This week, we have been continuing to think about our feelings and read another Tom Percival story; Tilda Tries Again. This story helped us to think about how we might feel and what to do when things feel difficult and you can revisit it here:

We also talked about how important it is to think about other peoples’ feelings and not just our own. It is not always easy to know what someone else is feeling and we may have to look carefully for clues such as facial expressions or body language (for example, what does it mean if someone has their hands over their ears?).

We read the story of Be Gentle by Virginia L. Miller and looked very closely for clues that showed us how the little black kitten felt. There does not seem to be a video of this story on youtube but it is one of the stories I recorded for our storytime blog (please scroll down to the Jan 15, 2021 post).

https://app.seesaw.me/blog/nurserystorytime

We have also been working hard in our maths lessons to practise our subitising skills. This is when you look at a group of objects and say how many there are without counting. This is a very useful mathematical skill and it helps us to begin to understand how numbers are made up. If you would like to know more about subitising, please have a look here – please note, you do not need to download this app – I just thought the explanation of subitising was useful!

We hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

Welcome to the very first blog post of the new school year. The aim of the blog is to keep you up-to-date with all the exciting learning that takes place in our Reception class each week. Do check the blog regularly to find out which Spotlight Stories we have been reading, which letter sounds we have learnt and which maths concepts we have mastered!

We have been so impressed with how well the children have settled into their new classroom. In particular, they have been getting used to using their listening skills when on sitting on the carpet. To help us think about our listening skills, our Spotlight Stories have included the wonderful ‘What the Ladybird Heard’ series by Julia Donaldson. There are four books in the series and, of course, we had to read each one!

You can revisit the stories in these youtube clips:

And we read several of the Tom Percival stories which deal with a range of emotions. I would highly recommend this series. We read Ruby’s Worry, Ravi’s Roar and Milo’s Monster which deal with worries, anger and jealously respectively. You can re-read these in the videos below. We also read a lovely new one called ‘The River’, also by Tom Percival, which uses the changing flow of a river as a metaphor for our changing emotions. I couldn’t find a video of this book, but here is a picture of the front cover:

We hope everyone is having a lovely weekend, see you on Monday!