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Remote Learning – Fun Friends have feelings

May 21, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Fun Friends is a programme we use in Glenwood to help children develop their emotional resilience – to find out more click on the link to the Sway at the bottom of this post.

Part of the Fun Friends programme is learning about feelings in ourselves and others. It is also a key part of Curriculum for Excellence.

What we want children to learn:

It’s OK to have feelings, everyone has feelings.
To recognise feelings in themselves and others.
Hitting, kicking or breaking things is not OK.

Feelings – talk about different feelings: happy, sad, angry, scared, tired, nervous, excited, jealous, calm, silly, lonely, playful, brave etc.

Being brave is a feeling we will encourage through the Fun Friends programme.

Learning about feelings through play – role play feelings (eg show me excited or angry), act out scenarios (eg going on a bear hunt), demonstrate how people you know show their feelings.

Feelings are OK, actions we control – Explain that feelings are OK, everyone has feelings but how we choose to act is very important. You could use thumbs up for good choices and thumbs down for bad choices.

When we are scared we can choose to run away, hide, not try something new or we can choose to stand up tall, speak in a loud voice, give something a try.
When we are angry we can choose to stamp our feet, shout or break things or we can choose to calm down, have a drink of water, have some quiet time and talk to someone.
When we are happy we can choose to shout and scream very loudly and runn around like crazy or we can choose to laugh, smile, sing or cuddle a soft toy.

Sing the traditional song If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands. Introduce alternative feelings and actions, such as:

angry….stamp your feet, sad….have a cry, scared….hide and shake, brave….stand up tall

Can you predict other people’s emotions? eg when you have news to share or when something unexpected happens
Think of ways to change how someone feels. Can you make someone happy, can you give them a surprise?
Draw pictures of things that make you feel sad, worried or angry and talk about ways to feel better.

CBeebies has some more feelings activities and songs you could try. https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/joinin/talking-to-your-child-about-emotions

“Men don’t feel sad”

Talking to children they frequently say men don’t feel sad, worried or frightened. They misread these signs as angry. So men in particular need to help children by explaining their feelings, eg “I know I shouted at you when you went out on the road but I felt frightened you might get hurt.”

As children misread men’s feelings, they often say men don’t need help and they don’t know how they manage their feelings. Dads, tell your child what helps you – “I feel sad not seeing Granny and Grandpa too but your cuddles make me feel better” – “I go for a walk when I feel angry.”

Please keep in touch as you explore your feelings together @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

Follow these links for futher information:

Glenwood Emotional Intelligence Sway

ERC Healthier Minds Website

Go to this Sway

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Remote Learning – Helicopter Stories at Home

May 20, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Helicopter Stories is a simple approach based on the work of Vivian Gussin Paley. It involves acting as a scribe by writing down a child’s story word for word as they are saying it. After it has been written the time is then taken to act it out. In the nursery we tend to do this with a bigger group. However, they can be done at home with only one child. When we are in nursery it is usually an A5 size of paper that is used. However, as you are at home you can choose whatever size of paper you want. It might be nice to use a notebook and keep them all together if you choose to do it more than once.

Here are some helpful tips for doing Helicopter Stories at home.

Listening to your child’s story.

There are no rules to how long their story must be. Their stories can range from just one word to a few short sentences, sometimes they can even write a list. For a child to become a confident storyteller they must be allowed to tell their stories the way they want, without anyone interfering or interrupting them. This will help them to trust that what is being written and acted out are their own words.

Try not to interrupt

Naturally when we are reading stories to children or if a child is telling us a story, we would ask questions. Such as how big was the elephant? When the child is talking try not to ask them questions or influence their story in any way. Just listen to them so that you can hear everything that is being said and are able to write every word down. Perhaps after the child has told their story and acted it out, you could then ask them to scribe for you while you tell them a story. It doesn’t matter if they can’t write the words properly, as when you act it out you will both remember what was said.

Make a stage

Normally a stage for Helicopter Stories will be marked out using masking tape . Remember there are no rules at home so you can use the hallway, stairs, living room… Ask your child to decide where they want their stage to be and they can make their own rules up. Your acting area can be whatever and wherever you want it to be.

And Finally, Act It Out

When you begin to act out the stories let your child be in charge. It is their story so they will show you exactly how they want it to be acted out. Let your child decide what character they want to be and tell you what character you are going to be.

Be prepared to be anything… now I’m a bench!

