I have written before about the fact that D and E are at home, with me and not in nursery. Whilst I am confident that they learn all that they need to at the moment through play and the such, I am also keen to start to theme some of our learning. There won’t be a clear structure, but I am going to be working on two topics with them over September and October. The topics will form the focus of some of our reading and our craft and play activities.
Firstly, we are going to look at the weather. We have already talked a little about things like this and D can describe the weather to me as well as identify the type of weather from images he sees. I am going to do some stuff on the water cycle with them using a lovely little book called The Little Raindrop.
I also have some board books from Childs Play that cover the four seasons as well as four weather types. We have looked at these lots already so we will use these too. Both the children really like these books, they are simple but explain their subject well. Plus they are engaging for the children with plenty to talk about. These alongside books like Pip & Posy Snowy Day will help them recognise the different seasons and weather types.
I have found some craft ideas that I will be looking to try with them both, as well as some worksheets from twinkl which I hope will help encourage some of Mr D’s early number and letter recognition, as well as being fun for him to do.
In October, we are going to look at Space. I want them to be able to identify the sun and moon (and day and night) and that there are different planets. I have some lovely craft ideas planned for this topic which again I hope will aid things like letter (and name) recognition. I’m quite excited about this topic and have the most beautiful books from Top That to look through with them both – the magnetic one will be a hit I am sure. Space Walkies is another firm favourite here and we will be reading that to embed some of the understanding about the moon and space travel.
I’m planning to keep this all play based and weave it into our normal days. We will still be attending our playgroups and Footy Totz sessions (Emma starts Footy Totz in September too) as well as attending a new art group (aimed specifically at the Home Ed community).
I’m still on the look out for good weather and space resources so if you know any please leave links below or tweet me with your ideas – @MsSBurns.
Let me know your thoughts with a comment below