Little Owls Class Blog

Welcome to the Little Owls Preschool Class Blog.

Week beginning 11th July

The children have had a hectic week this week. On Tuesday they took part in their own sports day & thankfully the weather was overcast so the conditions were perfect. Thank you to those parents who attended.

They have been doing lots of shape, space and measuring activities this week. They have been building houses for specific sized toys, making sure there was room for the toys to fit inside. The children have been making different sized dough balls to use with the balance scales to show which ones are lighter, heavier or the same. Also, they have been making their own patterns, describing them to others.

The children continue to do daily dough disco or funky finger activities to build strength in their hands to prepare them for writing. The children who are Reception in September continue to recognise letter sounds and play Fred games.

Week Beginning 4th July

This week started off a little differently. Monday and Tuesday were our transfer days and it was great to have all the preschool children in who are going to be Big Owls in September. We did some phonics and maths, the children did some name writing and all the children created a collage of themselves to go on display in September. The children also came into their first assembly with the rest of the school - I was very impressed with how well they sat and listened. They were also very excited to receive their book bags!

The children have also been practising ready for sports day on Tuesday and they can't wait to do this in front of parents.

In Maths the children have been doing lots of shape hunting and comparing.

Week Beginning 27th June

The children have enjoyed another busy week. On Tuesday they practised some races ready for sports day on 12th July. We have some very keen sports people!

In PSHE this week the children were thinking about growing and changing with plants and animals. They looked at some photographs of the playground in winter and compared it to how it is now. They then looked at all the different plants and flowers that have grown and afterwards planted some cress seeds.

In Maths, the children have been learning about the number 6. They have played lots of games and sung songs to help them order the numbers to 6 and begin to recognise them.

Week Beginning 20th June

Thank you to those parents who attended the New Reception information evening. The PowerPoint will be added to the website for further reference and if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to speak to me.

The most exciting news this week is that we now have, as of today, five froglets! I am not sure if it is the heat we have been having or not, but they have been changing literally over night! The children have been so excited and curious about them and spend lots of time just watching the tank.

The children have been learning to talk the story Take a Walk Little Bear and have really impressed me with their involvement. They also helped to create a large story map that they could walk along as they told the story.

Also this week, the children have been continuing their number journey, consolidating their knowledge of the numbers 1 to 4 and then looking at the number 5. They have been collecting groups of objects, hunting numbers in the environment and singing number songs.

Week beginning 13th June

What an interesting week we have had! When the children came into school on Monday, they realised something wasn't quite right. There were big, muddy paw prints everywhere and Something had eaten Miss Pettit's honey! After lots of discussion, everybody agreed that a bear must have been inside the classroom. The children looked at pictures of lots of different bears and painted a picture of the bear they believed ate all the honey.

On Wednesday, the children received a letter from Little Bear saying he was sorry that he ate all the honey. Little Bear invited the children to play Hide and Seek and find all the pictures of his bear friends. The children hunted outside and eventually found all the pictures. As a reward Little Bear left a new story for us to learn.

The children also helped to harvest the radishes they grew. They carefully dug them up and then washed them. Everyone tried a radish - they were quite peppery and not everyone liked them but they all tried!

Week beginning 6th June

It has been lovely to welcome everybody back to school after the half term holiday - I cannot believe we only have a few weeks left.

The children have been developing their counter balance skills in PE this week & learning how to work with a partner to do this.

In Maths, they have been sorting the numbers into groups showing 1, 2 and 3. Some of the older children are beginning to subitise small groups (saying how many there are without counting) which will really help when they start Reception in September.

They have been using the workbench this week to create their own funky finger boards. The children listened carefully to the safety instructions & remembered to wear the safety goggles.

Week beginning 23rd May

We have a week filled with Jubilee discussion and activities. All the children made their own crown ready for our street party on Thursday. We have looked at photographs of the Queen and talked about her life and her family. The children have also begun to learn part of the National Anthem. The street party was great fun and it was lovely to see the whole school together for this celebration.