This is a great activity to get the whole family involved. If there are only two of you, each of you can be more than one character. Just as the child can’t do anything wrong in this activity neither can you. Just play, try not to take over, and release your inner child!

Find out more about Helicopter Stories on their website here.

Most importantly have fun! You might like to share your stories with us on Twitter @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

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Remote Learning – Minibeasts

May 19, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Children love exploring what they can find hidden under or in objects. Why not involve them in a minibeast hunt in the garden? This supports their curiosity by inviting them to look under stones or plant pots, to dig in the garden or to search other garden areas to discover minibeasts and where they can be found.

Finding the best places to search for minibeasts provides children with a problem solving experience as well as risk assessing the areas to keep safe. For example, care will need to be taken with possible hazards such as overhanging branches, uneven ground or slippery surfaces.

Some children love to pick up minibeasts, holding them in their hands. Providing a container or small spade may allow some children the opportunity to scoop up a minibeast to have a closer look if they prefer not to touch them. Using a magnifying glass is also a great way to look at them in close detail. Your child might enjoy drawing or painting a picture of the minibeasts they find, or perhaps like to take some photographs or make a model.

As children play and investigate the world around them you may hear them developing their numeracy skills as they count the number of legs on the minibeasts or the number of each minibeast they find. They will be excited to share news of their discoveries and recognise colours while talking about the characteristics of each minibeast.

Searching for minibeasts in the natural outdoor environment also provides a great opportunity for children to learn about habitats and what creatures need to survive. It also provides an opportunity to ask open-ended questions to encourage children to chat and further investigate minibeasts:

‘Where do you think that beetle might live?’

‘I wonder why we found these woodlice hiding under the piece of wood.’

‘Why do you think this spider is climbing on the cane?’

‘I don’t recognise this minibeast. How are we going to find out what it is called?’

Using a minibeast chart can be a fun way to identify and tick off the ones you find. You could make your own chart or here’s one you could use:

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/04/minibeast-hunt/

Use the minibeasts you find to make comparisons and predictions:

‘Which is the longest/shortest worm?’

‘Which minibeast has the most/least legs?’

‘Which snail do you think will move fastest?’

Another fun way of finding minibeasts in your garden is to make a pitfall trap. Minibeasts that are moving on the ground nearby will fall in and you can check the next day to see what has been trapped. Further information and instructions about pitfall traps can be found by clicking on this link.

Remember that minibeasts are very small and need to be handled carefully. If you do pick them up, always put them back where you found them. Don’t forget to wash your hands when you are finished.

Hope you have had fun trying out these minibeast ideas. Please remember to share your child’s learning by tweeting @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

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Remote Learning – Rocks Rock!

May 18, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Do you have stones or rocks in your garden?

Can you go on your daily walk and find some?

If the answer is yes, then here are some ideas from Miss McArthur you can try out!

Rock Painting

Choose your favourite colours and paint away… this will help:

Develop creativity – it doesn’t matter if the picture doesn’t look like anything to you, to your child it’s a masterpiece.
Express their feelings and thoughts without words – sometimes paintings tell a story.
Develop problem solving and motor skills – as they figure out how to manipulate the rock and painting tools.

Rock paintings will help brighten up your garden or make an indoor play area. Why not try:

Painting small world animals or fairies.
Creating a fairy or elf door,
Painting minibeasts.
Create your own number or letter hunt around the house or in your garden.

Use rocks and stones as loose parts

What shapes can you turn them into?

How many have you collected?

Can you make a stepped number line from them? Can you build a tower out of them?

Miss McArthur can build a tower of 5.

Is your tower bigger or smaller?

Remember to Tweet to let us see what you used your rocks for! @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

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Remote Learning – Moving On to School

May 15, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

We have prepared a Sway to help answer some of the questions you may have about the transition process for children who are due to move on to Primary 1 in August.

It will also give some information about our ‘Moving On’ programme which will start next week.

We hope you find it helpful.

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Remote Learning – Rhyme and Initial Sounds

May 14, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Developing your child’s phonological awareness allows them to recognise and use the sounds of spoken language, building an understanding of how they work together to make words.

Rhyming is a helpful place you can start with your child. Rhyme is a sequence of words where there is a regular recurrence of similar sounds found at the end of words – e.g. The cat sat on the mat.

Children will typically learn to recognise rhyming words first and then generate their own rhymes later.

