This week, we found out that The McDonalds (the school ducks) had laid some eggs. What an exciting way to begin our theme – ‘Birds!’ As we wait for the eggs to hatch into ducklings, here are some of the interesting fun facts we learnt about birds:
- Birds have bones that are hollow on the inside (think of a straw). This makes their bones extremely light and helps them to fly.
- All birds have feathers and wings.
- They are warm-blooded, which means that their body is always the same temperature, and they lay eggs.
- The penguin and the ostrich are birds that do not fly.
- Chicken is the most common bird found all over the world.
The children used different props to role play different bird characters such as chicks hatching from eggs, tweeting & flying like birds, and building a nest. Some of the vocabulary used was big, fly, tweet, feathers, nest, eggs and lay.
Next week we shall find out about what birds feed on and make lots of bird feeders, construct bird houses, listen to bird stories and play some group games like ‘bluebird bluebird’ and the parachute game.
FOUNDATION STAGE 1
The children have easily settled back in to the daily routine after the Easter break. We are very excited about our new theme ‘Nursery Rhymes,’ which we shall cover during the first half of the term.
This week, we visited the sick bay and the school kitchen. The children were buzzing with questions on how to use some of the doctor’s tools and kitchen equipment. We further went on to use some of these and took turns to listen to our friend’s heart beats using the stethoscope.
At the school kitchen, the children engaged with our head chef, who took us around and showed us various kitchen equipment. It was exciting to watch the chef mixing dough for the bread rolls which he later put in the oven to bake. At the end of our visit the chef gave us some yummy treats.
This visits helped us build and work in our role play corners creatively.
Our rhyme for the week was, ‘I’m a little tea pot,’ and ‘5 little ducks.’ The children sang along to the rhymes and carried out various activities such as a tea party at the water play area, treasure hunt at the big sand pit and creating our own duck ponds at the small world area.
We also used the ducks in our Math area to count and learn vocabulary such as five, over, far away, more, how many and no more.
Next week we shall focus on new rhymes – ‘Hickory hickory dock, Humpty Dumpty and Incy Wincy Spider.’
FOUNDATION STAGE 2
We have started off the term by having fruitful discussions about Dr Seuss. This is what some of the children had to say:
Cyrus: I thought Dr Seuss was a cat, but the cat is just a character in the books.
Maya: The characters in the books are not real, they are very funny characters
Gerald: Dr Seuss is an author who has written many books.
This week, we explored the book – ‘The Cat in the Hat.’ The children were able to identify rhyming words while listening to the story and also made lists of these words as they added their own. They can now name the main characters and understand that stories have a beginning and an end. Kindly encourage your child to make some rhyming words at home through fun-filled activities.
This story provided us with opportunities to describe features of cats and fishes. This enabled the children to understand some differences and similarities between the two. They described these animals using a good range of vocabulary such as: furry, carnivore, gills, paws, scales, claws among many others.
The children are continuing to remind themselves and their peers about the golden rules. Kindly support us by enhancing the same at home (refer to the school planner page 96).
Next week we shall focus on another one of Dr Seuss’ books – ‘I can read with my eyes shut.’