Investigation Hub and Discovery Hub at Deckham
We have had another wonderful week of learning and play at our Deckham Nursery.
The children who have recently joined us are building lovely relationships with staff and peers and showing confidence in exploring the indoor and outdoor areas. Well done to you all!
This week the children have been focussing upon the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The children have become more familiar with the story throughout the week and the children in the Investigation Hub have begun to join in with key phrases when listening to the story. We have used mathematical vocabulary such as ‘big’, ‘medium’ and ‘small’ to describe and compare the size of items from the story and to think about which character each item might belong to.
When listening to the story, the children heard that Goldilocks ate all of Baby Bear’s porridge! The children gained first hand experience of what porridge is, through exploration of dry porridge oats, which they enjoyed scooping, pouring, sprinkling and stirring. They used different sized scoops and bowls, thereby continuing to develop their mathematical understanding of size and capacity through their explorative play.
During a small group activity, the children in the Investigation Hub also followed verbal instructions to make porridge, by adding the ingredients and mixing it all together. We were very impressed with the children for trying the porridge that they had made, as their snack for that day!
Characteristics of effective learning – Thinking creatively and critically
At nursery we aim to be responsive to, and led by, the interests demonstrated by the children.
This week the children have shown a lot of interest in the image of an owl which is tied in a tree in the nursery garden to deter birds who were making quite a lot of mess in the garden! One child noted that “It’s too high” for them to reach. The children then collectively demonstrated super problem-solving skills to consider how they might reach the owl!
“I can try and climb the tree.”
“No we can’t. We might fall.”
“I can spider web to it”, as they tried to move like Spider-Man.
Other children worked together to build a long stick from connecting blocks.
“We have to be careful, we could hurt it.”
Some children used binoculars to more closely observe the owl and others drew their own drawings of owls.
We provided materials in an outdoor tray including clay, feathers, twigs and leaves. Some of the children decided to look closely at the owl and to create representations of it. Other children made a duck, a squirrel, a hedgehog, a mountain, and ice creams, while some children simply enjoyed the process of manipulating the clay with their hands and combining it with other materials.
Story of the week: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Song of the week: Incy Wincy Spider
Makaton sign of the week: Hello
Parents as partners:
Sharing stories with your child is a wonderful way to have some special time together, whilst fostering a love of books and reading for your child.
We have some lovely books in the cloakroom area of our classroom. Please feel free to borrow one of the books to share with your child at home. Once you have enjoyed the book together, please swap it for another of our brilliant books.
As we enjoy outdoor play in all weather, please can we ask everyone to send a coat to nursery each day for their child, and to ensure it has their name in it. Thank you for your cooperation with this.
We wish you all a lovely weekend and look forward to seeing everyone next week.