All posts by Mrs Muslek

We have been learning………..

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In the playroom this week the children have been experimenting with writing for a purpose through creating their very own fruit and vegetable shop where they have been writing the signs, making shopping lists and sharing ideas.

Letters in the play dough have given the children the opportunity to find out what letters are in their name and are beginning to develop an understanding that letters when put together make words.

A popular addition to the playroom has been the remote control cars which has provided the children with the challenge of waiting for their turn and negotiating with one another as they make their way around the track.

Wellbeing Wednesday has been greatly welcomed with SID and SHANARRI becoming integral part of the children’s learning, many of whom have suggested that it is those stories which they want to hear more of.

Outdoor learning opportunities are always in great demand, with many of the children demonstrating their independence skills whilst getting ready by putting on their waterproof trousers, changing their shoes and finding the correct size of wellington boots…….although we don’t always have hats and gloves to suit all tastes, so maybe pop a spare set into their nursery bags.

We have been learning so much

The children have been using their own criteria to develop their early numeracy skills, understanding that the last number they say is the amount they have.  We have also observed a few of the children making simple calculations through early addition and subtraction, this has led to a small group of learners working together twice a week who have called themselves the “Number  Bunch”.

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Pattern making was popular during the Burns day celebrations whereby the children chose their own clan tartan to follow the pattern using paint.

Creating their own stories, the children, through the use of puppets, role play and drawings have been able to recreate their own “Once upon a time…..”  as they bring National Storytelling week to like.

The Wellbeing Wood with Sid and Shanarri has enabled the children to talk about what they need from significant others as they grow and develop.

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Tattie, leek and carrot soup was a firm favourite with almost all the children who were desperate to count out how many carrots, how many onions and how many tatties they need as they put their culinary skills to the test.  The children were also learning how to be safe in the kitchen, around the cooker and whilst using knives and graters.

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Play on Pedals is continuing to be popular choice of learning outdoors.  This is an excellent programme whereby the children are developing their literacy, numeracy, balance and coordination skills.

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Celebration of learning with our families at Shotts Nature Park

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A big thank you to all the parents and carers who joined us in celebration of our achievements over the last 10 weeks. The children were really proud and responsibly led the way to learning circle where they completed their tasks together by finishing the guardian of the forest.

Many thanks  to Shirley and her team for making the learning opportunities exciting and for introducing us to Elaine and our buddies from Calderhead High School whom we hope to keep a partnership with.

We hope that many of our families will continue to learn outdoors with their children.

More information on future Forest School sessions will be shared at our “Have your say” consultations in January 2017.

Calderhead High School and Shotts Family Learning Centre Collaborative

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The  Christmas party was the perfect end to our  nature park adventure. Our buddies had worked really hard to provide us with an amazing party. We played a few party games, had some food and Santa paid us a little visit too.

All the children will miss their buddies kindness, enthusiasm and friendship. We have been so fortunate that these young adults have been part of out learning journey.  Thanks Calderhead High School!!!!

Forest School

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The Guardians of the Forest are beginning to take shape as we added the finishing touches to them by adding colourful paint.

The weather had made the forest look a little different which left us lots to explore the most exciting was a huge big puddle which we worked out was very deep as the water went over the top of our wellies and soaked our toes.

We spent some time helping our high school buddies risk assess the forest by talking about the possible dangers we could see around us and what we could do to stay safe in the forest.

Snack around the fire today was yummy scrummy hotdogs  cooked on an open fire with most children having two and three to warm up their tummies.

Forest School

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Today we spent some time using glue, feathers, wool and string to finish off decorating our guardian of the forest masks which will be placed high up in the trees around the learning circle. We had some unexpected visitors from the local primary school who popped along to say hello as they are planning to join us for the last few weeks of the project.

We had fantastic fun with our CalderHead high school buddies as we “wool bombed” the trees together making some lovely colourful patterns amongst the trees.

On the way back to nursery we noticed some changes in the forest floor and spent some time investigating and as you can see from the photos there were lots of laughter and smiles which made the long walk home more fun.

Forest School session

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Today the children used their imaginations to begin to create their guardian of the forest mask, working alongside their high school buddies they gathered natural resources from the forest to create a giant head on the forest floor.

We finished off the session using the kelly kettle to make some delicious hot chocolate  – making some for our buddies too.

It was lovely to have a little visit from the local police officers Michael and James who popped down to see what we were doing and say hello. Kindly we shared our snack with Michael and invited him to visit the nursery after the October break.

Forest School session week 3

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All children were excited about having the new responsibility of packing their own bag, with a drink, hot or cold and a small snack which they were able to enjoy in the forest. Their feet were all lovely and cosy with the new wellie socks which they had chosen.

This week we made some lovely prints on canvas using stampers. The children then shared this with their buddies from Calderhead High School helping them to create their own.   The guardian of the forest is beginning to be created.

After all that hard work we very safely built a fire to toast our marshmallows, although the suggestion for next time is to roast ‘sausages’.

I am sure that there is no doubt that there are some tired little cherubs on a Thursday after the Forest School session.

We hope that everyone remembers next week what to bring with them, so here is a little reminder:

  • Drink in their thermos flask, this can be hot or cold, or perhaps even some soup
  • Wellie socks
  • Snack

 

Learning Together at the Forest School Sessions

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Children at the Forest School sessions worked really hard with clay to create some guardians of the forest on the tree trunks. Using their imagination and creativity they created some interesting faces and animals then very proudly showed theses off to their Calderhead High School buddies each creating a story to go along with the character they had created .

The walk back to nursery gave us some great opportunities to learn more about the forest through splashing in the puddles, looking in the long grass and climbing on Humpty Dumpty’s wall where we were delighted when  found a few wee creatures to investigate.

the great outdoors

Children in the birth to three nursery have been keen to take their learning outdoors. They have been learning to wait and turn take on the slide,  experiment with weight, measure and number in the mud kitchen and water zone, along with practicing and enhancing their movements using the balance bikes and through climbing up over and under benches, train and bushes. They all have been keeping themselves really busy.

 

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We would also like to say a huge big welcome to the new children who are now part of our nursery family – hope you all  have as much fun at nursery as we do.