There are lots of ways in which your child can play with rhyme using songs, stories and games. We have given some suggestions but you might have your own favourites. See if your child can hear and match the rhyming words as they play!

Songs

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Hickory Dickory Dock

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Once I Caught A Fish Alive

5 Little Ducks

Sing a Song of Sixpence

Stories

The Gruffalo

Chocolate Mousse for Greedy Goose

Fox’s Socks

Each Peach Pear Plum

Hairy Maclary

If you don’t have your own copy of a rhyming story, you can go online where you will be able to find read along stories on YouTube, BookTrust (https://www.booktrust.org.uk/), or on an author’s own website.

Games

Rhyming Basket

Gather together objects from your house in a basket, ensuring that each object has another object that rhymes with it i.e. your child’s toy bear and a pear from your fruit bowl (it is usually easiest to use your child’s toys, alongside some household objects)

Demonstrate rhyme to your child by matching the rhyming objects. Repeat this activity on more than one occasion.

If you child has an awareness of rhyme, take it a stage further by singing this song to introduce the game and see if you child can pick out objects from the basket that rhyme.

A tisket, a tasket, Here is the rhyming basket.

Rhyming words end the same, Let’s play the rhyming game.

Generating Rhyme

If your child is showing signs that they are trying to generate rhyme by changing the sounds of a word to make another word that rhymes, you can introduce a game to encourage them.

Sing this rhyme to your child:

Hickety, pickety bumble bee, can you think of words that rhyme with CAR for me?

You may want to give them an example i.e. STAR

Initial Sounds are another important part of your child’s phonological awareness. They can help your child associate sounds with letters and words which they form.

There are lots of fun songs and games you can play with your child to support their understanding.

Try to remember to say the sound the letter makes, not confuse it by saying the name of the letter instead. You can say this is the letter S and it makes the /s/ sound.

If you are unsure of how to say the letter sound correctly, you can refer to the Jolly Phonics website where it gives you can example to listen to – https://www.jollylearning.co.uk/resource-bank-old/learn-the-letter-sounds/

Song

What’s the sound that starts these words?(tune of Old MacDonald had a Farm)

What’s the song that starts these words? Star, Sun and Snake.

(wait for a response)

/s/ is the sound that starts these words, Star, Sun and Snake.

With a /s/ here and a /s/ there, Here a /s/, there a /s/ everywhere a /s/.

/s/ is the sound that starts these words, Star, Sun and Snake.

Games

Your Child’s Initial Sound / Alliteration

Develop your child’s awareness of the initial sound in their own name by saying “Your name begins with the /s/ sound and sun begins with the /s/. Can you think of another word that begins with the /s/ sound? Your child might need a clue i.e. something you wear on your feet (socks)

You can also introduce alliteration, which is when you have words with the same initial sound closely connected. You child will love it if you include their name i.e. Jumping Jack, Amazing Andrew

I Spy

I spy with my little eye something that begins with.…

Your child tries to guess the object that starts with that sound.

Initial Sound Clap

In this game you would ask your child to clap when they hear a word with a different initial sound

i.e. star, sun, snake, small, train, sit

Demonstrate first what you are asking your child to do.

You would clap on train as it has a different initial sound

Now give your child another set of words for them to try

Hope you have lots of fun trying out these ideas. Please remember to share your child’s learning by tweeting @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

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Remote Learning – Independent Play

May 13, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

While we always recognise the importance of parent-child interactions and playing together there are also many benefits to independent play. This can provide opportunity for children to problem-solve, experiment, use their initiative and develop their perseverance and independence. As parents right now you may be juggling working from home, helping other children with school work and other challenging situations. This blog has some suggestions of experiences where once set up, children will have the opportunity to play independently or with siblings.

Provocations are “invitations to play”. Setting up children’s toys a little differently might invite new found enthusiasm for old toys and encourage children to use them in new and inventive ways.

Playdough

Playdough takes around 10 minutes to make and can keep for weeks in an air-tight container. Playing with dough or clay develops children’s fine motor skills, sensory awareness, language skills, numeracy skills and imagination.

