What are we doing in Dolphins in November?

Change and coping with it is the big topic this month!

All of the Dolphins (children, practitioners and families) have managed a huge change through relocation this month. For the children, it has meant new routines, varied rules, new practices, a loss of indoor/ outdoor flow and working in a split group- so a change of peers and access to some practitioners too.

And, then there is the weather. It is rapidly getting darker and colder and we will be talking about the changes in our environment as we head towards Christmas.

The activities this month will be based around the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) areas of learning:

Prime areas:

PSED: Realising that the rules, boundaries and practices in some settings may be different to those in others. PD: Using gross motor skills to role play building. C&L Learning some new language associated with building.

Specific areas:

L: Using books to discover more about building  and appreciating them as a tool to learn more. Talking about the signs related to construction, what they mean and why they are needed. M: Size, shapes and measures in building. UW: Observing the world around, the changes within it and relating it to their world beyond the nursery.  EA&D: using a range of media to build structures, draw plans, and represent what they are seeing.

Some of the activities we will be doing this month to support this will be:

·         Making a book on the building works in Dolphins. Manjit and Jenny will be working with the preschool children to make a book on the development and progress of the building works.

·         Building role play. Jenny and Manjit will be supporting the children into role play around building and construction.

·         Weather charts. The pre-schoolers will be making individual weather charts to track the changes in weather on a daily basis to use as discussion and reflection on the weather.

·         Matt will be working with the group on making a group weather chart that records the daily weather and what the children have observed about the weather on their way to or at nursery. E.g. frozen windscreens, etc.

·         2D buildings. Christine H will be working with the children on designing buildings by collaging shapes together.

·         Building works model. Marie Claire will be making a model of the building works as they progress and getting children to add to it as the building progresses to aid discussion.

·         Excursion to the library. Shilpi will be organising an excursion to the local library to take out books on construction and building and bringing them back to the nursery with the children to aid discussion.

What you could do to support your children at home:

·         Talk with your children about what is happening in Dolphins. Go through the photo library on the Facebook Group with your child to aid discussion. If you are not a Facebook user, bring in a memory stick for us to send home building works images.

·         If you pass a construction site, take the time to look at it. Talk about what they are doing.

·         Discuss the signs around construction sites and what they say. Talk about safety and why children and the public are not allowed on construction sites.

·         Sometimes construction sites have plans on them. Talk about the plans and what they are for.

·         Discuss with your children what has been happening at nursery. Talk about how they feel about it. What they like or don’t like about the new space they are working in.