Monday 22nd July 2015

People always ask me 'how old does my baby need to be to come and enjoy Mini Rangers'
I can confidently say that from the moment your baby looks up and takes in their surroundings Mini Rangers provides exciting experiences for all.  Take for example the simple first communication that babies learn -  pointing. For babies it is usually to fulfil a need or want, but it can be used to communicate something they find exciting.  At mini Rangers the excitement of seeing other children running around, birds in the trees, clanking saucepans, the ducks, the noise of the river all makes for pointing fodder.  Following an 8 month old's gaze or a 14 month old's point can be the start of any parents conversation with their baby.

Key points
 We take pointing for granted
 When we point, we are telling another person that we want them to look at something
 We assume they will understand that there is something like an invisible laser beam that emanates from the end of our index finger in an exact straight line until it reaches the solid object that we want the other person to concentrate on
 Pointing for need and pointing for shared interest is a development along the pathway of shared communication and eventually toward the use of first words

This week we are turning to chemistry to ignite our young learners.  We are going to attempt to make a mud laboratory!  Don your goggles and gloves! (imaginatively, we don't really need these as the mud will not hurt us, although a baby wipe or two and some hand sanitizer might be an idea).  We are going to collect some objects in our environment to mix together.  We will look at the size, shape, colour and smell of what we have collected.  We will then ask ourselves 'What will happen if I mix this object with the other object' .

I will bring the paintbrushes back this week and we can see if we can make anything that we can use as paint?  We can also have a look in the environment to see if there is anything that we can use as paintbrushes may be a stick or a leaf or a blade of grass?

We have all been looking at the way our children interact with their environment I will be brining some blank risk assessment forms for you to take away and have a think about, they are what I use in childminding and they sometimes reassure me when I am taking an outing I have not taken before.  I hope they are useful for you too.

Marina is providing our snack this week, she is looking at the bright colours of Peppers.

Looking forward to seeing you all

Mel

Mini Rangers sound of the week 'h' 26th January 2015

Snowy Etherow saw 31 Mini Rangers arrive for fun in the snow with the sound 'r'.  Here you can see Oliver with his Robot that he cleverly added stick legs too, he is showing real creativity in seeing what he has been given and adding to it.  

We lit the fire without Ranger Steve last week so I think that shows that we are learning about outdoor living,  It was a plus as well because there were children that really enjoyed the cosy feel of the fire and needed a bit of a warm up!  Thanks to Helen for bringing me Rhyming Rabbit by Julia Donaldson it was a great book I have been enjoying it at home, although I think it was a bit cold to sit still for too long!  Hopefully we can make it a bit warmer this week!  Suggestions for keeping warm welcome!

Next week we are bringing some warm blackcurrent juice as we did feel that perhaps the children could have done with a warm drink as well.  We will also be bringing extra coffee as that is much needed when taking part in outdoor play!

This coming week our letter is

 

just in case my lovely graphic isn't clear it is 'h' !  I am hoping this week we don't have any hail! If we do I guess it will fit in with the sounds, hey when the weather gives you a gift don't knock it!!!  Seriously though, h is a great letter for Etherow, Heron's and Hedghogs live there so we could talk about their habitats and how humans interact with them and how we can preserve their homes by not disturbing wood piles in the winter. 

I am sure we could dig a few holes with our kitchen spoons if the ground isn't too hard!  

For our activity this week Etherow Visitors centre are supplying us with all the ingredients to make hats!  So if you can find any feathers or leaves that you would like to stick on to your hat please bring them along.

At story time I think it is time to introduce Dr Seuss with 'Horton hears a who'.  The one draw back about introducing phonics to small children is that we are introducing them to sounds so h as in horton is the same as h as in who.  I don't want you to be concerned about this and some parents worry when their child starts writing and this mistake is a common 'spelling' mistake. It will rectify itself and when you are reading stories like 'Horton hears a who' it gives a platform to enable us to point out the different beginnings of each word.  Who is a tricky word and usually if there is a h sound the word begins with h so when it does happen it is sometimes good to find a book that illustrates this.

By now everyone is feeling hungry so we will bring some ham sandwiches made with dairy free bread and dairy free ham.

I hope that sounds good and look forward to seeing you there!  Just a tip if your child does feel the cold it might be worth bringing a hot water bottle or warming pouches as these can just add a bit more comfort, the fire will be lit though and the shelter will be up so hopefully we can make a cosy place for everyone to get a bit warmer in.

The Gruffalo - 24 November 2014

We are moving on this week with a brand new sound it is g as in 'g'argle, 'g'rumpy and 'g'arden....

So in our lovely Etherow Park garden area there is one book that has always been my favourite and that is the ......

Gruffalo

First we are going to get the children to make their very own Gruffalo grasshead.  Then the Gruffalos and their makers are going to go on a walking story of the Gruffalo.

The essence of a walking story is all about spotting the various characters in the bushes and trees and then listening to the next part of the story for guidance as to where the next character is hiding?

Learning in the Early years is about being able to take control, thrills and a very sensory dependent way of learning.  It is about learning how to filter out the many environmental sounds to the one voice that is telling the story, it is about finding it interesting enough to move ones body in ways that provide challenge and discovery.  The senses provide the children with a continued understanding of what surrounds them and how to make sense of it.  As parents our guidance through these social interactions are essential, it is our excitement,our joy, our engagement that children take on when experiencing these interactions. 

So we are on the sound g for our snack what better snack than grapes!  Obviously the usual Coffee and Biscuits will be available as well and if anyone wants to bring another g snack that would be great.  Remember Gas in garlic not as in ginger, but when we get to that sound it's going to be a great snack time!!!!

ref: https://www.facebook.com/alistair.bryceclegg for more information on thrills in early years learning.

Den building dinosaurs - Monday 17th November 2014

Oh no Dinosaurs have a escaped in our play area!!!!!!

 Ranger Steve has promised to help us build some hide out dens so that we can spy on the dogs and ducks of Etherow park, but I really need your help to come down and help me dig out the dinosaurs.

Where could they be?  Have they dug themselves into the mole hills???  Maybe they have lost themselves in the maze we built last week,  maybe you need to come down and give me a hand in finding them.

Marina is back this week to help me with some snacks there will be our usual coffee and juice, but I am adding in some 'd'ates.  If anyone else wants to bring snacks beginning with the sound 'd' that would be awsome.

Looking forward to seeing you

Melanie Commins, EYTS.