Quick Uncooked Playdough Recipe:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/playdough-recipe

Cooked Playdough Recipe (this is a slightly more complicated but keeps for longer):

https://www.thebestideasforkids.com/playdough-recipe/

There are many different things you could put out to use with playdough – rollers, cutters, safety knives, safety scissors, potato mashers, cake tins, bowls, jars, cupcake cases, candles, straws, stampers, pipe cleaners, matchsticks, lollipop sticks, leaves, flowers, sticks, stones…

Den Building

Den building helps to develop children problem-solving skills, motor skills, imagination and communication skills. It is a wonderful learning experience and so much fun to play in once constructed! To build a den you could use sheets, blankets, tables, chairs, sofas, pillows, clothes pegs, cardboard boxes. Once the den is built children could take in soft toys, dolls, books, puzzles, drawing materials, torches, a picnic…

Small World Play

Small world play develops imagination, creativity, language skills and problem-solving skills. Combine a selection of resources to create an exciting new world to explore. You could use cars, trains, toy people, animals, dinosaurs, fabric, scarves, cardboard boxes, masking tape, cardboard tubes…

Dressing Up Box

Role-play helps children to make sense of real-life situations, express their ideas and imagination and develop their language skills. The imagination of children can turn anything into a wonderful new costume. To create a dressing up box you could use hats, scarves, bangles, bags, shoes, mirrors…

Creation Station

This will develop children’s creativity, fine motor skills and literacy skills. You could use different colours and sizes of paper, old wallpaper, dry erase board, chalk board, old magazines to cut out, notebooks, post-it notes, felt tip pens, colouring pencils, crayons, junk modelling materials, glue, masking tape….

Mrs Ross created all of these provocations from things she found at home, each took no longer than 5 minutes to set up. Of course, this will take a bit more time if you are able to do together with your child but this will allow them to share their ideas with you and follow their interests. Remember they may have a different vision from you so follow their lead! We hope these give you some ideas for fun you can have both together and for your child to explore independently. Please share your ideas with your child’s friends by Tweeting @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

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Remote Learning – Let’s Get Ready to Write…

May 12, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Did you know that writing is not a fundamental skill our bodies are designed for?

So in order for us to support and enable children to become successful writers, we must first understand the physical and dexterity skills.

There are many different ways this can be done at home… and they don’t always involve a pencil and paper!

Upper body/ large motor skill activities

● Sweeping races; grab a large brush and some foam and head outside. Who will be the fastest?
● Wash outdoor walls with soapy bubbles… How high can you reach on the wall?
● Paint with a mop: can you mix the colours? What patterns can you make?
● Get green fingered; dig in the soil, plant seeds and flowers, dig up the weeds.

All of these activities will help develop your child’s shoulder pivot- the full range of motion using their whole arm, and their elbow pivot- where they can be seen ‘sawing’ back and forth as they draw and write.

Smaller/ fine motor skill activities

Let’s Get Foamy!

Use shaving foam to make scribbles, pictures, letters and more. Why not try using different utensils like spoons, forks, sticks, straws or paint brushes.

By using fingers and different utensils, the small muscles in the wrist and hands are strengthening.

Playdough Party

You will need: dough (2 cups flour, 1 cup water, 1/4 cup oil, colour/scent), space to move around and music!

Moves can include: make a ball, pass and press (move the dough from hand to hand, pressing it flat) and funky fingers (use each individual finger to create a dotty pattern)

Why not challenge yourself and see how many shapes you can make before the music stops?

For more Dough Disco ideas visit YouTube here.

Other fun activities to try

Mark making in gloop, rice or paint – time yourself to see what you can create in 1 minute.
Create threading skewers with spaghetti and penne pasta
Make some chalk paint and decorate the patio/driveway/garden walls – here’s a recipe to try.
Create a cutting station
Make painted toast! – Mix a few drops of food colouring with milk and then paint some patterns onto white bread. Toast as normal!

Let us see what you can do – Tweet us @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

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Remote Learning – Transient Art

May 11, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Mrs Wilson has been busy finding loose parts at home to create some transient art. Transient art is a term used to describe art that is non-permanent and continually evolving, where a variety of materials are used to create pictures, patterns or models.

The non-permanent nature of this art means that children can move, change and experiment with the materials used until they are happy with what they have achieved. As well as developing their fine motor skills children also grow in confidence at making decisions as they design and redesign their ideas.

Working on transient art projects is a fun way to develop creativity and encourages children to explore materials and develop an understanding of their senses.

The loose parts used provide an ideal opportunity to talk about texture, colour and size. Using loose parts also develops skills in numeracy and mathematics such as sorting, matching, counting, pattern making, exploring shapes and learning about symmetry.

