Tag Archives: literacy

Exploring Mark Making

September 18, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Over the past few weeks at nursery, the children have been exploring different ways of mark making both indoors and outside.

Here are just a few photographs of what we have been doing…

…working together on a large piece of paper.

Whiteboards are a favourite…

Writing in salt…

Gloop is always popular!

Mixing our own colours of paint…

We love painting on a large scale (although it can get messy!)

Making paint from things we find outdoors…

Crayon rubbings and chalk outside too.

How do you like to make marks, draw and write? Why not share with us on Twitter @GlenwoodFC or in your Google Classroom.

Uncategorized

Remote Learning – Musicality

June 10, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Children naturally enjoy music, and want to move, dance, vocalise and create sounds in whichever way they can to reflect their mood.

There are different aspects of musicality that you can explore with your child:

Movement

When children take part in music and movement activities, they can release lots of energy as they have fun being creative and dancing around. It also helps children to develop their gross and fine motor skills, express their emotions, learn how to share space, and improve their balance and co-ordination as they explore moving their body.

Great songs to try are Shake your sillies out and I can move my body like anything or you could play a game like musical statues.

Play Sounds

When children make sounds through play, they are developing early instrumental skills. They are first learning what the object is and then what they can do with it. As children experiment, they are building an understanding of how best to make the sound i.e shake maracas, use a beater to play a triangle, scrape or beat a woodblock, tap or bang drums with their hands.

Encouraging your child to explore what they can do with instruments is so beneficial for their development. It builds fine and gross motor skills, supports sensory development, enhances hand-eye co-ordination and helps your child to develop patience and perseverance.

You may have some instruments at home already or you could make your own such as lollipop stick harmonicas or straw pan flutes. We also included ideas in the home learning booklet in your family fun bag.

Listen

Listening is not just about hearing, it is also about being able to tune-in to sounds in the environment and sounds that are spoken. It can be described as an active process where we make sense and respond to what we hear. As children develop their listening skills, they are learning to take in information, respond to instructions and share ideas and thoughts.

You could try playing some listening games with your child, such as Simon Says, or online from the BBC website – https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/eyfs-listening-skills/zbc4y9q

Create

Having the opportunity to be creative with music enables children to think about how sounds are made and how they can put these sounds together to compose their own rhythms. Children need to be able to try out their own ideas and express themselves to nurture this creative process.

Here are some ideas to encourage your child:

Chrome Music Lab – Song Maker

Body rhythm using syllables: Start by thinking of 2 items that you want to use, for example apple and banana

Choose which body parts you want to use to beat out the syllables, you might clap hands twice for a-pple or stamp three times for ba-na-na

Put this rhythm together and then repeat: CLAP, CLAP, STAMP, STAMP, STAMP, CLAP, CLAP, STAMP, STAMP, STAMP

Say the syllables as you do the body rhythm: a-pple, ba-na-na, a-pple, ba-na-na

Sing

Singing with your child helps promote their language and literacy development. Songs can be very motivating for children, using simple, repetitive language to encourage engagement as they learn new things such as phonological awareness and vocabulary. Children’s songs also include concepts such as counting, body parts recognition, animals and following directions, and these really help your child to understand experiences, words, emotions, and much more.

Spend some time singing with your child everyday. Here are some song suggestions and ways that you can integrate activities to enhance the experience for your child:

Favourites: Incy Wincy Spider; Wheels on the Bus; Row, Row, Row your Boat

Body parts: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes; If You’re Happy and You Know It; Tommy Thumb

Animals: Old McDonald; I Went to Visit a Zoo One Day; There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly

Counting: 5 Little Monkeys; Once I Caught a Fish Alive; 5 Little Speckled Frogs

Other Ideas

Try pausing before the last word in a line and see if your child finishes it. This is building skills such as attention, memory, language and rhyming.
Add extra verses or change some of the details in the song. This encourages your child to be creative and flexible, whilst supporting vocabulary development.
Make a mistake whilst singing and see if your child notices and can fix it. This helps improve attention and listening skills.
Adapt a song to include holiday and seasonal topics, for example Santa on the Sleigh Goes Ho, Ho, Ho.
Make up your own songs to develop your child’s understanding and motor movements.

Remember to share your ideas in your Google Classroom or on Twitter @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

Uncategorized

Remote Learning – Hanen: An approach to developing literacy skills

June 3, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

At Glenwood we use Hanen’s ABC and Beyond approach to develop early literacy skills.

The programme has six main aspects:

Turn a book into a conversation
Make words sparkle
Expand children’s understanding of the characters and events in stories
Use language to think and learn
Development of print knowledge
Phonological awareness

For more information on activities you can use at home with your child, please read our Sway.

Go to this Sway

Why don’t you let us know which words you have made sparkle or which stories you have retold together?

@GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

Uncategorized

Remote Learning – Small Worlds

May 27, 2020 Mrs Husbands Leave a comment

Where children can allow their imagination to run wild and create an imaginary world out of any everyday objects lying inside the house – like buttons, corks, scarfs, lentils, pasta, cotton wool, boxes and plastic containers from the recycling. What about collecting things from outdoors too – from the garden or when out on a walk like twigs and stones to help you to create wonderful small worlds for your favourite toys to explore!

Small world play is when children use figures and resources in miniature to build stories and play imaginatively. Your small world play could represent a real-life place, like a farm, or it might be a completely imaginary world. The key is that they’re often an outlet for imaginative or pretend play, where children can do everything from acting out routines or recalling past events, to creating their own unique stories.

Mrs Cramb decided to create a small world by recycling a pizza box as a base: painting it and adding some small stones, branches, twigs, leaves and lentils. She then added some dinosaurs to create a Jurassic world!

Her small world was a great place for her wild animals too.

Creating small worlds helps development of imagination, language & curiosity – what do the animals eat? what environment do they live in? what do they look like?

What skills are being learned through small world play?

It helps children to explore and understand the world around them.
It’s a safe place to explore ideas and develop their imagination.
More pretend play in childhood has even been linked to successful adult creatives.
Children can build self-confidence by exploring their own ideas.
It promotes narrative in play, helping children to become storytellers.
It’s often cooperative and teaches children social skills.
It’s great for fine motor control.
Children can explore their understanding of space and size.
They build an awareness of other people’s emotions by exploring a world in someone else’s shoes.
They can also explore their own emotions through the container of a character they’ve made up.
They can explore cause and effect.
It provides opportunities for problem-solving.
It aids language development, by getting children talking descriptively, and exploring a wider vocabulary.

There are so many benefits to creating and exploring small worlds – so why not join in and allow your child to take the lead, while you support them in creating a wonderful world to explore.

Remember to share your creations with us on Twitter @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome

Uncategorized

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

Uncategorized

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

Uncategorized

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

Uncategorized

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

Uncategorized

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

Uncategorized

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

Uncategorized

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.