Nursery Classes Home Learning

Romilly Nursery Home Learning

In the boxes are a variety of skills that the children are developing. They need to regularly revisit these skills to consolidate their learning and allow them to start applying the skills they have learnt to different contexts.

Personal and social skills

Practising their manners. Saying please, thank you and hello.
Practice turn taking games with your child. Encourage waiting and learning to lose.
Practice sharing toys/items with others.
Encourage your child to tidy up and put things away
Learn to master a skill that you have been struggling with e.g. putting your coat on, zipping your coat up, getting dressed by yourself, feeding yourself, putting your shoes and socks on.
Practice recognising colours

Physical skills: gross motor

Create a mini obstacle course for your child to complete.
Create mini workout stations (running, jumping, hopping, skipping, balancing on one foot, walking backwards)
Throwing and catching a ball
Kicking a ball
Scissor skills (help sheet on school website)
Build a fort in the house
Build a den outside

Physical skills: fine motor

Help your child practice their fine motor skills by:

Threading items onto a string
Using tweezers to pick up items
Pegging items on a line
Playing with playdough
Taking part in a dough disco
Jigsaws and puzzles
Create using Duplo/Lego/ Megablocks etc.

Speaking and listening

Sing a range of Nursery rhymes (BBC nursery rhymes will help https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-songs-index/zhwdgwx)
Talking about things that you are doing with your child. Model good speech and practising waiting for your turn to speak in conversations.
Practise following simple instructions. Start with one step instructions (e.g. go and get a book) build up to two step instructions when your child is able.

Reading

Read a story to your child every day.
Visit Books Trust website (books and reading) and access a range of free online books and games.
Look at the reading advice sheet on the school website.
Ask your child to make up stories from the pictures in books.

Ask your child to retell familiar stories in their own words

Writing

Practice using a ‘crocodile snap’ (dynamic grip) to hold a pencil when drawing or mark making (help sheet on school website)

Creative

Painting
Drawing a picture
Make a musical instrument
Junk models using recycling
Singing songs
Dancing to music (YouTube: Just Dance Kids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpdRc9L97TY)
Cooking
Water play
Dressing up and imaginary play

Number & counting

Rote counting to 10 and beyond
Counting backwards from 3/5/10
Touch counting 3/5/10 objects accurately (this can be done by putting items in a line or moving f one place to another)
Practice recognising numbers from 0 to 3/5/10/20/20+ (help sheet on school website)
Ordering numbers
Working out the missing number from the line
Saying what is one more/ one less than a number
Topmarks online games: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/3-5-years

Please look for additional activities on our (help sheet on school website)

Shape & pattern

Practise recognising 2D shapes
Practise naming 2D shapes
Shape Monsters https://www.topmarks.co.uk/early-years/shape-monsters
Shape matching https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ordering-and-sequencing/shape-patterns
Ask your child to continue a simple repeating pattern (e.g. car, doll, car, doll, car, …/ red, blue, red, blue, red …)
Ask your child to continue a repeating pattern of three criteria

Shape Patterns https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ordering-and-sequencing/shape-patterns

Twinkl

If you would like access to additional resources to help support your child’s learning while at home, Twinkl are offering parents free access to learning resources.

To sign-up please use the link - www.twinkl.co.uk/offer

Sign-up using the offer code - UKTWINKLHELPS

Number games

Below are a variety of ways to support your child's number skills. This includes recognising numbers, ordering numbers and counting accurately. We would really appreciate your involvement in helping your child with these skills. We teach numbers in incremental bands to help them consolidate and secure their knowledge before being introduced to the next band of numbers. The number bands are as follows: 0-3, 0-5,0-10 and 10 plus.

The games below and attached number cards can be adapted to meet your child's current stage of number development. Playing these games and working with your child on their number skills regularly will help them move forward.

Splat

Lay the number cards out. Call a number and ask your child to 'splat' the numeral. (This activity can be used to introduce new numbers to your child while consolidating previously taught numerals.)

Number line

Ask your child to put the number cards in the correct order. Muddle up 2 or 3 numerals and ask the children to fix your number line.

Hidden numbers

Turn all the number cards over, take it in turns to turn over a card and count out that many items (counters/toys/dry pasta etc). To extend this activity ask your child to count how many items they have altogether.

Number walk

While out and about ask your child to look for as many numbers as they can find. This can be house numbers, prices, number plates etc.

Bingo
Make a simple bingo card. Call a number and ask your child to colour the number in.
Rock, paper, number!

