Wow it’s time for a new term and new school year already! Time to meet up with old friends and make new ones too.
We have spent the first full week at nursery settling into and learning/remembering, the nursery rules and routines as well as developing our skills and learning through our play.
Routines help us learn rules and help us listen for and follow instructions.
Each morning we hang up our coats and bags and find our water bottle tray. Throughout the day we learn about other rules of nursery, such as how to co-operate and communicate with our peers and teachers, mainly through play. Here are some ways we have been developing these skills this week.
Each day before lunch time we have a short tidy up session. It is important for us to learn how to tidy up and how to care for our nursery toys.
Our snack and lunch routine starts with washing our hands, waiting our turn, making choices and sharing space around the table. Hand washing routines are very important. At nursery we are encouraged and supported to wash our hands after outdoor play and after using the toilet, when we transition from messy activities and before we eat. We also develop our independence as we try to use cutlery and tidy away our dishes.
Our lunches follow guidelines provided by the Care Inspectorate. For children who eat packed lunches there is useful advice from the Care Inspectorate and Childsmile below.
Snack ideas for children (nhs.scot)
Setting the table (healthscotland.com) Please look at page 64.
Each day we listen to a story before lunch and on Thursdays attend BookBug in the library. These are wonderful opportunities for us to engage with stories, develop our listening skills and our imaginations. After story time we choose songs from a song board and all sing together. Singing and acting out nursery rhymes are important literacy skills.
At the end of the day we are encouraged to check that we have all our belongings, collect our water bottles and get our jackets and bags for home. Learning to think about what we need to bring home with us helps us to develop our working memory.