I hope you all have a great half term and we look forward to seeing everybody on 6th June.

Week beginning 9th May

We have had a mixed bag of weather this week but we have still been outside as much as possible. The children were pleased to see their radish plants growing so they helped to plant them outside & they are enjoying keeping all the plants watered.

In Maths they have been doing lots of measuring using string, bricks, dominoes and even their hands and feet to compare the different sizes.

The children have been working on their control skills in PE, rolling balls around different parts of their body.

We have also been thinking about keeping our teeth healthy so the children have enjoyed using the tooth brushes & toothpaste.

Week beginning 2nd May

This week has flown by with it being a four day week. The children had an exciting letter from the zoo inviting them to choose an animal to look after! They thought very carefully about the animal they would like and painted some amazing pictures of them.

The older Little Owls have continued to learn some new letter sounds and they are remembering the ones from last week. In Maths all the children have continued to use shapes to create pictures and models.

Week beginning 25th April

We have had another busy week in school. The children have been learning about the four seasons and how trees change. They enjoyed going on a Spring hunt looking for the signs of Spring such as lambs, blossom and birds nests. The children have planted some seeds and painted some spring pictures.

The preschool children have learnt the sounds m, a, s & d.

In Maths the children have been looking at 2D shapes. They went on a shape hunt around the school to see how many different shapes they could find, the have been describing the features of shapes & also using shapes to make pictures & models.

Week beginning 18th April

It has been lovely to welcome everyone back after the Easter break & with glorious weather as well. The children quickly settled back into the routine & we have also welcomed some new children.

In Maths the children have been using stories to learn about sharing. They have been able to show their understanding using small parts.

The preschool children who start Reception in September have begun to learn the pictures for our letter sounds.

They have also learnt about St George's Day.

Week beginning 14th March

Last week we started to look at our new story all about the Sleepy Bumblebee. After learning how to use Beebot to follow a simple map, this inspired a further interest in maps which the children have been using in their play for the past couple of weeks. They have followed a map to find treasure and even enjoyed some mark making to draw their own treasure maps with X marking the spot! In PE the children have been working on their balancing skills using the equipment to provide more challenge.

Week beginning 28th February

What a jam-packed week we have had! The children were excited to celebrate Pancake Day on Tuesday. They made their own pancakes by following a recipe, weighing & adding the ingredients & mixing together. We made some extra pancakes so they could have pancake races just like they do in Olney!

We have also been celebrating World Book Day, all week! The children have enjoyed sharing books & listening to new stories as well as watching stories from the Share a Story section of the World Book Day website. We even received a signed copy of the book Marmalade by David Walliams.

On Wednesday we had our first Book & Biscuit session - it was great to invite parents & grandparents into school for this. Book & Biscuit will continue weekly, every Wednesday at 3.10pm.

On Thursday the children came to school in their snuggly pjs & shared their favourite books from home.

In Maths the children have been making & describing patterns. We have had some messy fun with creating splatter paintings just like Jackson Pollock.

Week beginning 21st February

It was great to see everybody back after the half term break. Little Owls have been using lots of positional language in Maths this week. To help with this they have been using an assault course outside, going over, under, through & around the obstacles. The children also looked at the story of Rosie's Walk & mapped Rosie's route on a large piece of paper.

In PE, the children amazed me with their balancing skills, walking in straight lines across different benches & beams.

In Art we have started to look at the paintings by the artist Jackson Pollock. The children then used string and lolly sticks to create their own line painting just like Jackson Pollock. It was very messy but lots of fun!

Week beginning 7th February

As this week is Mental Health Awareness week we have been engaging in some daily mindfulness activities to promote calmness & relaxation. Ask the children about Rainbow Relaxation & Bubble Bounce! We also looked at the story of The Colour Monster to help the children begin to recognise & talk about their feelings. The older children have a lolly stick which they can put into a feelings jar throughout the day.

