have ‘kind hands’, use ‘kind words’, show ‘good listening’, display ‘good sharing’ and always ‘say please and thank you’. The children have really followed these this week and some in particular have shown real friendliness towards others. Danny often says, “I like your shoes” or “I like your scarf” and will occasionally ask “are you okay?” Nova is another to have shown true kindness this week, helping those less able to take off their coats and shoes or cuddling one of her peers when they stumbled over. Learning these rules helps the children to establish order and routine and allows the children to develop their personal, social and emotional as well as their communication and language skills. Well done to all of the children for learning these so quickly.

As we have now moved into Autumn, the Oaks have continued to look at how the change in the weather can cause the environment to differ, considering how decay can happen over time. The children created an Autumnal tuff tray where they could display their findings from their nature hunt. Using clipboards with a tick list of creatures and mini beasts, the Oaks hunted for bugs in the tray and around the garden – using magnifying glasses to help with the search. Once the children had identified each item on their list, they used fine motor skills to hold the whiteboard pen and tick each one off. To continue this, the Oaks will be using leaves and other items from their nature hunt to print marks onto paper.

This week the Saplings have been discussing ‘Stick Man’ by Julia Donaldson. The children have enjoyed many activities surrounding the story. In order to further their understanding of the world, the children have enjoyed exploring their natural environment. The Saplings went on a hunt for sticks in the woodland area of the garden. They collected a variety of different sticks of all shapes and sizes discussing the texture of the bark, questioning whether it was smooth or rough. To further the children’s mathematics, the sticks were categorised according to their varying properties. Some of the children successfully ordered the sticks from small to large, others were able to categorise in more complicated groups such as width – whether they be fat or thin, wide or narrow. The sticks were then used to create the children’s own representation of ‘Stick Man’.

The Saplings have also been expanding their physical development by exploring their sensory impulses. The children have been using their sense of smell to investigate different scents that are often associated with Autumn. By creating scented playdough, the Saplings discovered the smell of cinnamon. They discussed how it had a slightly spicy smell but that it smelt mostly sweet. The children then moulded and shaped their playdough, using a range of tools to make different marks, all the while enhancing their fine motor skills.

Meanwhile the Seedlings have been developing their mathematics by looking at shape naming and shape sorting. They took everyday objects and matched them to their corresponding shapes, no necessarily all equal in depth, area or circumference!

Thomas pointed out that an apple is a ‘circle’. Continuing with the Autumn theme, the Seedlings have used leaves and handprints to create hedgehogs, Oscar made a whole family of them! Using Autumnal colours of red and orange, the children have been ‘bubble wrap’ painting, creating different marks on paper whilst excitedly popping the bubbles as they went.

This week the Acorns have been studying the weather. Using rain shakers, quietly listening to the noises emanated as the beads trickled down slowly, the children have been trying to ward off the rain. They have extended this by singing songs such as ‘rain, rain, go away’ and ‘incey, wincey spider’. The Acorns have also made butterfly pictures, by daubing red, yellow and green paint onto paper in swirling patterns, using their motor skills to press down on the paper once folded in half, then delighting in the result as their own depictions of butterflies were revealed.

Messages this week:

– The Saplings ask if each parent from this group could send in a glass jar for an activity they will be completing soon.

– As the weather is getting wetter and colder, we ask that all parents please provide named waterproof clothing and wellies so that all the children can enjoy their time outdoors.

Stars of the week:

Oaks: Ollie G. – For singing to all of our nursery rhymes and being kind to his new friends.

Saplings: Stanley – For settling in so well and making lots of new friends.

Seedlings: Sophia B. – For being very kind to her friends and for very good listening.

Acorns: Hudson – For excellent drumming skills and for being very imaginative whilst using pots, pans and wooden spoons.

Have a fantastic weekend, see you all next week.