It was another fun filled week at our Family Learning Club. We were thrilled to see so many of you back and to have new faces join us. Your willingness to give everything a go and enthusiasm for the activities really gave a buzz to the whole event. Our aim for this session was to provide ideas for fun ways you can spend time as a family that will also help to develop your children’s literacy and numeracy skills. We hope you’re using your book bug and read, write, count bags regularly and having a go at some of the activities at home. I am currently planning for next week’s session using your feedback and feedback from the children. There will be a lot of new things going on as well as some of the firm favourites that you might not have experienced yet. Either way there should be enough to keep everyone entertained!
Primary 1
Primary one had another look at ‘One Button Benny’ and had a go at junk modelling their very own robot. I really enjoyed listening to them discuss what shapes they were using to make different parts of their robot and explaining what the functions of all the added gadgets and gizmos were. It was really encouraging to hear the wonderfully imaginative stories they were coming up with based on this crafting activity.
It was also great to watch them in action as mini- teachers, guiding their parents through the blending, matching, sorting and reading games that we had brought along from the classrooms to show off. They were great at explaining the rules and showing off what they’ve learned so far this year. I hope you have managed to take some ideas from these activities that you could use at home.
There was a lot of creativity and excellent role-play skills from the group that had read ‘I am Bat’. I loved seeing the effort and imagination you put into creating your bat masks but more than that I loved hearing the expression and body language used as you took turns of being Bat. Some of the ‘ferocious’ voices had me shaking! Acting a part and playing with the story should really help the children add expression to their own reading.
Primary 2
Primary two also had the opportunity for role-play this week as they crafted their own crocodile puppets. These were used to re-tell the story of ‘Open Carefully- a book with bite’. The children were great at following instructions and using the model to work out how to complete this paper craft activity. It was also a great way for them to explore a character and try out different voices and parts from the story. Again, opportunities to role-play a character can improve fluency and expression when learning to read.
Primary two also had the opportunity to join in with board games and card games. It was lovely to see the money cards from the read, write, count bags being used. Look out for lots more maths and numeracy activities coming in the following sessions. It was also great to hear the discussion happening around the rules and instructions between families. I am definitely inspired to spend some family time this weekend around the table chatting and playing games and I hope it’s something you are all looking forward to as well.
The much loved baking table was back and it looked like everyone was doing a good job of mixing icing, spreading jam and decorating biscuits. I’ve never seen such a variety of empire biscuits. I especially loved the ones that had been created to look like a character! It was great to see families working together to assemble the tools you needed, follow instructions and enjoy the end product. I’m sure there will be many opportunities at home to work together like this in the kitchen.
Primary 3
Primary three also had the opportunity to join in with board games and card games. I was impressed that everyone managed to keep their competitive spirit in check and take the losses with good grace. It’s very encouraging to see the children so engaged in such a traditional activity and using their problem solving skills to secure a win!
I was also delighted to see the amazement as children explored the Atlas, finding and sharing facts and working their way through the quiz. There is so much learning to be done from non-fiction texts like this. There are further ideas for activities using the Atlas on the Primary three reading key fobs as well as further questions to be answers.
It was Primary three’s turn for the play dough this week. The children crafted dragons after reading ‘There is no dragon in this book’. They discussed their models with their families and I was delighted to listen in as they gave detailed description of how/what/why they had made the choices they had. Some of them then went on to have a go at writing their very own dragon story.
We have two sessions left as part of this family learning club but there will be further opportunities to come in and participate in the life of the school next term. We are so grateful to everyone who has participated so far and we’re looking forward to seeing you again very soon!
