A busy week.

 

It's been an eventful week in Hedgehogs!

On Wednesday we marked Remembrance Day. The children watched a short animation to learn about why we mark Remembrance Day, and why poppies are significant. Each child created a piece of poppy art work using wax resist. Then during the afternoon at Forest School the children had the option to paint a poppy on a stone  - many of them chose to do this and it was a good opportunity to discuss Remembrance Day.

On Thursday we had the pleasure of Mrs Wright in our class. She is usually in Squirrels but (taking the appropriate precautions, and spending her whole day with us) she came to us to help us to celebrate Diwali. We also had Dhwani helping us out - Dhwani and her family are Hindu and celebrate Diwali each year. We watched a video of Dhwani telling the story of Rama and Sita and throughout the morning Dhwani enjoyed telling her friends about celebrating Diwali at home. The children each made a diva lamp (which will be coming home soon) and some chose to make a flower garland as well. It was a lovely morning and we hope Mrs Wright can join us again some time soon. 

Aside from these seasonal events, the children have enjoyed the story of Olaf and his Goat. We have been retelling it together orally which the children have thoroughly enjoyed. We also  made a beautiful flower meadow using crayons and tissue paper and also some goats using natural materials. If you'd like to re-tell the story with your child, a version of it is here.

Maths:

YR have been looking at and comparing numbers 1 to 5. They've been recognising the numbers. ordering them, and using the terms 'more' and 'fewer' to compare them (using objects, or, if confident, the written number). We have continued to work on the five principles of counting - see the second powerpoint down on the school website.  Please keep practising these at home in lots of different, practical ways. 

Here is another game to practice 'more and fewer.' Encourage your child to use the word 'fewer' rather than 'less' - it will take a while to get into the habit, but it's a good mathematical word!

Y1 have spent the week looking, firstly, at subtraction and then at fact families. They have been subtracting by counting back along a number line and also by subtracting from the ones (if you can work out 8 - 4, it's easy to work out 18 - 4). We played a favourite game: Race to 0. You just need a number track 0 to 20 and counters. Start on 20, take it in turns to roll a dice and move backwards that number. Ensure your child is jumping back and not counting the one they are already on. The first to get to 0 wins. BUT you must not roll a 6! If you roll a 6, you have to start again at 20. 


They've also been learning that number facts come in families, for example:

3 + 7 = 10
7 + 3 = 10
10 - 3 = 7
10 - 7 = 3.

It's early days for fact families! We will revisit them at a later part of the year. If you want to practice them, here is an activity for facts to six.

Phonics:

YR have added h, b and f to their sounds repertoire!  See if your child can spot these sounds out and about and in their books. You can also play three-in-a-row. 

Y1  have been looking at final blends in words. You can practise this by playing hangman with words such as:

best
vest
help
pink
went
sent

... and any words with a blend at the end. Common blends are:

I think that's that! Have a lovely weekend and I shall very much look forward to seeing you next week. 

From Miss Nash