Monday 20 March 2014

Hi again,

It is Sunday evening and I am putting together my plan for tomorrow, which is to all intents and purposes our End of Term Halloween party.  We have finished the first segment of phonic sounds 'satpin' and therefore I will be handing out certificates to celebrate our first part of the phonics journey.  There is a chance it will be a wet one, but as always mini-rangers dress for the weather we don't stay in!!!

So let us look back over our glorious half term of mini rangers, it has been fantastic.  At our high point we had 70 bodies in our little area and have regularly been seeing eager mini rangers no matter the weather.  We have had the most amazing September/October weather wise as you will see from these fantastic pictures to remind us of our first half term:

snake in the box, can you see that lovely dry ground!!!
Following this we had apples, ants and Alice!!!
 A teddy bears picnic with twigs, tennis on the lawn, toast that was really home made bread and butter and a tidy area... that led to the puppy pic nic, some putting a snack of pears and pineapples.  We've had insects and ink made of mud. Then finally we have had our week of 'n' remember our nests, I think some people have still to collect theirs.

So we have covered the sounds of 'satpin' and this week we will be presenting you with a certificate to commemorate your time with us and to remind you all that we have used lots of physical ideas to convey our sound and we have read books to repeat that sound.   

Anne Meade, in her work One Hundred Billion Neurons: How do they become organised? (2001) considered the connection between play and brain development Her study found that play gives children vital opportunities to lay down implicit memories of skills, dispositions and schemas. Our efforts to teach phonic sounds through active physical play takes into consideration children's need to repeat and to actively experience sounds, smells, and touch to make the vital connections with the phonic sounds that we want them to remember.

I have spent Saturday morning at a Creative Minds conference and in this we discussed the importance of children's schemas on their approach to learning and retaining different information.  I am always interested in how your children are approaching the learning and would like to ask you to answer the following questions:

Have you noticed your child repeating any of the sounds we have talked about?

If yes in what situation?

Have you been reminded to mention the sounds when you see them out and about?

Do you have a street sign that you and your child have looked at a little more closely?

Have you repeated any of the activities at home to remind your child of the sounds that they have heard?

I really appreciate your input and hope that we can continue  even as the weather gets colder and a bit damper.

Thank you again for your continued support

Melanie Commins,  EYTS