Blog 6 - 20th October
What a week Apple Class, and a very wet and windy end to it!
We've been down on the Apple Class farm this week finding out about the role of a farmer and the many jobs they have to do! From planting crops in spring time, to feeding the farm animals, to collecting chicken eggs, to milking cows, the list is endless! On your child's school 360 journal you can see their response to the question "if you were a farmer, what job would you like to do?" I did have a good giggle at some of their responses! (If you haven't viewed this or been able to see it then please let me know and I'll try my very best to sort it out for you!)
The children have enjoyed cutting and sticking their own farms and this provided a great opportunity for us to support individuals with their scissor work. We are working towards holding scissors in our dominant hand and making firm snips along a line. It would be great if you could reinforce this learning with lots of scissor work over the next few weeks. If you have any questions or queries about how your child should hold scissors or how to support if they are struggling - just have a word and we'll gladly help!
In the classroom, we used our toy farm for some counting practice. Firstly, we asked the children to count a group of animals in the field. We then encouraged the children to make a set of a given number of animals. So, for example, we said "can you put 4 animals in the field." For many children, the tricky thing is remembering to stop at 4! So, lots of experience of counting objects in sets that you make or encouraging your child to make a set of a given number would be great. You can make sets with fruits, vegetables, toys, cars... anything that interests your child! This observation is now on your child's school 360 journal.
Later in the week, the children found out about some of the less glamorous farm jobs - the farm yard needed to be cleaned and the farm vehicles needed a wash. Sweeping is great for our gross motor skills and it builds strength in our muscles. This is vital for good physical development and actually, the children think it's fun! Cleaning the farm vehicles is great for our fine motor skills - we have to apply enough pressure to get rid of all of the muck and dirt.
There were many farm inspired songs and stories over the week - our song of the week was Old Mcdonald had a farm, we've sung this countless amount of times! We enjoyed reading the Scarecrows Wedding, What the Ladybird Heard and Farmer Duck! I've also attached some links to some cbeebies clips of "Down at the Farm " These videos reinforce our learning this week and over next week too. "Tractor Ted" is also a good one - but think this is found on youtube! Especially with the forecast not looking so great over the weekend - maybe you could pop these on for your child and consolidate everything we've learnt this week!
In the meantime, have a great weekend and we'll see you for some more farm work next week. We will be thinking about harvest and all of the jobs that the farmer needs to do at this special time of the year.
Mrs Farrar
Down on the Farm