A HUGE thank you goes to all parents in our ‘Early Years R-2 Family’ for helping the children come ready for school each day…we are all thoroughly enjoying working with your beautiful little people.
Jolly Phonics
The Jolly Phonics and Daily 5 Reading literacy programs are working well. We have covered the following sounds: s, a, t, i, p, n, c/k, e, h, r, m… as part of the 42 basic sounds of the English language. One new sound per day is a rapid pace, but most children are managing to keep up, with some spelling and reading simple words already! We have also managed to “Read to Self” (silent, uninterrupted reading) for over 1 minute…working on our concentration ‘stamina’…it is amazing to see in action! Obviously the children are ‘reading by pictures’ at the moment, as one method of reading. The three methods taught will be: Read by Pictures, Read by Words, and Retell Stories, as the term progresses.
Maths
Our Maths lessons are on track as we follow the Targeting Maths program. Number work took place in Weeks 1 & 2, with 2D shapes, colour recognition and patterning in Week 3. Lessons are a mixture of teacher directed learning, bookwork and hands-on exploration of the concepts, coupled with many games and Math’s songs, as these help the children stay focussed and makes learning fun. The children are encouraged to work well together, use the ‘Math’s language’ for each topic and share materials. I am really seeing some improvements in cooperation, peer and collaborative learning. Weekly Maths assessments and observations will also take place to check understanding of each topic covered.
Curriculum
All other Term 1 subjects are on track: Science with Mr. Love – ‘Our needs and animal needs.’ Geography unit on ‘Place’ in HASS. In Health & PE we have learnt about the brain and how it works and have been busy with swimming in Week 2. We are building relationships with one another and working hard to be: ‘the best us we can be’ while respecting each other, ourselves and all property.