We just finished up our first week of Aistear and what fun it was! Thank you so much for all of the donations and for lending items to the classroom to help make this possible. Aistear uses play to learn about the world around us. Before we start a new theme, new vocabulary and concepts are introduced. When we begin playing on this theme, the children are encouraged to apply this knowledge. It would be fantastic if you could reinforce this at home, and no doubt, tap into your child's particular interests on the theme.
This week, we were focussing on washing a baby, in the sensory area. The children worked together to take care of the baby, identifying its gender and naming body parts (we use the correct terms, not nicknames.) Some children played "families" and took on different roles when doing this, while others were very intent on making great bubbles in the bath! :)
This week, we were focussing on washing a baby, in the sensory area. The children worked together to take care of the baby, identifying its gender and naming body parts (we use the correct terms, not nicknames.) Some children played "families" and took on different roles when doing this, while others were very intent on making great bubbles in the bath! :)
We learnt about different types of houses before starting Aistear. In the construction area, the children made a plan of a home and then built it using blocks and lego.
We also made some lovely picture frames to put the photos of our families in. There was lots of talk about their families while they were making these. We also used playdoh to work on some of the different types of homes and we made playdoh families also.
Over the last two weeks we have looked at four new letter sounds - n, c/k, e, h. Next week we will be doing these sounds: r, m.
In maths, we have been looking at matching items - where they are the exact same and matching things that go together (e.g. toothbrush and toothpaste.) We are also looking at comparing by size, using the language of "small, medium, large/smallest, bigger and biggest/short, long and longest/longer." Finally, we are still working on colour patterns and have progressed onto 3 colour pattern now.
In maths, we have been looking at matching items - where they are the exact same and matching things that go together (e.g. toothbrush and toothpaste.) We are also looking at comparing by size, using the language of "small, medium, large/smallest, bigger and biggest/short, long and longest/longer." Finally, we are still working on colour patterns and have progressed onto 3 colour pattern now.
We do a huge amount of fine motor skills work in the first term, before we start writing. Here is a look at some of the activities we do.