Ideas for loose parts to use at home (although the list is endless).

Beads Buttons Sequins Bottle lids Corks Lollipop sticks Coins Feathers Spoons Colouring pens Cotton reels Clothes pegs Paper clips Curtain rings

Natural materials are ideal to use if creating an outdoors transient art project.

Stones Sticks Twigs Pine cones Shells Leaves Flower petals

Transient art projects to try at home

Draw a straight, zigzag, or spiral line for your child to make a pattern on.
Use a picture frame to design a picture in.
Create a picture on or in front of a mirror.
Fill a shallow tray with water and use that to make a design in.
Challenge your child to create a symmetrical picture.
Use the loose parts to ‘write’ your name.

Before you tidy away your loose parts you could take a picture of your transient art and send a tweet to @Glenwood FC #Glenwoodlearningathome

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Remote Learning – More PE at Home

May 6, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Exercise keeps us healthy and taking part in fun games can improve our coordination and movement skills. Here are some more fun ideas for keeping active…

Animal Actions

Pretend to be different animals. Can you….

Jump like a frog

Prowl like a tiger (crawl on hands and knees)

Walk like a bear (crawl with your hands and feet on the floor)

Bounce like a Kangaroo

Balance like a flamingo

Slither like a snake

Gallop like a horse

Walk tall like a giraffe

Stomp like an elephant

Walk sideways like a crab

Flap your wings like a bird

Obstacle Course

Can you build an indoor obstacle course? Don’t forget that building and tidying up the course is also part of your exercise! Here are some ideas to get you started but we’re sure you can use your imagination to think of more!

Something to crawl under – a tunnel, a row of chairs, a cardboard box.
Something to balance on – a plank of wood, a line of masking tape
Something to throw – A ball, a teddy bear, rolled up socks
Something to throw into – a bucket, a basin, a toy box
Something to balance on your head – a bean bag, a teddy bear, a cushion
Something to jump over – a rope, a cushion, a teddy bear
Something to dribble a ball around – cushions, chairs, teddy bears

Mrs McGrory has put together some other ideas of games you can play with your family in this Sway.

Fun ways to exercise

During our gym sessions we like to do a warm-up game called the bean game. To play this game you have to run around until someone calls out one of the types of bean. There are many differen…

Go to this Sway

Remember to share some of your pictures with us on Twitter @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

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Remote Learning – Upcycling Challenge: Create Your Own Game

May 5, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Mrs Silvester has set you a challenge! Can you create your own dice game at home?

Remember to share your ideas by tweeting @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

Here are a few ideas to get you started…

The lids from milk jugs have been used to make these little Plastic Lid Ladybirds for a number dice game. To make the ladybird draw or use some button type eyes and pen dots on your lids. To Play the game, roll the dice and match the spots or numbers on the ladybird number lids to the dice.

What are dice good for?

Dice are great for introducing turn taking and encouraging early maths skills such as: counting, matching, comparing and number recognition.

Find some more number games on the CBeebies website by clicking the link below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/joinin/numberblocks-help-your-child-with-maths

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Remote Learning – Block Play

May 4, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

When playing with blocks children are using a number of different skills. These include measuring, counting, teamwork, talking to each other, problem solving and many more.

In Glenwood we have recently started using the 7 stages of block play. We use the stages to determine what stage of development the children are at when using blocks. Our blocks are different shapes and sizes.

The Seven Stages of Block Play

Stage 1: The blocks are carried around but not used for building.

Stage 2: Blocks are placed on the floor horizontally or vertically (stacking).

Stage 3: Blocks are used to bridge the space between other blocks.

Stage 4: Blocks are used to enclose a space.

Stage 5: Complex structure: blocks are placed in patterns or symmetrically when building. Block accessories may be incorporated. Buildings are not generally named.

Stage 6: Block buildings are given names that relate to the function of the building.

Stage 7: Block buildings often reproduce actual structures known by the children. There is a strong impulse for dramatic play around the structure.

Blockplay is unique!

Blockplay is sustainable!

Blockplay is accessible!

Blockplay doesn’t require spoken language!

Do you have any blocks at home?

Remember you can share your building with us on Twitter @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

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Remote Learning – Rainbow Science

May 1, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Have you enjoyed looking at all the rainbows in the windows near where you live?

Did you know that real rainbows are a trick of the light? The white light of the sun is split up into a whole spectrum of colours by the water in the raindrops.

