It has been busy in the Burrow throughout February. The children have been building friendships and settling into busy Burrow life.
In order to make the transition smooth, the practitioners have been building self confidence and self awareness by increasing the children’s ability to identify their thoughts and feelings and voicing their opinions in a safe and welcoming atmosphere.
They have been specifically focussing on facial expressions using prompt pictures at circle time. Try asking your child to make an angry face, happy face, excited face and further build their confidence.
In the messy area there has been dough, paint, foam, sand, rice and cereales and the children have been supported transporting, mixing, filling, pouring.
At Forest School the children have been playing at understanding boundaries to begin to build their own ability to risk assess where they can or can’t go or should or shouldn’t go. ‘1,2,3 where are you” is a hide and seek game where children hide but have to reply from their hiding place with, “1,2,3 I’m over here.”
It’s crucial children understand boundaries without necessarily needing physical fences in place.
The children have been learning about Chinese New Year, looking at artefacts, chinese dancing and Chinese music.
The children have been focussing on language and communication using words with actions rather than just sounds to try to communicate, the Burrow staff support this by modelling the use of language constantly.
The parachute has been featuring in circle time too which is great for promoting collaborative and social skills and this theme has continued outside in Forest School where children have been working out how to make the pulleys move up and down in pairs or larger groups.
In the up and coming weeks we’re going to be looking at Pancake Day, Mother’s Day, Story Making and Easter time, these themes will last for around two weeks depending on the children’s interests.
Please note we’ll soon be releasing the date for the Stay and Play session for the January and February starting children, we hope as many of you as possible can attend.
Can we also ask that children come in with at least one set of spare clothes. Toilet training and lots of outdoor play at this wet time of year can lead to outfits being changed at couple of times a day.
Our family boards are being updated so please do bring in more photos as this is such a crucial part of children feeling like they belong here and they love sharing with each other the important people in their life.
Charlotte