Links to animal video clips for our wild animal theme
Elephants - https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A2KIbZyK5a5ioIEA1ndXNyoA;_ylu=Y29sbwNiZjEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZANMT0NVSTAxOV8xBHNlYwNzYw--/RV=2/RE=1655657995/RO=10/RU=https%3a%2f%2fwww.youtube.com%2fwatch%3fv%3dVgKIDwuxYSE/RK=2/RS=ikq9v7UaOjd5puMD_dENwBfDb_8-
Links to Julia Donaldson's books read by herself and others! (March 2022)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUisAU7LVxE - Squash and a squeeze
https://youtu.be/X_EM-iZNguo - The Gruffalo
https://youtu.be/UIHLnnJ-uFc - The Scarecrow's Wedding
https://youtu.be/6gw-wfxFrfA - The Smartest Giant in Town
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ6SvbrEhvI - Sharing a Shell
https://youtu.be/zEXYAuIP52o - Charlie Cook's Favourite Book
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkjQe6Gz1Ak - The Everywhere Bear
BBC Tiny Happy People (March 2022)
This is a website we recommend if you are in search of activities to help your child develop their communication skills - it's fab!
'Tiny Happy People is here to help you develop your child's communication skills. Explore their simple activities and play ideas and find out about our children's amazing early development.'
Sept 2023
For other ideas for learning activities at home please have a look at our newsletters!
Road Safety Week (Nov 2023)
Follow the link to this website for some ideas on how to join in with our road safety awareness week!
https://www.roadsafetyweek.org/tools-resources/2-uncategorised/68-resources-for-children
Numberblocks (Sept 2023)
Do check out the brilliant 'numberblock' resources on line for mathematical development. You can find them on youtube, netflix, cbeebies and iplayer. Learn how to add, subtract and count the fun and educational way!
Chatter Matters (Sept 2023)
Hi to you all,
The link below belongs to a charity called Chatter Matters. It showcases the importance of language to very young children. If you feel you would like some extra information on how to help your child develop their language skills this compilation of short videos might give you some ideas!
https://vimeo.com/showcase/5967631
Happy watching!
BBC Website Link for Home Activities Sept 2023
We just wanted to share the following link with you that has a number of activities that you can share with your children whilst you are at home.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zks4kmn
Have fun!
Hungry Little Minds Sept 2023
The government has launched a lovely website called 'hungry little minds'. This is aimed at Early Years children from birth to 5 and gives suggestions as to how to help your children develop their thinking skills and knowledge by doing simple things with you at home. It also has good recommendations for Apps that you can download to help your child learn. It's definitely worth a look!
Self made phonic books (9/23)
This year we are sending the phonic books that the children are making home every day so that all our parents can see the sounds that we have been talking about at school that day. These phonic activities are optional so some days the children might be preoccupied with other activities that we do not want to interrupt and so may not add to their collection in their book that day. We have found that the children love looking back over their work and the book serves as a visual reminder of the sounds they have been practicing.
It would be great if you could look through these books with your children and practice recognizing the visual letter and the letter sound whilst talking about the pictures in the book that correspond to the sound - it's really fun and the children love it!
Quite Interesting!! Have a look!! (9/20)
The following is an extract from a publication entitled 'Tuning in to two year olds' by Harrow Council as part of their 'Improving outcomes for two year olds' project.(2014). It shows how important it is to understand how 2 year old's brains are developing and what we can do to provide opportunities to develop their lifelong learning skills.
Building a two year old brain
"The brain of toddler is fizzing with activity. But all this activity is happening in a brain not yet equipped to make sense of it. In the second and third years of life the brain is still developing very quickly but this development is now focused on organizing all the frantic activity going on on the toddler brain." ( Kate Cairns Associates (2013) Five to Thrive
It's not only in the prime areas of development - Communication and Language, Personal, Social and Emotional and Physical development that two year olds are making significant steps in. It is the area of brain development that underpins all this. The way that children become lifelong learners is already being influenced and shaped by the way their brain is making connections across and between all areas. The brain has many different parts with different jobs.
In order for two year olds to become lifelong learners and to be resilient, motivated and prepared for future learning opportunities the foundations for all parts of the brain need to be integrated and capable of working together. Part of this development is known as 'Executive function', which includes working memory, inhibitory control and flexible thinking. This alongside emotional regulation provides the keys to open the doors of learning.
What is happening in a two year old's brain
A two year olds brain still has much to do in relation to these functions. It is through repeated experiences with their parents, key people and other children that they develop the capacity to use these functions. Executive functions continue to develop throughout the lifetime. Of particular importance is the need for two year olds to experience consistent and reliable feedback from trusted adults about their actions. This process is referred to as 'Social referencing', which can be seen when a young child glances at a known and trusted adult to seek approval for something they are about to do. This is the beginning of learning social boundaries, as well as a sense of empathy. A two year old will often shift between impulse and action without using the ' pause' button before acting. The child's ability to pause before acting develops gradually through repeated, supported interaction with attuned adults.
Amazing facts about the growing brain