Have a go at making your own rainbow – you will need: a small glass of water, some white paper and a sunny day.

Then hold your glass above the paper – you may need to move it about until you can see a rainbow.

Can you see all the different colours?

How about making a rainbow you can keep using a scientific technique called chromatography?

You will need: kitchen towel, felt tip pens, scissors, paper clips, string, water.

First cut out a rainbow shape and use the felt tips to colour the ends. Mrs Husbands used the colours of the spectrum – red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

Use the string and paper clips to hang your rainbow so that it just touches the water.

Watch what happens next…

Can you get your rainbow all the way to the top?

Remember to Tweet your rainbows @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

Here are some of the rainbows that the adults from Glenwood have put in their windows…

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Remote Learning – Eco Schools at Home

April 30, 2020 Miss Cunningham Leave a comment

This year at Glenwood we have been investigating and exploring the environmental impact of litter. The children enjoyed many different activities including the story of Zack’s Journey (You can read it by clicking this link), mapping out how the litter travels from our local area to the wider environment and measuring the amount of single use plastic in lunch boxes.

These are all things that you can continue to learn about at home. Eco-Schools Scotland shares some ideas on their website including:

One Planet Picnic – Have a picnic that’s good for you and good for the planet. Include healthy sustainable food with as little waste as possible.

Pop Up Pocket Garden – Design and grow a small garden at home in pots or outside. Celebrate Keep Scotland Beautiful’s birthday or the Year of Coasts and Waters with colourful and edible plants.

Fight Dog Fouling With Citizen Science – Have you noticed more dog fouling in your neighbourhood? We have! While out on your daily walk, can you help us with our survey work?
Count the number of bagged or unbagged dog poos you see (and why not take a photo?), post results on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram with #PooPost or #TurdTag and remember to always pick up after your own dog

Some ideas we do at nursery:

Help sort the recycling
Make a picture using recycled materials.
Encourage others to turn off taps
Do something that doesn’t require electricity (Try a screen free day)
Decorate used items such as tins/cartons/bottles to create a plant pot
Plant Seeds / Look after plants in your garden
Create a rain gauge
‘Junk mail crafts’ – Use scrap pieces of paper, used envelopes or cards
Make a bird feeder or do some birdwatching
Make a boat/car/robot from recycling (How creative can you be?)

Remember to share your photos with us on Twitter by tagging @GlenwoodFC or by adding #glenwoodlearningathome

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Remote Learning – Mazes and Maps

April 29, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Using mazes and maps in play are fantastic ways for your child to learn and develop new numeracy and mathematics skills as they problem solve.

There are lots of inspiring and creative ways you and your child can make your maze from using tape, a straw and a pom pom to building one from lego.

Encouraging your child to lead you through a maze helps build their confidence in giving instructions using simple directions such as forward, backward, left and right.

Another way is for your child to describe which direction they are going to take as they navigate themselves or an object through a maze.

Using a blindfold adds an extra challenge as your child develops their listening skills and ability to follow your instructions.

You can also make your maze more competitive by timing who can navigate around it the quickest. This helps your child learn more about time and gives them an opportunity to explore ways of recording how long it took.

Creating and following a map can support your child in understanding and using symbols for directions, as they process how to route their way from A to B in play. Why not take inspiration from a much loved children’s story or make your own map to go on a treasure hunt!!

Remember to share your child’s learning by tweeting @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

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Remote Learning – PE at home

April 28, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

At Glenwood we know how important it is to be active to keep our bodies healthy. There are lots of ways you can do this at home, here are some ideas you can try with items you may have in your house! You will be learning how to control your body, how to move at different speeds, how to follow instructions and how to share and take turns.

We will post some more fun ways of being active next week so if you have any ideas to share with your friends please email or Tweet @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

Balloon Games

Keepy-uppies – How many times can you hit your balloon up high before it touches the ground? Can you hit the balloon with your hand, foot, elbow, knee, head, nose?
Tennis – Hit the ball back and forward across a line on the floor, string tied between two chairs or a sofa.
Waddle Walk – Put the balloon between your knees and see if you can walk to the other side of the room without it falling out!
Egg and Spoon Race – Can you walk with your balloon balanced on a large kitchen spoon?
Balloon Blowing – Lie on your tummy, can you army crawl and blow your balloon to the other side of the room? If that’s too easy you can add obstacles to go around!
Balloon Balance – Lie on your back with your feet in the air, can you balance the balloon on your feet?