The children have been really busy and engaged with lots of maths activities this week, using their growing knowledge of numbers in their play and exploration. They have enjoyed using the big magnets to search for treasure in the sandpit and count how many coins they have found. The children have also been using the tape measures to measure lots of different items with adult support. They have been playing lots of games of skittles & have been introduced to using tallies to record their scores.

Week beginning 31st January

We have had another busy week. Following on from our discussions about letters and postal workers, the children created their own postcards using Kandinsky's famous circles artwork. On Friday we all walked down to the post-box to post our cards - keep an eye on the post over the next few days! The children were very excited to go for a walk and we even saw the postal worker in his van who tooted his horn at us!

The children have also learnt a little bit about the New Lunar Year and have been using chopsticks to pick up rice, helping to make a dragon head and dance the lion dance.

In Maths the children have continued to work on recognising the numbers 1 to 5 and have enjoyed painting them on a large roll of paper.

The older Little Owls have been continuing with their listening activities and have played lots of games to help them hear some initial sounds.

Week beginning 24th January

We had a phone call from Mr Frog this week and he sent us the story of The Jolly Postman. This led to lots of discussion about sending letters and post cards.

The children who are going to be in Reception in September have continued to work on their listening skills. This week they have been looking at rhyming words and picking the odd one out.

In Maths the children have been playing lots of games to help them recognise the numerals from 1 to 5.

They have also been working on their physical skills, using the woodwork bench and doing lots of balancing skills in PE. Some of the children have really strong core muscles!

Week beginning 17th January

It has been very cold this week but the children have still been busy indoors as well as outdoors. They were fascinated with the frosty mornings and have enjoyed using the brooms to mark make on the frosty grass.

The children have been learning the story of The Rainbow Princess, using the props in the tuff spot to role play the story. They have also been singing the rainbow song.

They have continued the theme of rainbow colours and have been exploring colour mixing. The children have also been investigating what happens when they add white or black to a colour.

In Maths they are beginning to recognise the numerals to 5 and have been playing lots of matching games to support this as well as count groups of up to 5 objects.

Week beginning 10th January

We have had another busy and interesting week. The children have continued to learn about police officers, looking at their uniform. They have enjoyed dressing up to role play and have even been making their own police radios on the making table.

The children have continued to develop their fine motor skills in Funky Fingers. They particularly enjoyed putting Cheerios onto spaghetti - they had to concentrate really hard to do this & we don't think any Cheerios went missing!

The Little Owls who will be starting Reception in September have started their listening activities to help them when we start to introduce phonics. They have been using musical instruments to tune into sounds, match sounds and play hidden instruments.

The children have also been playing lots of dice games and counting games to reinforce their counting skills and begin to link numerals to amounts.

Week beginning 3rd January

Happy New Year! Welcome to the Spring Term.

Although it has been a short week, it has been great to see all the children back & ready for the term ahead. We have had some new children join us this week who have all settled really well. The other children have been very friendly and kind, helping the new children to settle in. 

This term we are going to be learning about people who help us. We talked about police officers this week & the children have all enjoyed finding clues & solving crimes.

We can't wait to find out more.

Week beginning 13th December

What a lovely end of term we have had. We had our Christmas party where the children enjoyed playing Pass the Parcel, Musical Statues & Musical Chairs and then we all enjoyed some party food. We performed our Nursery Rhyme Nativity on our outdoor stage and the children sang the songs & played the bells beautifully. We are all looking forward to a well earned rest now. Merry Christmas everyone & I hope to see you all again in January.

Week beginning 6th December

What a busy couple of weeks we have had. We have been making lots of decorations to decorate the school Christmas tree in the hall and also our own tree in the classroom, we have also enjoyed our Christmas dinner in the hall complete with Christmas crackers and music. 

The children have also been learning all about the numbers 2 and 3.

