Reception Pop- In Wednesday 21 st November

Reading Some children will be starting to bring home a phonically decodable book. These are for the children to orally segment each word (sound out) and begin to blend the words to read, rather than parents reading it to them. The parent’s role is to talk about the story and ensure the children are understanding what they are reading, as well as supporting when needed. Not all children are at the stage of being ready to read independently, and rather than put them off reading, as the skill of blending is not yet developed enough, they will have an extra session of guided reading each week to build their confidence.

Book example

Reading Every day we have a reading session called ERIC. Children have a guided reading session each week and an individual reading session each week. The other 3 days they work independently with a phonic activity. Guided reading is where each child has their own book and they read the same story at their own pace. The adult listens to each child and asks questions about the story. De-coding is the primary skill for reading, but the adult will support different strategies for instance using picture clues.

Reading In individual reading, the child reads to the adult using their decoding skills, and the adult supports the child positively and encourages them to sound out and begin to blend those sounds to read. If the child can’t blend the word, the adult will orally segment it for them to try to help them to hear the word being blended a bit more quickly. Try not to jump in too quickly and tell the child the word, but equally don’t let them sit and struggle for too long and lose interest. Praise all effort your child makes as reading needs to be a positive experience.

Writing Lots of children are beginning to be able to write cvc words. Encourage your child to orally segment what they want to write and then have a go at writing the graphemes they can hear. DON’T correct spelling at this stage, it is much better that children write the sounds they can hear, as we have still not learnt all the phonemes they will need. Keep the alphabet mat or the phonics book handy as a visual scaffold for your child. Encourage your child to begin to write a shopping list, Christmas cards, messages to grandparents etc. Praise all efforts of writing.

Mathematics This term we have been encouraging children to not only count forwards and backwards in rote order, but to count with 1 to 1 correspondence realising that the last number said is the total for that amount. Ordering numbers and recognising each numeral out of order is also important. Comparing numbers, knowing which is the bigger or smaller, and knowing the number represents a quantity are also key concepts. Having a secure knowledge of numbers to 10 and being able to give 1 more and 1 less than a given number is crucial for understanding the number system as a whole.

Shape, Space & Measure We’ve been looking at comparative language – longer/shorter, bigger/smaller We’ve also been learning 2D and 3D shape names and their properties, going to hunt for shapes in the environment and comparing them to real life objects. Setting any maths learning into a real life problem solving context is key for children’s understanding. E.g. How many minutes will it take to fill the bath? Time it. How many cups, knives and forks will we need to set the table for dinner for 4 people?

Helping your child at home As parents we’re sure you are all keen to support your child’s learning. We have produced a list of some different ways you can support them in Literacy and Mathematics. The list is by no means exhaustive, but should give you a starting point for some ideas. These will be attached to this week’s newsletter and will also be available on the website.

RE Following our ‘Outstanding’ Section 48 inspection the feedback was that parents wanted to know more about RE learning throughout the school. In Reception RE threads through many of the different areas of learning and Mrs Rogers teaches a discrete lesson on some Tuesday mornings. This term we have learnt about the Hindu festival Diwali and compared it to the Christian celebration of Christmas. We’ve thought about what we believe in, and looked at what other people believe in. We will be learning all about Christmas soon, and will be performing a traditional Nativity – watch this space! In Term 3 the children will be learning about ‘Special People to Me’

Wow Postcards Thank you to those parents that have filled in ‘Wow’ postcards. Remember they are always available on the parents notice board, and there will be a link on the website so you can print them off from there too. If you don’t have any postcards and your child has one of those ‘wow’ moments, please feel free to write it on a post-it or a slip of paper. Remember to name and date it please. We really value the comments and feedback that we get from you about your child, as the partnership is really important between home and school.

Finally… As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to see one of the Reception Team. A copy of this powerpoint will also be available on the website, along with lots of other interesting information. It is updated regularly, so keep checking for new items.