Reception Blog

Autumn 1

Week 7

This week, we have been exploring the story Handa’s Surprise! We have enjoyed joining in with the story and discovering all the delicious fruits and animals that appear along Handa’s journey. We have been learning the names of different fruits, including guava and passionfruit and using our phonics sounds to write about different parts of the story. We have also been practising sequencing the events in the correct order and creating our own illustrations to bring the story to life. We also used our phonics knowledge to write a new shopping list for Handa, choosing our own items to add to her basket!

Maths

In maths, we have been exploring matching and sorting. We have been looking closely at objects and talking about how they are the same and different. We have sorted objects into groups by colour, size and other features, using our mathematical vocabulary to describe our choices.

We have also been practising matching objects that belong together and matching numerals to quantities. Through practical activities, we developed our understanding of numbers, grouping and classification.

Try this at home! Can you help your child find some objects around your home that match or belong together? Can you sort them into different groups?

For example:

Sort your toys by colour or size.
Find pairs of matching socks or shoes.
Match a number card to the correct number of objects.
Explain why certain objects belong in the same group.

Remember to encourage your child to explain their thinking. Can they tell you how the objects are the same or different and why they have chosen to put them together?

Phonics

In phonics, we have been revisiting and reviewing the sounds and tricky words we have learnt so far. We have been practising recognising our sounds, remembering how to form each letter and reading our tricky words. We have also been doing lots of blending practice, putting sounds together to read words. We are becoming more confident at using our phonics knowledge to help us read!

Please continue to practise recognising and saying the sounds we have learnt, as well as reading and writing our tricky words. You can also encourage your child to practise blending simple words, such as sat, pin, dog, cat and kit.

See if your child can spot any of our sounds or tricky words in books, on signs or around the home. Remember to encourage them to say each sound and blend them together to read the whole word!

Sounds learnt: s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, k

Tricky words: is, I, to, a

Handa's Surprise

Week 6

This week, we have been reading the story Measuring Me! The characters in the book discover lots of interesting things about their bodies and all the amazing things they can do. Inspired by the story, we explored some of our own senses, focusing on smell and touch. We used our sense of smell to investigate a variety of spices, including paprika, cumin, turmeric, vanilla and cinnamon. We had lots of fun describing the different smells and sharing our thoughts!

Maths – Measuring Height and Length

In maths, we have been exploring height and length. We compared the height and length of different objects, practising our mathematical vocabulary, including tall, taller, tallest, short, shorter, shortest, long, longer and longest.

We also had a go at measuring using non-standard units of measurement. This means using everyday objects or actions to measure rather than a ruler or tape measure. For example, we found out that the carpet was 15 footsteps. We used cubes to measure our shoes! We are becoming fantastic little mathematicians!

Try this at home! Can you find some objects around your home and put them in order from shortest to longest or shortest to tallest? Can you measure them using non-standard units?

For example:

The sofa is 20 footsteps long.
The mat is 10 footsteps long.
The sofa is longer than the mat.

Remember to encourage your child to explain how they know which object is longer, shorter, taller or smaller.

Phonics

In phonics, we have been learning the sounds o, c and k, using these fun mnemonics to help us remember how to form each letter:

o – “Around the orange octopus.”
c – “Creep around the cat’s curly tail.”
k – “Down the kite and a karate kick.”

We have also learnt two new tricky words: to and a.

Please practise reading and writing the sounds o, c and k, as well as the tricky words to and a. See if your child can spot these words in books, on signs or around the home.

Aut 1 Week 7 - Measuring Me

Week 5

We have had another wonderful week in Reception, continuing to learn, explore and settle into our classroom routines.

This week, we have been reading Let’s Make Faces by Hanoch Piven. We have been talking about our different facial features and describing what we can see. We had lots of fun creating faces using natural resources and thinking carefully about where each feature should go.

We also went on a special walk around our school to look for faces hidden within our environment. We spotted faces in lots of interesting places and enjoyed sharing what we could see!

Maths

In maths, we have been learning to represent, compose and compare numbers to 3. We have explored different ways to make and show numbers and have begun learning how to use a part-whole model to show how numbers can be made from smaller parts.

Can you find 3 objects at home?
You could use toys, socks, spoons, building blocks or anything else you can find!

Show 3 in different ways.

Can you make 3 objects into different groups?

For example:
2 and 1 make 3
1 and 2 make 3
3 and 0 make 3

As an extra challenge can your child find two groups of objects and compare them?
Can they say which group has more, fewer or the same?

In phonics we have learnt the sounds m, d, g

mnemonics -

m - "move and mark the mouse's ears"

d - "dance around the disco ball, up and down the wire"

g - "go around the goblin's head, down and round to tickle its toes"

You can practise your sounds by reading and writing these words:

man, dig, mat, map, mad, dim, dip, gas, tag, pig, sad

We also learnt two tricky words!

is, I

Weekly caption

Sam is a sad pig.

Let's make faces

Week 4

This week, we have been enjoying the wonderful book Whisper, Shout, Let It Out! by Madhvi Ramani. The children have had lots of fun experimenting with their voices in different ways. We explored using loud, quiet, high and low voices, as well as having a go at body percussion.

We also went on a listening walk around school, where we used our listening ears to notice and describe the different sounds we could hear. The children listened carefully to sounds both indoors and outdoors and talked about what they could hear.

Maths

In maths, we have been using 5-frames and 10-frames to support our counting. We have been practising subitising (looking at a group or arrangement of objects and recognising how many there are without needing to count each one).

We have also been practising 1:1 correspondence, carefully counting each object once and then saying how many we have altogether.

Why not make your own 5-frame or 10-frame at home? You could draw one on a piece of paper or even use chalk outside.

Give your child a different number of objects, such as buttons, stones, pasta or small toys and ask them to fill the 5-frame or 10-frame with the correct number of objects.

You could also challenge them by showing them a small number of objects for a few seconds and asking, “How many can you see?” without counting. This is a great way to practise subitising at home.

In phonics we have learnt the sound p, i, n

mnemonics -

p - "head to tail, back up and round the parrots head"

i- "down the itchy insect, put a dot on its head"

n - "nip down up and over the newt"

You can practise your sounds by reading and writing these words:

pin, nip, sip, sat, in, pan

Autumn 1 Week 4

Week 3

We completed our first full week in Reception and had a wonderful time learning, exploring and settling into our new environment.

This week, we have been getting to know one another and talking about what makes us special. We shared the things we like, drew self portraits and talked about our families and homes.

We have been busy becoming familiar with our school rules and routines. We have practised counting, taking turns and following instructions through games and activities.

We have learnt our first set of sounds along with mnemonics and read our very first word - sat!

s, a, t

mnemonics -

s - "down the spaghetti, slip slop slurp"

a- "around the ant's head and down its body"

t - "down the tiger's tail and across the tiger's tail"

You can practise your sounds by reading and writing these words:

at, sat