Just like playing 'rock, paper, scissors' call 'rock, paper, number'. Each player holds up as many fingers as they want. Count the fingers and point to the matching number or write the number.

Dice games
Roll a dice, ask your child to indicate that number. Children can then complete that number of actions (e.g. 6 hops/ 2 jumps/ 4 funny faces)
Online games

This website has lots of fun games to play with your child. https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/3-5-years

How to hold a pencil

Get your child to pretend his or her dominant (writing) hand is a crocodile.
Practise opening and closing the crocodile’s mouth.
Place the pencil on the bottom jaw of the crocodile and close the crocodile’s mouth on the pencil. The pencil should rest on your child’s middle finger held in place with the thumb and forefinger. Make sure your child holds the pencil near the tip and that the pencil end is resting in the soft part of their hand.
Encourage your child to hold their pencil like this and watch them as they colour/write/draw. If you notice they are swapping their grip help them to hold their pencil correctly. Small enjoyable practise sessions are the best way to help your child to practise this grip.

Quality story times

These is nothing better than listening to a story. Here are some top tips to supporting story time:

· Talk about books, words and pictures

Before you start reading a book, talk about the title, the pictures on the cover (front and back). Look through the pictures together and ask your child what they think the story might be about.

· Talk about stories and events

As you read and when you’ve finished, sometimes ask questions about the story. 'What was your favourite bit? What do you think about that? What would you do?' Get your child to ask you questions too. Don’t overdo it though – otherwise you can lose the thread of the plot.

· All join in

Start asking your child to join in with bits that are repeated in stories, e.g. ‘Run run as fast as you can! You can’t catch me I’m the gingerbread man!’. Traditional stories, like The Gingerbread Man, are really good for this and children will love doing the voices!

· Find your favourites and add to them

Children love to listen to their favourite books over and over again and to remember some parts by heart. That’s fine as enjoyment and memory play a key part in learning to read. Add to their list of favourites by reading stories of all kinds, rhymes, poetry and information books too.

· Retell stories

Sometimes after you have shared a story, ask your child to retell it to you. Help by asking 'What happened first? What next? And then what?' Can you remember what happens at the end?! Encourage them to use plenty of expression.

· Read everywhere you go

Read on the move and show your child how you read words everywhere you go too. Point out words they might recognise, including signs and logos in the street or on labels.

· Listen to and sing songs and rhymes

Singing lots of songs and nursery rhymes helps your child to hear the sounds in words and build up a bank of known favourites. Play with words and sounds and make up nonsense rhymes in songs or nursery rhymes they know. Encourage them to join in.

· Remember when...

Compare events in stories or information books with things you’ve done together, so your child starts to make connections between these things and their own experiences: 'That’s just like when we went to Thorpe Park. Do you remember? Dad was scared...'

https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/reading/getting-ready-for-reading-ages-3-4/

Scissor skills

When teaching your child to use scissors, remind them to make sure their thumb in on the top. You can draw a smiley face on the thumbnail/paint their nail a colour to ensure they can see it when they are cutting. This prevents the child from turning their hand upside down while cutting.

Stages of scissor skills:

Ripping- Ripping sturdy paper such as construction paper or card is the perfect activity for young children to engage in before being introduced to scissors. Children exercise their tripod grasp- or their thumb and first two fingers as they grip the paper to rip it. Ripping also requires children to move their hands in opposite directions at the same time which helps develop bilateral coordination skills. Cut sturdy paper into strips and invite children to rip away! When they demonstrate they are ready, move to larger pieces of paper.
Cutting through playdough- Playdough is a great material to practise cutting as it isn’t too tricky. Children can use normal scissors or playdough scissors to do this.
Cutting drinking straws- Straws are fun and fairly easy for young children to cut through. The straws make a satisfying snap sound when they are cut which the children really enjoy. Bonus: Once your straws are all cut up, you can string some yarn through the pieces to make a necklace. Like the drinking straws, there’s a clear sound that comes along with cutting through the Styrofoam. Scissors slice through the Styrofoam easily but the children have to practise turning the Styrofoam to create pieces.
Cutting paint card samples- Now your child has to practise controlling the scissors and the paper while cutting in half. The children also have to follow a line.
Cutting around shapes- Now is the time to allow your child to continue to develop their scissor skills through cutting out lots of pictures and shapes. Provide your child with a wide range of items to cut up/out and allow them to get creative. The more practise your child has the stronger their muscles will become and more confident they will be.

Nursery websites for home learning