Paper Fun

You will need a sheet of newspaper or a large piece of paper.

Lie the paper flat on the floor and lie on your tummy, can you blow it across the room?
Can you scrumple up the paper as small as you can? Squeeze it really tightly into your hand.
Can you throw the ball of paper into a bucket?
Carefully open your piece of paper up wide again, lie it flat on the floor and gently smooth out all the creases.
Put your piece of paper on your tummy. Can you run across the room and keep it on your tummy without holding on?

Ball Games

How many different balls can you find in your house? Try these out with balls of different sizes!

Throwing and catching

Throw the ball above your head and try to catch it.
Throw the ball to your adult/sibling and try to catch it. How many times can you catch it before it touches the floor?
Throw the ball into a bucket or washing basket
Throw the ball at a target

Kicking

Football – kick the ball into the goal
Dribble the ball around obstacles

Bouncing

Bounce the ball and try to catch it.
Chalk or tape shapes on the ground and try to bounce the ball on top of them.

Rolling

Sit with your legs stretched wide and roll the ball back and forward to each other.
Stand up with your legs wide apart, try to roll the ball through each other’s legs.
Cut a large hole in a cardboard box and try to roll balls inside.
Reuse some plastic bottles to play skittles.

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Remote Learning – Emotional Intelligence

April 27, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

We all experience different emotions and how we deal with them is important for our mental health and wellbeing. At Glenwood we help children to recognise their own emotions and those of others, suggesting ways of coping with them as we play together.

Mrs McGregor has created a Sway with some ideas of how you can help your child develop their emotional intelligence.

Emotional Intelligence

Like the weather children’s emotions can change throughout the day; from feeling sunny, to stormy, to teary, to unsettled and back again. You could say it’s a rainbow of emotions 😊😁😐😧��…

Go to this Sway

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Remote Learning – Ideas for Using Chalk

April 24, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Children enjoy using chalk outside and can use it in a variety of different activities, developing many different skills.

For many children it may be one of their first experiences of mark making, allowing them to freely explore and encouraging their wonderful imagination. This will help to develop their fine motor skills which will strengthen their pincer grip essential movements for controlling and holding any writing implement.

Games such as hopscotch can help our physical well being, encouraging the development of our large motor skills, through hopping, jumping and balancing. Using numbers or letters can also help with numeracy & literacy skills.

Number Circles

Other great chalk ideas that would help to further develop numeracy skills could be, number circles having to count and place the correct amount of marbles or counters into the correct numbered circle.

Sequencing

Developing the ability to recognise the pattern and follow it on by drawing the correct missing shape or saying the shapes name. Encourages shape recognition and problem solving.

More games

To develop colour, shape and number recognition, could be drawing the different shapes with different coloured chalks, writing a number in the middle then asking for the correct number and colour of marbles or counters to be placed in the named shape.

The freedom to explore different activities when using chalk will encourage more creativity, confidence and curiosity. You can help develop this by offering different learning experiences and ways to use chalk. Writing up picture idea cards might help encourage someone who is struggling to think of just what to draw.

Also by grating chalk into a fine powder and mixing it with water turning it into a paint, using a paint brush to paint with or adding it into a spray bottle will allow for different effects. Also mixing the chalk dust with shaving foam and placing into a squeeze bottle will create different textures foam paints which children love!

Don’t worry if you don’t have any chalk – you can make your own paint using cornflour, water and food colouring. Watch this video to find out how… Make your own chalk paint

Remember to Tweet @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

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Remote Learning – Yoga

April 23, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

During our weekly yoga sessions we learnt lots of different poses – do you remember them all.

The candle The downward dogThe snake

The Shavasana

Mrs Russell hopes you have been practising and has made a short video to remind you of them all.

You could also have a look at Cosmic Kids Yoga for more exercises.

Remember to share with us @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

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Remote Learning – Shadow Puppets

April 22, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Puppets can make a book come to life. They are also a great tool for teaching rhyme in early literacy development. Acting out a story with puppets captures children’s attention to help them focus on the story. Children can invent and perform their own plays giving the puppet a character voice. It can talk or sing high, sing low, sing loud, sing soft. Get your puppet helper to lead the singing with a favourite song or rhyme.

Mrs Silvester has been having fun at home making shadow puppets and putting on a shadow puppet play.

She used a piece of paper to create shadows with her phone’s flashlight.