Week beginning 22nd November

This week the children have been doing lots of funky finger activities, like threading beads, to help develop their fine motor skills. In Maths the children have continued learning about the number 1. We had a lovely afternoon on Thursday when grandparents were invited to join in our Christmas craft activities. The children decorated biscuits, made a snowman to hang on the Christmas tree, decorated their salt dough trees and made paper chains. 

Week beginning 15th November

This week is World Nursery Rhyme Week so we have been joining in by singing a different rhyme each day. The children have enjoyed activities related to each rhyme, they particularly liked the build a spider game when we were looking at Incy Wincy Spider. Did you know that nursery rhymes can support memory development and kickstart the practise of listening and speaking? They enable children to become interested in language patterns and rhyme and studies have shown that if a child knows eight nursery rhymes by heart by the time they are 4 years old, they're usually among the best readers by the time they are 8 years old! So... Keep singing!

In Maths the children have been learning all about the number 1. They made telescopes to find 1 of something, they have been beating drums when counting the number 1 and also watched Numberblocks Number 1. They have also continued to learn the story of The Enormous Turnip.

Week beginning 8th November

Little Owls have been busy making poppies this week and decorating their clay diya pots with colourful paints and sequins.

In Maths they have been having fun playing lots of games, such as skittles, to help them count. They have also enjoyed playing the Peter Rabbit game on the interactive whiteboard.

The children have been using magic writing to paint over letters and they have just started to learn our new story of The Enormous Turnip.

Week beginning 1st November

It has been great to see everyone back after the half term break. There is a noticeable change in the temperature so the children really need their warm coats, hats and gloves now.

This week the children having been learning about the festival of Diwali. They have made their own clay Diya pots and next week when the clay has dried, they will paint and decorate them. The children have also listened to the story of Rama and Sita. They have used the glue gun to decorate some CDs with their own Rangoli patterns and we hope to hang these from our new stage area outside.

The children have also enjoyed practising their counting skills by playing some interactive games on the board.

Week beginning 18th October

We have had lots of autumnal activities this week. The children have been looking at leaves, pine cones & conkers with magnifying glasses to spot the patterns, lines & shapes. They have had lots of fun scraping out pumpkins to find the seeds & making pumpkin soup in the mud kitchen. The children have also worked on their hand eye co-ordination by hammering golf tees into pumpkins.

The children have continued to take part in Dough Disco and have also been doing lots of funky finger activities to develop their fine motor skills.

We have had lots of fun singing counting rhymes this week and the children have been acting these out in the outdoor area. They have also wowed us with their counting skills to make short and tall Duplo towers by rolling a dice to see how many bricks to add.

We hope everyone has a great half term break and we look forward to seeing everyone again the week beginning 1st November.

Week beginning 11th October

We have had another busy week in preschool. We joined the rest of the school in church on Tuesday to celebrate our harvest festival. We joined Big Owls to sing Dingle Dangle Scarecrow and everyone commented on how brilliant the children were in church.

The children have been quite creative this week, investigating colour mixing in the art area. We also opened the workbench area this week, introducing our rules for safe use and explored how to use the hammers and vice. Using the hammer helps the children to develop stronger muscles in their arms and hands. They develop fine motor skills as they learn to hold the nails in place with increasing independence and hand eye co-ordination in order to hit the nails. The children soon learn to keep their fingers out of the way when using a hammer!

We have also been learning the story of The Gingerbread Man with Big Owls, as well as continuing our daily dough disco sessions.

Week beginning 4th October

The children have settled really well into life in the classroom with Big Owls. We have enjoyed getting to know lots of new starter children and helped them settle into our setting. We are always busy and enjoy lots of activities both inside and outside.

This week we have continued to enjoy Dough Disco which helps us to develop our fine motor muscles so that we can develop a good pencil grip. We have also been making and exploring patterns. We also like to take care of our outdoor environment so we have added some new plants in our containers - some of us also enjoyed sweeping up the leaves! We have also been learning the story of The Little Red Hen with Big Owls.